A lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court alleges that 18 federal government agencies are not meeting their Energy Policy Act (EPAct) obligations to purchase AFVs for their fleets. A number of these agencies readily admitted noncompliance in documents obtained by Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest law firm.
EPAct was passed after the Gulf War in 1992 to improve the nation's energy security by displacing petroleum motor fuel consumption with alternative transportation fuels. According to the lawsuit, the government has failed repeatedly to meet AFV purchasing requirements. The lawsuit seeks federal government compliance with these obligations.
"There is no defensible reason for federal government agencies not to be meeting both the letter and spirit of EPAct," said Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVC. "Today, car, truck and bus manufacturers offer the widest ever selection of natural gas and other AFVs to fit light-, medium- and heavy-duty applications."
Kolodziej added that every gallon of alternative fuel used is one less gallon of oil the U.S. has to import.
