Washington, D.C. (May 11, 2022)—Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following statement after the Committee voted favorably to approve legislation to ensure the Postal Service has an accurate environmental impact statement to inform its acquisition of Next Generation Delivery Vehicles, legislation to develop an artificial intelligence training program for the federal workforce, and other good government reforms:
“Today, the Committee took another step in leading the charge in Congress to transition the Postal Service’s gas guzzling fleet to electric vehicles. Our hearing last month revealed that the environmental impact statement—a key factor in the Postal Service’s decision of how many EVs to purchase—was ‘seriously deficient.’ My bill requires that the Postal Service produce a new EIS to more accurately inform the Postal Service’s acquisition of EVs. The Postal Service must use all available resources to maximize the number of EVs it purchases, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to make that happen.”
Oversight of the U.S. Postal Service and its Transition to Electric Vehicles
The Committee approved H.R. 7682, the Ensuring an Accurate Postal Fleet Electrification Act, a bill introduced by Chairwoman Maloney, to invalidate the faulty environmental impact statement (EIS) that the Postal Service filed as part of its contract with Oshkosh Defense to produce the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), and to require the Postal Service to produce a new EIS before procuring any additional vehicles under the NGDV contract.
In a February 2, 2022, letter to the Postal Service, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that “the final EIS remains seriously deficient.” At the Committee’s April 5, 2022, hearing, the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the Postal Service used faulty estimates to determine how many EVs to purchase, including by underestimating the price of gasoline, overestimating the maintenance costs for EVs, and failing to fully account for the carbon emissions gas delivery vehicles will produce.
The Committee also approved H.R. 7674, the Ensuring Oversight Access at the Postal Service Act, a bill introduced by Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerald E. Connolly to prohibit the Postal Service from preventing Members of Congress from visiting Postal Service facilities for official purposes.