Environmental groups sue USPS over delivery vehicle purchase plans

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Several U.S. environmental groups on Thursday filed suit seeking to block the U.S. Postal Service plan to buy mostly gas-powered next-generation delivery vehicles, arguing it failed to comply with environmental regulations.

CleanAirNow, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club challenged USPS's plan in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The White House and Environmental Protection Agency have also asked USPS to reconsider as have many Democrats in Congress. In March, USPS said it had placed an initial $2.98 billion order for 50,000 next-generation delivery vehicles from Oshkosh Corp (OSK) -- and had doubled its planned EV purchases from 5,000 to 10,019. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)