Court Rejects Bush Administration Attempt to Delay AF Vehicles Purchase

Following an earlier ruling on March 6th finding the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in violation of its obligations under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (“Act”), District Court Judge William Alsup on March 30th rejected further government delay and ordered the DOE to finally come into compliance with the Act within 2 years, by mandating a long-overdue plan for significant federal purchases of alternative fuels vehicles (AFVs). In 2002 and 2005, Judge Alsup declared the Bush administration and over a dozen federal agencies in violation of the Act, a law designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil, lessen global warming and cut air pollution.

It instead ordered the DOE to revise the petroleum reduction goal to an achievable number within one year, and then make a new determination whether the AFVs purchase rules must apply to private and municipal vehicle fleets to help achieve the goal, potentially requiring the purchase of hundreds of thousands of additional AFVs.

ENN