Obama orders shift to alternate fuel vehicles in federal fleet

In a presidential memorandum following up on Executive Order 13514 of Oct. 5, 2009, Obama informed agencies that by Dec. 31, 2015, "all new light-duty vehicles leased or purchased by agencies must be alternative fueled vehicles, such as hybrid or electric, compressed natural gas, or biofuel."

In addition, "alternative fueled vehicles must, as soon as practicable, be located in proximity to fueling stations with available alternative fuels, and be operated on the alternative fuel for which the vehicle is designed," he said.

Effective within 180 days of today's memorandum, the president said, any executive fleet vehicles that are larger than a midsize sedan or do not comply with alternative fueled vehicle requirements must be disclosed on agency websites.

Under the memo, the Energy Department is tasked with helping the Postal Service evaluate its fleet.

The president's directive also says that within 90 days the General Services Administration will distribute to all agencies an allocation methodology to determine how to evaluate their vehicle inventories.