Report comes ahead of first meeting of the Legislature’s Fleet Management Review Committee

KINGSTON, NY - Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger released the 2023 Green Fleet Annual Report today, highlighting the County’s Sustainable Green Fleet Policy, fleet inventory, implementation strategies, fuel use and emissions information, assessment of goals, and further recommendations for transitioning the County’s fleet to zero-emission vehicles. The report can be found at https://ulstercountyny.gov/environment/sustainability-energy/green-fleet-initiative.

Highlights of the report include:

• At the close of 2023, there were a total of 481 vehicles in the Ulster County fleet. 

• County Departments with the largest number of fleet vehicles include the DPW/Highway Department with 30.6% (147 vehicles), the Sheriff’s Office with 21% (101 vehicles), and UCAT with 9.1% (44 vehicles).

• In 2023, 50 vehicles were entered into service, and 52 were surplused or otherwise retired. 

• Of the 50 vehicles entered into service, 44% (22 vehicles) met the Green Fleet policy definition of green vehicles. 

• Local Law No. 6 of 2023 amended the Sustainable Green Fleet Policy to mandate that 1) by 2025, a minimum of 20% of the fleet are to be green vehicles, with at least 20% of those being zero-emissions. 2) After 2025, 100% of passenger and light-duty truck vehicles purchased, leased, or otherwise obtained will be zero-emissions vehicles. 

• At the close of 2023, 16.6% of the fleet was composed of green vehicles, well within reach of the 2025 target. 

“We are excited to see that we are on track to reach our 2025 green fleet target and reduce harmful emissions, but we need to go even further. Beyond replacing fleet vehicles at the end of their useful life with zero-emissions alternatives, we must also look to reduce the size of the fleet and right-size vehicle purchases to Department needs,” County Executive Metzgerstated. 

The Report comes ahead of the first meeting of the Legislature’s Fleet Management Review Committee, which was created in October to review the County’s vehicle fleet, including the policies in place regarding take-home vehicles. Fleet Management Review Committee members include Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair Chris Hewitt, Deputy Majority Leader Aaron Levine, Minority Leader Kevin Roberts, and Legislators Herbert Litts III, Joe Maloney,  and Eric Stewart.

The County is always seeking to refine and streamline policies to further adhere to the stated goals of the Green Fleet Policy. In the coming weeks, the Executive’s Office will be issuing further guidance to County Departments to reduce and right-size the overall fleet, as per the Green Fleet law.

BACKGROUND

In August, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger took a significant and necessary step in advancing the County's commitment to combat climate change by signing into law major changes to the County's vehicle purchasing policy that commit the County to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions fleet. The local law, passed unanimously, amends the County's 2015 Green Fleet Policy to make zero-emissions vehicles the default purchase where possible and require that 100% of all County-owned passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks be zero-emissions by 2035. The legislation also requires that other vehicle classes shift to zero-emissions, including the transit fleet and non-road equipment by 2035 and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2040, where feasible.

Ulster County is committed to continuously improving the efficiency of its fleet and embracing advancements in green vehicle technology, paving the way for a cleaner, greener, and healthier future.