other laws when awarding a 10-year contract to
Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense to supply up
to 165,000 new mail trucks.
Only 10% of the initial order will be for EVs; the
remaining 90% will use traditional gasoline-
powered engines.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the
White House Council on Environmental Quality
and “numerous environmental stakeholders”
have raised concerns that the Postal Service
did not meet its NEPA obligations in issuing the
contract, the lawmakers said in a letter to Tammy
Whitcomb, the Postal Service inspector general.
“Given the substantial public interest in this
acquisition and the significant deficiencies” in
the environmental analysis identified by EPA
and the White House, “it is critical that Congress
understand whether the Postal Service properly
met its statutory environmental obligations,” the
lawmakers wrote.
The letter is signed by five Democratic
lawmakers, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney of
New York, the panel’s chair, and Gerry Connolly
of Virginia, chairman of a subcommittee on
government operations.
The lawmakers said they strongly support
purchase of electric vehicles for the Postal
Service fleet, saying it would “significantly cut
emissions and position the Postal Service as an
environmental leader” in the U.S.
A spokeswoman said the inspector general’s
office received the letter and was reviewing it.
The Postal Service awarded Oshkosh Defense a
contract worth up to $11 billion over 10 years to
replace its 230,000-vehicle fleet. The company