Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 10843 

1United States Postal Service Notice of MarketDominant Price Adjustment, February 26, 2010 

(Notice). 

2 Docket No. R2009–3, United States Postal 

Service Notice of Market-Dominant Price 

Adjustment, May 1, 2009. 

3 Docket No. R2009–3, Order Approving Standard 

Mail Volume Incentive Pricing Program, Order No. 

219, June 4, 2009. 

The Commission’s position of record 

on this issue has been developed since 

the late 1970s, when the former Rate 

Commission first addressed the 

definition of post office in Docket No. 

A78–1. In re Gresham, SC, Order No. 

208 (August 16, 1978). Since that time, 

the Commission has consistently put 

forward the position that stations and 

branches were ‘‘post offices’’ within the 

meaning of section 404(d). 

Comments from the mailing 

community and general public in this 

docket are encouraged. 

In addition, it would be helpful for 

commenters to review whether 

precedent based on these cases, decided 

by the former Rate Commission, should 

be controlling in the new regulatory 

environment established by the Postal 

Accountability and Enhancement Act. 

It is ordered: 

1. The Postal Service shall file the 

administrative record in this appeal, or 

otherwise file a responsive pleading to 

the appeal, by March 9, 2010. 

2. The procedural schedule listed 

below is hereby adopted. 

3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Richard 

A. Oliver is designated officer of the 

Commission (Public Representative) to 

represent the interests of the general 

public. 

4. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this notice and order and 

procedural schedule in the Federal 

Register. 

By the Commission. 

Shoshana M. Grove, 

Secretary. 

PROCEDURAL SCHEDULE

February 22, 2009 ......... Filing of Appeal. 

March 9, 2010 ................ Deadline for Postal Service to file administrative record in this appeal or responsive pleading. 

March 29, 2010 .............. Deadline for petitions to intervene (see 39 CFR 3001.111(b)). 

March 29, 2010 .............. Deadline for petitioner’s form 61 or initial brief in support of petition (see 39 CFR 3001.115(a) and (b)). 

April 19, 2010 ................. Deadline for answering brief in support of Postal Service (see 39 CFR 3001.115(c)). 

May 4, 2010 ................... Deadline for reply briefs in response to answering briefs (see 39 CFR 3001.115(d)). 

May 11, 2010 ................. Deadline for motions by any party requesting oral argument; the Commission will schedule oral argument only when 

it is a necessary addition to the written filings (see 39 CFR 3001.116). 

June 22, 2010 ................ Expiration of the Commission’s 120-day decisional schedule (see 39 U.S.C. 404(d)(5)). 

[FR Doc. 2010–4921 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–S 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

[Docket No. R2010–3; Order No. 416] 

Special Summer Postal Rate Program 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service plans to 

offer a special volume pricing incentive 

for certain Standard Mail this summer. 

This document announces 

establishment of a docket to consider 

the plan, provides certain information 

about the plan, and provides additional 

information about related procedures, 

including an opportunty for public 

comment. 

DATES: Comments are due: March 18, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

electronically via the Commission’s 

Filing Online system at http:// 

www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot 

submit their views electronically should 

contact the person identified in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 

by telephone for advice on alternatives 

to electronic filing. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 

202–789–6820 or 

stephen.sharfman@prc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Overview 

II. Postal Service Filing 

III. Commission Action 

IV. Ordering Paragraphs 

I. Overview 

On February 26, 2010, the Postal 

Service filed with the Commission a 

notice announcing its intention to adjust 

prices for Standard Mail letters and flats 

pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3622 and 39 CFR 

part 3010.1 The proposed adjustment is 

another Standard Mail Volume 

Incentive Pricing Program (Standard 

Mail Incentive Program) similar to the 

one introduced in May 2009,2 and 

subsequently approved by the 

Commission.3 The planned 

implementation date of the Standard 

Mail Incentive Program is July 1, 2010, 

and the planned expiration date is 

September 30, 2010. 

II. Postal Service Filing 

Standard Mail Incentive Program. The 

Standard Mail Incentive Program, like 

that introduced in Docket No. R2009–3, 

will give eligible companies a 30 

percent postage rebate on qualifying 

Standard Mail letters and flats above a 

predetermined threshold agreed upon 

by both the mailer and the Postal 

Service. Notice at 4. The threshold is the 

amount of Standard Mail for each 

participating company sent through the 

Permit(s) or Ghost Permit(s) or through 

its Mail Service Provider (MSP) from 

July 1 to September 30, 2010 plus 5 

percent of the volume for the same 

period last year (SPLY + 5 percent). Id. 

Based on the Postal Service’s quarter 2 

forecast of less than 1 percent volume 

growth from July 1 through September 

30, 2010, a participant’s volumes must 

grow significantly more than average 

before qualifying for any rebate. Id. 

To ensure against mailers shifting 

June volume to July, or October volume 

to September, an additional volume 

threshold will be established for June 

through October 2010, using the same 

SPLY + 5 percent formula. If the actual 

volumes for that period do not meet the 

respective month’s threshold (SPLY + 5 

percent), the difference will be deducted 

from the Standard Mail Incentive 

Program qualifying volume. Id. 

Eligibility for the Standard Mail 

Incentive Program requires qualifying 

mailers to have mailed 350,000 or more 

Standard Mail letters and flats between 

July 1 and September 30, 2009 through 

one or more permit imprint advance 

deposit account(s) owned by the 

company or through permits set up on 

behalf of the company by a MSP. Id. at 

3. Approximately 3,525 customers will 

be eligible to participate in the sale, 

representing 67 percent of Standard 

Mail volume. Id. To participate, 

documentation specifying that the 

applicant is the owner of the mail is 

required. Id. MSPs are not eligible, and 

participating mailers are not eligible for 

any other concurrent postal incentive 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
10844 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 

program that would result in multiple 

discounts. Id. at 3–4. 

The objective of the Standard Mail 

Incentive Program is to generate 

incremental Standard Mail volume and 

revenue. Volume is estimated to 

increase between 311 million and 1.1 

billion new pieces. Id. at 2. The 

Standard Mail Incentive Program is 

designed to increase mail volume 

during a typically low-volume summer 

period. The program is intended to 

benefit customers, who will have the 

opportunity to foster relationships with 

existing and new patrons with limited 

investment, and the Postal Service, 

which can utilize current excess 

capacity to deliver the additional lowcost volumes during the summer 

months, improve its data systems, and 

enhance relationships with customers. 

Id. at 3. 

The Postal Service notes that the 

volume threshold is lower than last year 

and will result in about 400 more 

customers being eligible to participate. 

Id. at 9. It asserts that additional costs 

for increased labor or technology 

solutions to administer the program 

prohibit accepting every mailer of 

Standard Mail. In addition, it contends 

that extending eligibility to small 

businesses might result in rebates on 

mail that would be sent anyway. Id. 

Conformance with 39 CFR part 3010. 

The Postal Service represents, in 

conformance with the notice 

requirements of 39 CFR 3010.14(a)(3), 

that it will issue public notice of the 

price changes at least 45 days before the 

planned implementation date via 

several additional means, including a 

press release, notice on its Web site 

(http://www.usps.com) and its Postal 

Explorer Web site, and in future issues 

of MailPro, the Postal Bulletin, and the 

Federal Register. The Postal Service 

identifies Greg Dawson, Manager, 

Pricing Strategy, as the official available 

to provide prompt responses to requests 

for clarification from the Commission. 

Id. at 2. 

Rule 3010.14(b)(9) requires that the 

Postal Service’s notice include every 

change to the product descriptions 

within the Mail Classification Schedule 

(MCS) necessitated by the planned price 

adjustments. The Postal Service 

presented proposed changes for the 

previous Standard Mail Incentive 

Program in Appendix A to its notice in 

Docket No. R2009–3 based on draft MCS 

language being developed by the 

Commission in cooperation with the 

Postal Service. The Postal Service states 

that the Notice is covered by the current 

MCS; thus, its Notice does not include 

a new schedule of proposed MCS 

language. Id. at 1, n.1. 

Program administration. A Postal 

Service letter to all eligible Standard 

Mail customers will provide 

instructions for mailers who wish to 

apply for the program and how to verify 

their threshold volumes through an 

enrollment process. Mailers not 

receiving a letter who wish to apply 

may contact summersale@usps.gov. 

After the Postal Service and the mailer 

agree on threshold volumes, a 

Certification Letter must be signed for 

full enrollment. Certified volumes will 

be used to calculate the rebates due at 

the end of the Standard Mail Incentive 

Program with data from Postal One! and 

CBCIS. Rebates, after adjustments, will 

be added to the company’s Trust 

Account. Each mailer is to certify, 

similar to the certification required by 

PS Form 3600, Postage Statement, the 

data used to calculate the volume 

thresholds and rebates. Id. at 5. 

Financial impact. The Standard Mail 

Incentive Program is expected to 

provide incremental revenue of about 

$34 million to $157 million from new 

volume. Customers whose mail would 

increase without the Incentive Program 

will benefit through a postage discount 

on volume above their certified 

threshold. Based on the previous 

Standard Mail Incentive Program, the 

Postal Service does not expect a 

significant buy down from First-Class 

Mail. Id. at 6. 

The Postal Service believes there is 

excess capacity to process and deliver 

additional volume so that, in the short 

run, additional volume will incur 

reduced additional attributable costs 

that may be below the standard estimate 

of long-run attributable cost. Appendix 

A to the Notice includes an explanation 

of the Postal Service’s assessment of 

excess capacity and attributable costs. 

Id. at 7. Unlike the previous Standard 

Mail Incentive Program, the Postal 

Service presumes that the increased 

volumes may incur some additional 

carrier costs to deliver the incremental 

volumes, but the Postal Service does not 

expect short-run cost increases in 

buildings, new equipment, and vehicles. 

Id. 

The Postal Service notes that the 

Standard Mail Incentive Program 

includes Standard Flats and Non-Profit 

products which did not make a positive 

contribution in Docket No. R2009–3. Id. 

In support, the Postal Service says this 

initiative must be viewed as a whole, 

citing Appendix A to the Notice. It says 

that excluding Standard flats from the 

Standard Mail Incentive Program would 

change the dynamics of the sale for a 

large portion of catalog mailers. These 

mailers view Standard Flats and Carrier 

Route Flats as essentially the same 

product providing about 40 percent of 

their volume in Standard Flats (the 

other 60 percent is Carrier Route Flats). 

Where Standard Mail Flats are residual 

pieces after all possible Carrier Route 

volumes are qualified, their exclusion 

will reduce customers’ incentives and 

potentially result in unintended 

consequences. Id. The Postal Service 

further states that long-term competitive 

benefits of including Standard Flats in 

the Standard Mail Incentive Program 

can result in more catalogs being mailed 

as evidenced by their large incremental 

growth above the baseline during the 

previous Incentive Program. Mailers 

also claim that mailing more catalogs 

converts prospects to new customers, 

which increase the use and efficiency of 

the mail. Id. at 8. The expected net 

contribution of the Standard Mail 

Incentive Program is between -$3.5 

million to + $25.4 million with 

administrative costs estimated at 

$930,000. Id. 

Risks. The Postal Service cites several 

inherent risks that may affect the 

financial outcome of the Standard Mail 

Incentive Program. These include 

overestimating the volumes generated 

by the incentive, underestimating the 

administrative costs, and the risk that a 

large portion of rebates would be paid 

on volumes that would have been 

mailed anyway. Id. at 8–9. 

Price cap compliance. The Postal 

Service intends to treat the program in 

a manner mathematically analogous to 

the procedure in rule 3010.24 consistent 

with the previous Standard Mail 

Incentive Program. It will ignore the 

effect of the price decrease on the price 

cap for both future and current prices 

and therefore has not made a calculation 

of cap or price changes described in rule 

3010.14(b)(1)-(4). Id. at 10. 

Objectives and factors, workshare 

discounts, and preferred rates. The 

Postal Service states that the Standard 

Mail Incentive Program does not 

substantially alter the degree Standard 

Mail prices already address the 

objectives and many of the factors in 39 

U.S.C. 3622(b) of title 39. Id. at 10–14. 

The Postal Service further states that to 

the extent the program affects Standard 

Mail workshare discounts, it will shrink 

them, keeping discounts with a 

passthrough of 100 percent or less in 

compliance, and bringing passthroughs 

over 100 percent closer to compliance. 

Nonprofit Standard Mail letters and flats 

will be eligible for the Standard Mail 

Incentive Program and the rates will 

change proportionately, thus 

maintaining the 60 percent ratio 

between prices. 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 10845 

III. Commission Action 

The Commission establishes Docket 

No. R2010–3 to consider all matters 

related to the Notice as required by 39 

U.S.C. 3622. Interested persons may 

express views and offer comments on 

whether the planned changes are 

consistent with the policies of 39 U.S.C. 

3622 and the Commission’s applicable 

regulations. Comments are due no later 

than March 18, 2010. 

The Commission appoints Emmett 

Rand Costich, Kenneth R. Moeller and 

John Klingenberg to represent the 

interests of the general public in this 

proceeding. See 39 U.S.C. 505. 

IV. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. The Commission establishes Docket 

No. R2010–3 to consider matters raised 

by the Postal Service’s February 26, 

2010 filing. 

2. Interested persons may submit 

comments on the planned price 

adjustments. Comments are due March 

18, 2010. 

3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, the 

Commission appoints Emmett Rand 

Costich, Kenneth R. Moeller and John 

Klingenberg to represent the interests of 

the general public in this proceeding. 

4. The Commission directs the 

Secretary of the Commission to arrange 

for prompt publication of this Notice in 

the Federal Register. 

By the Commission. 

Shoshana M. Grove, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4915 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–S 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration # 12057 and # 12058] 

North Dakota Disaster # ND–00019 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for Public Assistance Only for 

the State of North Dakota (FEMA— 

1879—DR), dated 02/26/2010. 

Incident: Severe Winter Storm. 

Incident Period: 01/20/2010 through 

01/25/2010. 

Effective Date: 02/26/2010. 

Physical Loan Application Deadline 

Date: 04/27/2010. 

Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan 

Application Deadline Date: 11/26/2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan 

applications to: U.S. Small Business 

Administration, Processing and 

Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport 

Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. 

Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that as a result of the 

President’s major disaster declaration on 

02/26/2010, Private Non-Profit 

organizations that provide essential 

services of governmental nature may file 

disaster loan applications at the address 

listed above or other locally announced 

locations. 

The following areas have been 

determined to be adversely affected by 

the disaster: 

Primary Counties: 

Adams, Barnes, Billings, Bowman, 

Burke, Dickey, Dunn, Emmons, 

Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, 

Logan, McIntosh, McKenzie, 

Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Oliver, 

Ransom, Renville, Sioux, Slope, 

Stark, Steele, Walsh, and the 

Standing Rock Indian Reservation. 

The Interest Rates are: 

Percent 

For Physical Damage: 

Non-Profit Organizations With 

Credit Available Elsewhere 3.625 

Non-Profit Organizations 

Without Credit Available 

Elsewhere .......................... 3.000 

For Economic Injury: 

Non-Profit Organizations 

Without Credit Available 

Elsewhere .......................... 3.000 

The number assigned to this disaster 

for physical damage is 12057B and for 

economic injury is 12058B. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Numbers 59002 and 59008) 

James E. Rivera, 

Associate Administrator for Disaster 

Assistance. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4933 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration # 12034 and # 12035] 

Arkansas Disaster Number AR–00042 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Amendment 1. 

SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for Public Assistance Only for 

the State of Arkansas (FEMA–1872–DR), 

dated 02/04/2010. 

Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. 

Incident Period: 12/23/2009 through 

01/02/2010. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: 02/26/2010. 

Physical Loan Application Deadline 

Date: 04/05/2010. 

Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan 

Application Deadline Date: 11/04/2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan 

applications to: U.S. Small Business 

Administration, Processing and 

Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport 

Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. 

Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice 

of the President’s major disaster 

declaration for Private Non-Profit 

organizations in the State of Arkansas, 

dated 02/04/2010, is hereby amended to 

include the following areas as adversely 

affected by the disaster. 

Primary Counties: Pulaski 

All other information in the original 

declaration remains unchanged. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Numbers 59002 and 59008) 

James E. Rivera, 

Associate Administrator for Disaster 

Assistance. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4936 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND 

TECHNOLOGY POLICY 

Subcommittee on Forensic Science; 

Committee on Science; National 

Science and Technology Council 

ACTION: General Notice. Nominations for 

Interagency Working Group 

participants. 

SUMMARY: The Subcommittee on 

Forensic Science of the National 

Science and Technology Council’s 

(NSTC’s) Committee on Science is now 

accepting nominations for Interagency 

Working Group participants. Nominees 

must be a State, local, or tribal 

government elected officer (or their 

designated employee with authority to 

act on their behalf). 

DATES AND ADDRESSES: The 

Subcommittee must receive all 

nominations for Interagency Working 

Group participants by 5 p.m. EDT 

March 12, 2010. Nominations should be 

submitted via electronic mail (e-mail) to 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES