According to a court filing, New York, California, and Michigan are among 16 states that are suing the USPS over a plan to buy thousands of carbon-emitting trucks.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by the state attorneys general of California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and 12 other states.
The states alleged that the USPS had failed to comply with its obligation to take a hard look at its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Acquisitions programme.
The states said that the USPS had a chance to convert its fleet to zero-emission, electric vehicles, but that the contractor it chose was not experienced enough.
The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Program was the subject of an internal review. The review was claimed to be "cursory" by the filing.
The USPS told Insider that it conducted a thorough review and fully complied with all of its obligations.
In February of last year, the USPS awarded a $482 million dollar contract to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense to begin delivering up to 165,000 new trucks over the next 10 years. 10% of the fleet would be electric.
Insider did not get a response from the defense company when they made comments outside of normal working hours.
Insider reported on a letter showing officials in the Biden administration urging the USPS not to go through with the $11.3 billion plan. The service underestimates greenhouse gas emissions, fails to consider more protective feasible alternatives, and fails to consider impacts on communities with environmental justice concerns according to the letter.
The company placed an order for 50,000 vehicles in March.
The USPS told Insider that the contract is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, meaning that after an initial dollar commitment, the Postal Service will have the ability to order moreNGDV over a fixed period of time.
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