POSTAL SERVICE

**Treatment of Undeliverable Books and Sound Recordings**

**AGENCY**: Postal Service™.

**ACTION**: Proposed rule.

**SUMMARY**: The Postal Service is proposing to revise the mailing
standards for the treatment of books and sound recordings that are found
loose in the mail or undeliverable as addressed. The revision would
eliminate confusion and simplify procedures.

**DATES**: Written comments must be received on or before \[30 DAYS FROM
DATE OF PUBLICATION\]**.**

**ADDRESSES**: Mail or deliver written comments to the Manager, Mailing
Standards, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L\'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3436,
Washington DC 20260-3436. You may inspect and photocopy all written
comments at USPS Headquarters Library, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, 11^th^
Floor N, Washington DC between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Do not submit comments via fax or e-mail.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT**: Bert Olsen at 202-268-7276.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION**:

*Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service*, Domestic Mail
Manual (DMM®) 507.1.9.2, as originally written (under the section titled
*Dead Mail*), was intended to facilitate a process for identifying and
returning to the original publisher or distributor books and recordings
that had become undeliverable as a result of being "loose in the mail"
(contents separated from packaging and other address information).
Unpredictably, the rule has been misinterpreted by some publishers and
distributors as allowing them to reclaim ownership of all UAA mail and
not just mail that was truly identified as "loose" in the mail.
Practically speaking, there are very few commercially mailed books and
sound recordings found loose in the mail. Books and sound recordings
seldom separate from their outer wrappings. The vast majority of pieces
that are not delivered are pieces that the Postal Service attempted to
deliver but were refused by the addressee.

Therefore, the Postal Service is proposing to remove DMM Section
507.1.9.2 in its entirety. To clarify their preferences regarding UAA
pieces, mailers are encouraged to use appropriate ancillary service
endorsements. Currently, many commercially mailed books and sound
recordings are mailed at Standard Mail and Package Services prices using
the endorsement, "Change Service Requested", to indicate that the piece
should not be returned. This endorsement requires that UAA pieces,
including refused pieces, be disposed of by the Postal Service and a
notice of the new address (if applicable) or reason for nondelivery be
provided to the mailer. Alternatively, mailers who wish to have UAA
Standard Mail or Package Services pieces returned can use the
endorsement, "Return Service Requested." This endorsement requires that
UAA pieces, including refused packages, be returned to the sender with
the reason for non-delivery; the sender is charged postage at the
First-Class Mail single-piece price or Priority Mail single-piece price,
for pieces originally sent as Standard Mail, or the appropriate Package
Services single-piece price, for pieces originally sent as Package
Services mail, based on the weight of the piece.

**BACKGROUND INFORMATION**:

DMM 507.1.9 defines "dead mail" as "matter which is deposited in the
mail that is or becomes undeliverable and cannot be returned to the
sender from the last office of address." DMM 507.1.9.1 sets out general
procedures for attempting to identify senders or recipients of dead mail
and the means by which identifiable items are returned and postage is
collected for return. DMM 507.1.9.3 notes that the Postal Operations
Manual (POM) "contains USPS policy and procedures for handling and
disposing of dead mail. Those procedures include provisions for the sale
or donation of dead mail.

In the past, as now, commercial mailers of books and sound recordings
could endorse their mailings to provide for the return of undeliverable
as addressed (UAA) items to them by guaranteeing payment upon return, or
could by endorsement, or by lack of endorsement, indicate that return
was not requested, in which case the undeliverable items were to be
considered as the property of the U.S. Postal Service.

DMM 507.1.5.3 and 1.5.4 list and describe the endorsements available to
mailers of Standard Mail and Package Services parcels who want to have
pieces that are undeliverable as addressed forwarded or returned. Each
of these endorsements ("Forwarding Service Requested," "Return Service
Requested," or "Address Service Requested,"), provide for return of an
item to the mailer under certain specified conditions when the mailer
provides payment for the return at the appropriate price.

Accordingly, the Postal Service proposes to delete DMM 507.1.9.2. The
Postal Service recognizes that this change may affect the ancillary
service endorsement choices of mailers of books and sound recordings and
therefore proposes that the final rule will be effective 60 days
following its publication.

Although exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the
Administrative Procedure Act \[5 U.S.C. 553(b),(c)\] regarding proposed
rulemaking by 39 U.S.C 410(a), the Postal Service invites comments on
the following proposed revisions to the *Domestic Mail Manual*, which is
incorporated by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations. See 39 CFR
111.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 111

Administrative Practice and Procedure, Postal Service.

PART 111 \-- \[AMENDED\]

1\. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 111 continues to read as
follows:

**Authority:** 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 401, 403, 404, 414, 416,
3001-3011, 3201-3219, 3403-3406, 3621, 3622, 3626, 3632, and 5001.

2\. Revise the following section of the *Domestic Mail Manual* (DMM) as
set forth below:

\* \* \* \* \*

**500 Additional Services**

\* \* \* \* \*

**507 Mailer Services**

**1.0 Treatment of Mail**

\* \* \* \* \*

**1.9 Dead Mail**

\* \* \* \* \*

*\[Delete 1.9.2 in its entirety and renumber current 1.9.3 as new
1.9.2\]*

1.9.2 Books and Sound Recordings

\* \* \* \* \*

We will publish an appropriate amendment to 39 CFR Part 111 to reflect
these changes if the proposal is adopted.

**Neva R. Watson,**

*Attorney, Legislative.*

\[END DOCUMENT\]