California v. U.S. Postal Service

California, 16 other states, the District of Columbia, New York City, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and three environmental organizations voluntarily dismissed their lawsuits in the federal district court for the Northern District of California challenging the U.S. Postal Service’s review of its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Acquisitions program. The plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that even after conducting supplemental review that considered an alternative acquisition program with more electric vehicle purchases, the Postal Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to consider a reasonable range of alternatives, failing to take a hard look at the impacts of alternatives, failing to consider consistency with state and local plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and awarding contracts prior to completing environmental review. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/states-environmental-groups-drop-lawsuit-over-us-postal-service-ev-purchase-2024-12-19/">reported</a> that the plaintiffs had decided to dismiss the lawsuits due to the Postal Service’s commitment to electrify its vehicle fleet.

The plaintiffs filed a supplemental complaint alleging that USPS’s supplemental review again failed to consider a reasonable range of alternatives and failed to take a hard look at the impacts of alternatives, including climate change impacts. State plaintiffs, led by California, also alleged that USPS failed to consider inconsistencies between the new 62% plan and plaintiffs’ laws and policies to reduce fossil fuel consumption and to electrify the transportation sector.

Sixteen states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District filed a lawsuit in federal district court in the Northern District of California alleging that the U.S. Postal Service failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its Next Generation Delivery Vehicles program, which would replace the Postal Service’s fleet with up to 90% internal combustion vehicles and at least 10% electric vehicles. The plaintiffs alleged that the Postal Service violated NEPA by awarding a contract and issuing a task order prior to initiating the NEPA review. They also asserted that the Postal Service failed to analyze reasonable alternatives and failed to take a hard look at environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions. The state plaintiffs also alleged that the Postal Service failed to consider its plan’s inconsistencies with state and local laws and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption and to electrify the transportation sector.