RI Among 16 States Suing U.S. Postal Service To Add Electric Vehicles

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island joined 15 other states in filing lawsuits against the U.S. Postal Service to halt the purchase of thousands of gas power vehicles in favor of an electric fleet.

Three separate complaints, filed last week by the states and environmental groups in New York and California, have requested that federal judges require a more thorough environmental review before the Postal Service moves forward with purchasing new vehicles.

"This office, along with a multistate coalition of Attorney’s General, joined this lawsuit to enforce compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act which, we believe, requires the U.S. Postal Service to consider reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when it replaces its delivery vehicle fleet," said a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office."

A spokesperson for the Postal Service said it already conducted an environmental review and followed all appropriate federal laws before creating its vehicle purchasing plan.

"The Postal Service conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under (the National Environmental Policy Act)," Kim Frum, a spokesperson for the Postal Service, told the Associated Press.

According to the complaint, the U.S. Postal Service has the largest civilian fleet in the world, with more than 212,000 vehicles. Many of those vehicles are near the end of their useful life, and the Postal Service has a plan to replace them.

But 90 percent of the fleet with be replaced with fossil-fueled powered vehicles. Officials with the California Attorney General's Office said the purchases fail to comply with even the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA) most basic requirements and should be vacated."

"This is an important federal law that requires a federal agency to assess the climate effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions," Attorney General Peter Neronha's spokesperson added. "As alleged in our complaint, the USPS's plan fails to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and further, failed to consider the impacts of its decision on state government laws and policies – like Rhode Island’s 2021 Act on Climate."

The states that sued the Postal Service with Rhode Island are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.