I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4656 

To place a moratorium on the United States Postal Service’s mail processing 

facility closure and consolidation and to maintain Postal Service delivery 

standards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2016 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. JENKINS

of West Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To place a moratorium on the United States Postal Service’s 

mail processing facility closure and consolidation and 

to maintain Postal Service delivery standards, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Postal Closures 

5 Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POSTAL FACILITY CLOSURE AND CONSOLIDATIONS. 

7 (a) MORATORIUM ON CLOSINGS AND CONSOLIDA8 TIONS.—Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 


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1 the United States Postal Service may not close or consoli2 date any postal facility (as that term is defined in section 

3 404(f)(5) of title 39, United States Code, as added by sub4 section (b)), or carry out any network rationalization ac5 tivity, until the Postal Regulatory Commission has cer6 tified that the Postal Service has met the national service 

7 standards in accordance with the requirements of section 

8 3. 

9 (b) PROCESS FOR CLOSING AND CONSOLIDATING

10 PROCESSING FACILITIES.—Section 404 of title 39, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(f)(1) The Postal Service may not close or consoli14 date any postal facility without the approval of the Postal 

15 Regulatory Commission, as provided in this subsection. 

16 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘postal facility’ 

17 means a Postal Service facility that is primarily involved 

18 in the preparation, dispatch, or other physical processing 

19 of mail, but does not include— 

20 ‘‘(A) any post office, station, or branch; or 

21 ‘‘(B) any facility used only for administrative 

22 functions. 

23 ‘‘(2) Before making a determination to close or con24 solidate any postal facility, the Postal Service shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 02, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4656.IH H4656

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1 duct an area mail processing study with respect to the fa2 cility. Such study shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) a plan to reduce the capacity of the facility with4 out closing the facility; 

5 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the effect of the closure or con6 solidation on the ability of individuals served by the facility 

7 to vote by mail and the ability of the Postal Service to 

8 timely deliver ballots in elections for public office by mail 

9 in accordance with the deadline to return ballots estab10 lished under applicable law; 

11 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the effect of closure or consolida12 tion on the— 

13 ‘‘(i) ability of individuals served by the facility 

14 to receive medications and other crucial notices and 

15 market-dominant products; 

16 ‘‘(ii) affected community, including any dis17 proportionate impact on a State, region, or locality; 

18 ‘‘(iii) travel times and distances for affected 

19 customers to access postal services; 

20 ‘‘(iv) delivery times for all classes of mail; and 

21 ‘‘(v) small businesses in the area, including 

22 shipping and communications with customers and 

23 suppliers and the corresponding impact on revenues, 

24 operations, and growth; 


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1 ‘‘(D) an analysis of any characteristics of the geo2 graphic area in which the facility is located that may have 

3 a unique effect, including remoteness, broadband internet 

4 availability, and weather-related obstacles to using alter5 native postal facilities; and 

6 ‘‘(E) any other factor the Postal Service determines 

7 necessary. 

8 ‘‘(3) The Postmaster General shall publish— 

9 ‘‘(A) any study completed under paragraph (2) 

10 on the Postal Service public Web site; and 

11 ‘‘(B) a notice that the study is complete and 

12 available to the public. 

13 ‘‘(4) If the Postal Service makes a determination to 

14 close or consolidate a postal facility after completing the 

15 requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3), the Postal Service 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) provide written notice of the determination 

18 to Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

19 ‘‘(B) provide adequate public notice of the in20 tention to close or consolidate the facility, including 

21 through written notification (in multiple languages 

22 where necessary), within 30 days after the date no23 tice is provided under subparagraph (A), to each 

24 person in the zip code served by such postal facility; 


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1 ‘‘(C) during the period of 120 days beginning 

2 on the date that is 30 days after the date notice is 

3 provided under subparagraph (A), ensure that inter4 ested persons have an opportunity to submit public 

5 comments; 

6 ‘‘(D) prior to the period described in subpara7 graph (C), provide for public notice of such oppor8 tunity by— 

9 ‘‘(i) publication on the Postal Service pub10 lic Web site; 

11 ‘‘(ii) prominent posting at the affected 

12 postal facility; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) advertising the dates and locations of 

14 the public community meetings required under 

15 subparagraph (E); and 

16 ‘‘(E) during the period described in subpara17 graph (C), conduct at least 3 public meetings located 

18 within the area affected by the closing or consolida19 tion that provides an opportunity for public com20 ments to be submitted verbally or in writing. 

21 ‘‘(5) Before the date on which the Postal Service pro22 poses to close or consolidate a postal facility, the Postal 

23 Service shall publish on the Postal Service public Web 

24 site— 


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1 ‘‘(A) notice of the final determination to close 

2 or consolidate the facility; and 

3 ‘‘(B) a justification statement that includes— 

4 ‘‘(i) a response to all public comments re5 ceived under paragraph (4); 

6 ‘‘(ii) the considerations made by the Postal 

7 Service under such paragraph; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) the actions that will be taken by the 

9 Postal Service to mitigate any negative effects 

10 identified under such paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(6)(A) Beginning on the date that the Postal Service 

12 publishes the notice under paragraph (5), the Postal Reg13 ulatory Commission shall have 90 days to— 

14 ‘‘(i) review the study, public comments, and the 

15 Postal Service’s response and notice, as described in 

16 such paragraphs; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) approve or disapprove of the closure or 

18 consolidation. 

19 ‘‘(B) If the Commission disapproves the closure or 

20 consolidation, the Postal Service may not attempt to con21 solidate or close that facility under this subsection for two 

22 years beginning on the date of the Commission’s deter23 mination under subparagraph (A)(ii). A disapproval notice 

24 under this subparagraph shall be published on the Com25 mission’s public Web site. 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the Commission approves the closure or con2 solidation, the Postal Service may not begin the closure 

3 or consolidation action until the date that is 15 days after 

4 the date of the Commission’s approval. An approval notice 

5 under this subparagraph shall be published on the Com6 mission’s public Web site.’’. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub8 section (b) shall apply to any closure or consolidation de9 termination made by the United States Postal Service 

10 with respect to a postal facility (as that term is defined 

11 in section 404(f)(1) of title 39, United States Code, as 

12 added by subsection (b)) on or after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 3. MARKET-DOMINANT PRODUCT SERVICE STAND15 ARDS. 

16 (a) NATIONAL MAIL DELIVERY SERVICE STAND17 ARDS.—With respect to any market-dominant product (as 

18 that term is defined in section 102(8) of title 39, United 

19 States Code)— 

20 (1) the national service standards implemented 

21 by the United States Postal Service and in effect on 

22 January 5, 2015, shall have no force or effect; and 

23 (2) the Postal Service shall reinstate the na24 tional service standards that were in effect on July 

25 1, 2012. 


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1 (b) DELIVERY STANDARDS ENFORCEMENT.—The 

2 Postal Regulatory Commission shall determine, on an an3 nual basis and using the performance ratings established 

4 under subsection (c), if the United States Postal Service 

5 is meeting the national service standards established 

6 under subsection (a) for market-dominant products. Such 

7 determination shall be submitted to the Federal Register. 

8 (c) PERFORMANCE RATINGS.—The Postal Regu9 latory Commission shall rate the performance of the Post10 al Service with respect to— 

11 (1) each 3-digit zip code area, postal district, 

12 and operational area; 

13 (2) all postal districts— 

14 (A) by urban, suburban, or rural category; 

15 and 

16 (B) nationwide; 

17 (3) all operational areas— 

18 (A) by urban, suburban, or rural category; 

19 and 

20 (B) nationwide; 

21 (4) market-dominant products nationwide; and 

22 (5) first-class mail nationwide. 

23 (d) DEFINITION OF URBAN, SUBURBAN, AND

24 RURAL.—For purposes of subsection (c), the Postal Regu25 latory Commission— 


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1 (1) shall promulgate regulations to define the 

2 terms ‘‘urban’’, ‘‘suburban’’, and ‘‘rural’’; 

3 (2) in defining the terms under paragraph (1), 

4 shall— 

5 (A) consider— 

6 (i) any recommendations submitted to 

7 the Commission by the Postmaster Gen8 eral; and 

9 (ii) existing definitions of those terms 

10 that are in use by the Postal Service, the 

11 Federal Government, and other sources; 

12 and 

13 (B) incorporate stakeholder input; and 

14 (3) shall categorize each 3-digit zip code area 

15 as an urban, suburban, or rural community. 

16 (e) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Regulatory 

18 Commission finds that the Postal Service is not 

19 meeting the national service standards, the Commis20 sion may recommend to the Postal Service corrective 

21 actions and reasonable performance targets to meet 

22 the standards. The recommendations shall be pub23 lished on the Commission’s public Web site and an24 nually submitted to Congress and the Postal Service. 


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1 (2) POSTAL SERVICE RESPONSE.—Not later 

2 than 60 days after receiving any recommendations 

3 under paragraph (1), the Postmaster General shall 

4 respond in writing to the recommendations. The re5 sponse shall explain how the Postal Service will 

6 change operations to achieve the recommendations. 

7 The response shall be published on the Commission’s 

8 public Web site and annually submitted to Congress 

9 and the Commission. 

Æ 


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