I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 670

To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish guidelines for the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of post offices, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. BORSKI, Mrs. KELLY,

Mr. FATTAH, Mr. PEASE, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. DOYLE, Mr.

SPRATT, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. ENGLISH,

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. STARK, Ms.

BROWN of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. FARR of California, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,

Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr.

ALLEN, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mrs. MINK of

Hawaii, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BALDACCI, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr.

UNDERWOOD, and Mr. GOODE) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish guidelines for the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of post offices, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Post Office Community

3 Partnership Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR RELOCATION, CLOSING, CONSOLI5 DATION, OR CONSTRUCTION OF POST OF6 FICES.

7 Section 404 of title 39, United States Code, is

8 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(b)(1) Before making a determination under sub11 section (a)(3) as to the necessity for the relocation, clos12 ing, consolidation, or construction of any post office, the

13 Postal Service shall provide adequate notice to persons

14 served by that post office of the intention of the Postal

15 Service to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct that

16 post office not later than 60 days before the final deter17 mination is made to relocate, close, consolidate, or con18 struct.

19 ‘‘(2)(A) The notification under paragraph (1) shall

20 be in writing, hand delivered or delivered by mail to per21 sons served by that post office, and published in 1 or more

22 newspapers of general circulation within the zip codes

23 served by that post office.

24 ‘‘(B) The notification under paragraph (1) shall

25 include—
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1 ‘‘(i) an identification of the relocation, closing,

2 consolidation, or construction of the post office in3 volved;

4 ‘‘(ii) a summary of the reasons for the reloca5 tion, closing, consolidation, or construction;

6 ‘‘(iii) the proposed date for the relocation, clos7 ing, consolidation, or construction;

8 ‘‘(iv) notice of the opportunity of a hearing, if

9 requested; and

10 ‘‘(v) notice of the opportunity for public com11 ment, including suggestions.

12 ‘‘(3) Any person served by the post office that is the

13 subject of a notification under paragraph (1) may offer

14 an alternative relocation, closing, consolidation, or con15 struction proposal during the 60-day period beginning on

16 the date on which the notice is provided under paragraph

17 (1).

18 ‘‘(4)(A) At the end of the period specified in para19 graph (3), the Postal Service shall make a determination

20 under subsection (a)(3). Before making a final determina21 tion, the Postal Service shall conduct a hearing, if re22 quested by persons served by the post office that is the

23 subject of a notice under paragraph (1). If a hearing is

24 held under this paragraph, the persons served by such post

25 office may present oral or written testimony with respect
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1 to the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of

2 the post office.

3 ‘‘(B) In making a determination as to whether or not

4 to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct a post office,

5 the Postal Service shall consider—

6 ‘‘(i) the extent to which the post office is part

7 of a core downtown business area;

8 ‘‘(ii) any potential effect of the relocation, clos9 ing, consolidation, or construction on the community

10 served by the post office;

11 ‘‘(iii) whether the community served by the post

12 office opposes a relocation, closing, consolidation, or

13 construction;

14 ‘‘(iv) any potential effect of the relocation, clos15 ing, consolidation, or construction on employees of

16 the Postal Service employed at the post office;

17 ‘‘(v) whether the relocation, closing, consolida18 tion, or construction of the post office is consistent

19 with the policy of the Government under section

20 101(b) that requires the Postal Service to provide a

21 maximum degree of effective and regular postal serv22 ices to rural areas, communities, and small towns in

23 which post offices are not self-sustaining;
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1 ‘‘(vi) the quantified long-term economic saving

2 to the Postal Service resulting from the relocation,

3 closing, consolidation, or construction;

4 ‘‘(vii)(I) the adequacy of the existing post of5 fice; and

6 ‘‘(II) whether all reasonable alternatives to relo7 cation, closing, consolidation, or construction have

8 been explored; and

9 ‘‘(viii) any other factor that the Postal Service

10 determines to be necessary for making a determina11 tion whether to relocate, close, consolidate, or con12 struct that post office.

13 ‘‘(C) In making a determination as to whether or not

14 to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct a post office,

15 the Postal Service may not consider compliance with any

16 provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of

17 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

18 ‘‘(5)(A) Any determination of the Postal Service to

19 relocate, close, consolidate, or construct a post office shall

20 be in writing and shall include the findings of the Postal

21 Service with respect to the considerations required to be

22 made under paragraph (4).

23 ‘‘(B) The Postal Service shall respond to all of the

24 alternative proposals described in paragraph (3) in a con25 solidated report that includes—
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1 ‘‘(i) the determination and findings under sub2 paragraph (A); and

3 ‘‘(ii) each alternative proposal and a response

4 by the Postal Service.

5 ‘‘(C) The Postal Service shall make available to the

6 public a copy of the report prepared under subparagraph

7 (B) at the post office that is the subject of the report.

8 ‘‘(6)(A) The Postal Service shall take no action to

9 relocate, close, consolidate, or construct a post office until

10 the applicable date described in subparagraph (B).

11 ‘‘(B) The applicable date specified in this subpara12 graph is—

13 ‘‘(i) if no appeal is made under paragraph (7),

14 the end of the 30-day period specified in that para15 graph; or

16 ‘‘(ii) if an appeal is made under paragraph (7),

17 the date on which a determination is made by the

18 Commission under paragraph 7(A), but not later

19 than 120 days after the date on which the appeal is

20 made.

21 ‘‘(7)(A) A determination of the Postal Service to relo22 cate, close, consolidate, or construct any post office may

23 be appealed by any person served by that post office to

24 the Postal Rate Commission during the 30-day period be25 ginning on the date on which the report is made available
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1 under paragraph (5). The Commission shall review the de2 termination on the basis of the record before the Postal

3 Service in the making of the determination. The Commis4 sion shall make a determination based on that review not

5 later than 120 days after appeal is made under this para6 graph.

7 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall set aside any determina8 tion, findings, and conclusions of the Postal Service that

9 the Commission finds to be—

10 ‘‘(i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discre11 tion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law;

12 ‘‘(ii) without observance of procedure required

13 by law; or

14 ‘‘(iii) unsupported by substantial evidence on

15 the record.

16 ‘‘(C) The Commission may affirm the determination

17 of the Postal Service that is the subject of an appeal under

18 subparagraph (A) or order that the entire matter that is

19 the subject of that appeal be returned for further consider20 ation, but the Commission may not modify the determina21 tion of the Postal Service. The Commission may suspend

22 the effectiveness of the determination of the Postal Service

23 until the final disposition of the appeal.
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1 ‘‘(D) The provisions of sections 556 and 557, and

2 chapter 7 of title 5 shall not apply to any review carried

3 out by the Commission under this paragraph.

4 ‘‘(E) A determination made by the Commission shall

5 not be subject to judicial review.

6 ‘‘(8) In any case in which a community has in effect

7 procedures to address the relocation, closing, consolida8 tion, or construction of buildings in the community, and

9 the public participation requirements of those procedures

10 are more stringent than those provided in this subsection,

11 the Postal Service shall apply those procedures to the relo12 cation, closing, consolidation, or construction of a post of13 fice in that community in lieu of applying the procedures

14 established in this subsection.

15 ‘‘(9) In making a determination to relocate, close,

16 consolidate, or construct any post office, the Postal Serv17 ice shall comply with any applicable zoning, planning, or

18 land use laws (including building codes and other related

19 laws of State or local public entities, including any zoning

20 authority with jurisdiction over the area in which the post

21 office is located).

22 ‘‘(10) The relocation, closing, consolidation, or con23 struction of any post office under this subsection shall be

24 conducted in accordance with the National Historic Pres25 ervation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h–2).
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1 ‘‘(11) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

2 to apply to a temporary customer service facility to be

3 used by the Postal Service for a period of less than 60

4 days.

5 ‘‘(12)(A) For purposes of this paragraph the term

6 ‘emergency’ means any occurrence that forces an imme7 diate relocation from an existing facility, including natural

8 disasters, fire, health and safety factors, and lease termi9 nations.

10 ‘‘(B) If the Postmaster General makes a determina11 tion that an emergency exists relating to a post office, the

12 Postmaster General may suspend the application of the

13 provisions of this subsection for a period not to exceed

14 180 days with respect to such post office.

15 ‘‘(C) The Postmaster General may exercise the sus16 pension authority under subparagraph (A) once with re17 spect to a single emergency for any specific post office.’’.

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