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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9685 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9685

To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish procedures for post 
  offices that suspend operations due to an emergency, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2024

 Mr. Bost (for himself, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr. 
LaMalfa, and Mrs. Harshbarger) introduced the following bill; which was 
       referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish procedures for post 
  offices that suspend operations due to an emergency, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Upending Secret Postal Shutdowns 
Act'' or the ``USPS Act''.

SEC. 2. POST OFFICE EMERGENCY CLOSURE PROCEDURES.

    Section 404 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(f)(1) If any post office temporarily suspends operations due to 
an emergency--
            ``(A) on the first day of such suspension, the Postal 
        Service shall place a sign or other physical notice of the 
        suspension at the post office and publish a notice of the 
        suspension on the Postal Service public website; and
            ``(B) not later than 5 days after the first date of such 
        suspension, the Postal Service shall notify relevant public 
        officials.
    ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)--
            ``(A) the notice required under such paragraph shall 
        include the reasons for the suspension, the interim solution 
        for mail delivery, and expected end date of the suspension; and
            ``(B) the term `relevant public officials' means, with 
        respect to a post office--
                    ``(i) each Member of the House of Representatives 
                (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to 
                Congress) representing a congressional district which 
                includes all or part of the geographic area served by 
                such post office;
                    ``(ii) each Senator representing a State which 
                includes all or part of the geographic area served by 
                such post office; and
                    ``(iii) the head of each unit of local government 
                with jurisdiction over all or part of the geographic 
                area served by such post office.
    ``(3)(A) If a suspension of operations due to an emergency lasts 
for 30 days, the Postal Service shall open a 30-day public review 
period under which individuals served by the post office and or 
relevant public officials may provide comments to the Postal Service.
    ``(B) If a suspension of operations due to an emergency lasts for 
60 days--
            ``(i) the Postal Regulatory Commission shall conduct a 
        review of the suspension; and
            ``(ii) the Postal Service shall begin the process to 
        relocate the operations of the suspended post office, 
        consistent with the procedures for post office relocation under 
        this title.
    ``(C) In carrying out any relocation under subparagraph (A)(ii), 
the Postal Service shall--
            ``(i) solicit input from the head of each unit local 
        government with jurisdiction over all or part of the geographic 
        area served by such post office; and
            ``(ii) open a 30-day public comment review period for a new 
        proposed location.
    ``(4) In consultation with the Postmaster General, the postmaster 
for each post office shall promulgate and establish an action plan in 
the case of an emergency suspension of post office operations.
    ``(5) Not later than January 1 of each calendar year beginning with 
calendar year 2025 the Postal Service shall submit a report to Congress 
on emergency suspensions of operations of post offices during the most 
recently ended calendar year. Such report shall include, for each 
instance of an emergency suspension of operations of a post office, the 
location of the post office, the duration of the emergency suspension, 
and the reason for the emergency suspension.
    ``(6) In this subsection, the term `emergency' means a natural 
disaster, termination of a lease or rental agreement, lack of qualified 
personnel to operate the office, irreparable damage when no suitable 
alternate quarters are available in the community, severe damage to, or 
destruction of a post office, health and safety concerns, mold, 
challenges to the sanctity of the mail, or the lack of adequate 
measures to safeguard the post office or its revenue.''.
                                 <all>
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