II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1204 

To authorize the United States Postal Service to carry out emergency suspensions of post offices in accordance with certain procedures, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2017 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the United States Postal Service to carry out 

emergency suspensions of post offices in accordance with 

certain procedures, 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 ‘‘Post Office Discontinu5 ance Accountability Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY SUSPENSIONS OF POST OFFICES. 

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

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) EMERGENCY SUSPENSIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

2 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘alternate service’ and 

3 ‘temporary location’ include a location at which 

4 customers affected by an emergency suspension 

5 may send and receive mail, which may include 

6 the provision and regular servicing of a Cluster 

7 Box Unit (commonly known as a ‘CBU’) by the 

8 Postal Service; 

9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘discontinuance’ means a 

10 closing or consolidation; 

11 ‘‘(C) the term ‘discontinuance procedures’ 

12 means the procedures required for the dis13 continuance of a post office under subsection 

14 (d) and any regulations promulgated under that 

15 subsection; 

16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘discontinue’ means close or 

17 consolidate; 

18 ‘‘(E) the term ‘emergency suspension’ 

19 means the temporary discontinuance of a post 

20 office, without following discontinuance proce21 dures for the post office, because of— 

22 ‘‘(i) a natural disaster; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the early, sudden, or unexpected 

24 termination of a lease or rental agreement 

25 by the lessor when suitable alternate quarVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204

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1 ters are not immediately available in the 

2 same community; 

3 ‘‘(iii) lack of qualified personnel to op4 erate the post office; 

5 ‘‘(iv) severe or irreparable damage to, 

6 or destruction of, the post office when suit7 able alternate quarters are not immediately 

8 available in the community; 

9 ‘‘(v) a challenge to the sanctity of the 

10 mail; or 

11 ‘‘(vi) a lack of adequate measures to 

12 safeguard the post office or its revenues; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(F) the term ‘post office’— 

15 ‘‘(i) means a Post Office, as that term 

16 is defined in section 241.1 of title 39, Code 

17 of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

18 regulation; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) does not include a post office 

20 branch or station. 

21 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—A District Manager may 

22 implement an emergency suspension of a post office 

23 in accordance with the requirements under para24 graphs (3) through (7). 


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1 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—If a District Manager im2 plements an emergency suspension of a post office, 

3 the District Manager shall provide immediate notice 

4 of the suspension to— 

5 ‘‘(A) the Headquarters Review Coordinator 

6 or the Field Performance office; 

7 ‘‘(B) local officials of the Postal Service, 

8 including— 

9 ‘‘(i) all direct reports to the District 

10 Manager; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Vice President, Area Oper12 ations; 

13 ‘‘(iii) State and national postmaster 

14 organizations; 

15 ‘‘(iv) relevant local transportation and 

16 logistics officials of the Postal Service; 

17 ‘‘(v) accounting services of the Postal 

18 Service and Postmaster accounts; 

19 ‘‘(vi) each upstream Processing and 

20 Distributions Center responsible for proc21 essing mail to and from the relevant post 

22 office; 

23 ‘‘(vii) the Address Management divi24 sion of the Postal Service; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) the Shared Human Resources 

2 Center of the Postal Service; 

3 ‘‘(ix) the Discontinuance Coordinator 

4 of the Postal Service; 

5 ‘‘(x) the Facilities Service Office of 

6 the Postal Service; 

7 ‘‘(xi) local political officials; 

8 ‘‘(xii) the Vice President, Facilities; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(xiii) the Customer Relationship 

11 Manager; and 

12 ‘‘(C) customers, notification to whom shall 

13 include— 

14 ‘‘(i) the effective date of the suspen15 sion; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the reason for the suspension; 

17 ‘‘(iii) any alternate service available, 

18 including how to request curbside delivery; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the nearest post offices and 

20 hours of service; and 

21 ‘‘(v) the name, telephone number, and 

22 email address of an individual to contact 

23 for more information. 

24 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATE SERVICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a District Manager 

2 implements an emergency suspension of a post 

3 office, the District Manager shall establish al4 ternate service as quickly as possible. 

5 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION TO DISCONTINUE.— 

6 If the Postal Service appears likely to make a 

7 determination under subsection (a)(3) to dis8 continue a post office that is under an emer9 gency suspension, the District Manager shall 

10 make every effort to provide the alternate serv11 ice under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 

12 that is most likely to be recommended in the 

13 determination to discontinue the post office. 

14 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYEE REASSIGNMENT.—If a District 

15 Manager implements an emergency suspension of a 

16 post office, the District Manager shall temporarily 

17 reassign each employee of the post office in accord18 ance with each applicable statute, regulation, and 

19 collective bargaining agreement. 

20 ‘‘(6) SUSPENSION REVIEW TEAM.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 

22 days after the date on which a District Man23 ager implements an emergency suspension of a 

24 post office, the District Manager shall form a 


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1 suspension review team to review the decision to 

2 implement the emergency suspension. 

3 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS.—The members of a sus4 pension review team shall include— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Discontinuance Coordinator; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the Manager of Post Office Op7 erations or a designee; 

8 ‘‘(iii) a representative from the Facil9 ity Services Office; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) in the case of the suspension of 

11 a post office staffed by a postmaster, State 

12 presidents of each postmaster organization 

13 or their designees. 

14 ‘‘(C) DECISIONS.—All decisions of the sus15 pension review team shall be by an affirmative 

16 vote of a majority of the members of the sus17 pension review team. 

18 ‘‘(D) SITE VISIT.—The suspension review 

19 team for a post office shall conduct a site visit 

20 to the post office. 

21 ‘‘(E) RECOMMENDATION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 

23 business days after the site visit under 

24 subparagraph (D), the suspension review 

25 team shall notify the District Manager and 


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1 the Vice President, Delivery Operations of 

2 its recommendation to— 

3 ‘‘(I) continue the emergency sus4 pension; or 

5 ‘‘(II) reopen the post office. 

6 ‘‘(ii) POSTMASTER ORGANIZATIONS.— 

7 In the case of the suspension of a post of8 fice staffed by a postmaster, the suspen9 sion review team shall also notify the na10 tional postmaster organizations of its rec11 ommendation under clause (i). 

12 ‘‘(F) CONTINUED SUSPENSION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the suspension 

14 review team recommends under subpara15 graph (E) that the emergency suspension 

16 of a post office continue, the District Man17 ager shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) not later than 10 days after 

19 being notified of that recommenda20 tion, initiate discontinuance proce21 dures for the post office; or 

22 ‘‘(II) not later than 30 days after 

23 being notified of that recommenda24 tion, publish and submit to the Vice 

25 President, Delivery Operations, a plan 


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1 of action to restore service to the af2 fected community— 

3 ‘‘(aa) within a reasonable 

4 period of time; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) in any event, not later 

6 than 180 days after the date on 

7 which the emergency suspension 

8 was implemented. 

9 ‘‘(ii) DELAY IN RESTORATION OF

10 SERVICE.—If a District Manager publishes 

11 and submits a plan of action to restore 

12 service to an affected community under 

13 clause (i)(II) and service to the affected 

14 community is not restored within 180 days 

15 of the date on which the emergency sus16 pension was implemented, the District 

17 Manager shall— 

18 ‘‘(I)(aa) publish notice of the 

19 delay, including— 

20 ‘‘(AA) a reason for the 

21 delay; and 

22 ‘‘(BB) an anticipated date 

23 of restoration of service; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) not later than 10 days 

25 after publishing the notice, host a live, 


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1 in-person question-and-answer forum 

2 in the affected community; or 

3 ‘‘(II) initiate discontinuance pro4 cedures for the post office. 

5 ‘‘(iii) FURTHER DELAYS IN RESTORA6 TION OF SERVICE.—Upon the expiration of 

7 each 30-day period after the date that is 

8 180 days after the date on which the emer9 gency suspension of a post office was im10 plemented, if service has not been restored 

11 to the affected community, the District 

12 Manager shall publish an updated notice of 

13 the delay that includes the anticipated date 

14 of restoration of service. 

15 ‘‘(iv) 1-YEAR DELAY.—If 1 year has 

16 elapsed since the implementation of an 

17 emergency suspension of a post office and 

18 service has not been restored to the af19 fected community, the District Manager— 

20 ‘‘(I) shall host— 

21 ‘‘(aa) a second live, in-per22 son question-and-answer forum 

23 in the affected community; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) additional live, in-per25 son question-and-answer fora in 


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1 the affected community every 

2 subsequent 180 days until— 

3 ‘‘(AA) service is re4 stored; or 

5 ‘‘(BB) the District 

6 Manager initiates dis7 continuance procedures for 

8 the post office; and 

9 ‘‘(II) if no alternate services are 

10 located within 10 miles of the post of11 fice, not later than 60 days after the 

12 date that is 1 year after the date on 

13 which the emergency suspension was 

14 implemented, shall develop and pub15 lish a plan to establish a temporary 

16 location from which to provide service 

17 within 10 miles of the suspended facil18 ity. 

19 ‘‘(G) REOPENING OF POST OFFICE.—If the 

20 suspension review team recommends under sub21 paragraph (E) that a post office be reopened— 

22 ‘‘(i) not later than 5 business days 

23 after the date on which the suspension re24 view team provides notice of the rec25 ommendation under clause (i) of that subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204

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1 paragraph, the District Manager shall re2 open the post office; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Inspector General shall con4 duct an investigation to determine the le5 gitimacy of the concerns that resulted in 

6 the emergency suspension. 

7 ‘‘(7) RESTORATION OF SERVICE.—Upon res8 toration of service under paragraph (6)(F) or the re9 opening of a post office under paragraph (6)(G), the 

10 District Manager shall immediately notify— 

11 ‘‘(A) the affected community; 

12 ‘‘(B) the Headquarters Review Coordi13 nator; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the local Facilities Database Coordi15 nator. 

16 ‘‘(8) LEASE OR RENTAL AGREEMENT EXPIRA17 TION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON EMERGENCY

20 SUSPENSIONS.—A District Manager may 

21 not implement an emergency suspension of 

22 a post office based on the expiration of the 

23 lease or rental agreement for the post of24 fice. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVE PROCESS.—The 

2 Postal Service may establish an alternative 

3 process for the suspension of postal serv4 ices to a community based on the expira5 tion of a lease or rental agreement for a 

6 post office in accordance with subpara7 graphs (B) through (I) of this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(B) PREPARATION FOR EXPIRATION.— 

9 Before the expiration of a lease or rental agree10 ment for a post office, the District Manager 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) initiate or attempt to initiate ne13 gotiations for an extension of the lease or 

14 rental agreement, or sale of the property to 

15 the Postal Service, with a sufficient 

16 amount of time, which shall be not less 

17 than 18 months, to allow for the likely 

18 completion of negotiations before the expi19 ration of the lease or rental agreement; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) initiate discontinuance proce21 dures for the post office with a sufficient 

22 amount of time, which shall be not less 

23 than 18 months, to allow for likely comple24 tion of the procedures before the expiration 

25 of the lease or rental agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(C) DISCONTINUANCE.—If the District 

2 Manager does not initiate or attempt to initiate 

3 negotiations described in subparagraph (B)(i) 

4 with a sufficient amount of time (as defined in 

5 that subparagraph) to allow for likely comple6 tion of negotiations before the expiration of the 

7 lease or rental agreement, discontinuance proce8 dures may not be initiated for the post office 

9 earlier than the date that is 3 years after the 

10 date on which the lease or rental agreement ex11 pires. 

12 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO REACH AGREEMENT.— 

13 If, as of 30 days before the expiration of a lease 

14 or rental agreement for a post office, the Dis15 trict Manager has not reached an agreement 

16 with the lessor to extend the lease or rental 

17 agreement or to sell the property to the Postal 

18 Service, the District Manager shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) notify the affected community of 

20 a possible disruption in service due to the 

21 possible expiration of the lease or rental 

22 agreement; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) include in the notification under 

24 clause (i)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the expiration date of the 

2 lease or rental agreement; 

3 ‘‘(II) alternate services available 

4 if the lease or rental agreement ex5 pires, including how to request 

6 curbside delivery; 

7 ‘‘(III) the nearest post offices 

8 and hours of service; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) the name, telephone num10 ber, and email address of an indi11 vidual to contact for more informa12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(E) NEW LEASE OR RENTAL AGREE14 MENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

15 on which a lease or rental agreement for a post 

16 office expires, the District Manager shall make 

17 best efforts to enter into a new lease or rental 

18 agreement for a post office in, or within a rea19 sonable distance of, the community in which the 

20 post office that was the subject of the expired 

21 lease or rental agreement is located. 

22 ‘‘(F) FAILURE TO ENTER INTO NEW LEASE

23 OR RENTAL AGREEMENT.—If, within 30 days 

24 after the expiration of a lease or rental agree25 ment for a post office, the District Manager is 


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1 unable to execute a new lease or rental agree2 ment at the same location or another location 

3 within the affected community, the District 

4 Manager shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) publish notice of intent to submit 

6 to the Vice President, Delivery Operations 

7 a plan of action to restore service to the 

8 affected community— 

9 ‘‘(I) within a reasonable period of 

10 time; and 

11 ‘‘(II) in any event, not later than 

12 180 days after the date on which the 

13 lease or rental agreement expired; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) if no suitable alternate quarters 

15 are available in the community— 

16 ‘‘(I) publish notice of intent to 

17 initiate discontinuance procedures for 

18 the post office; and 

19 ‘‘(II) initiate discontinuance pro20 cedures. 

21 ‘‘(G) DELAY IN RESTORATION OF SERV22 ICE.—If a District Manager publishes and sub23 mits a plan of action to restore service to an af24 fected community under subparagraph (F)(i) 

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1 stored within 180 days of the date on which the 

2 lease or rental agreement for the post office ex3 pired, the District Manager shall— 

4 ‘‘(i)(I) publish notice of the delay, in5 cluding— 

6 ‘‘(aa) a reason for the delay; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) an anticipated date of res8 toration of service; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) not later than 10 days after pub10 lishing the notice, host a live, in-person 

11 question-and-answer forum in the affected 

12 community. 

13 ‘‘(H) FURTHER DELAYS IN RESTORATION

14 OF SERVICE.—Upon the expiration of each 30- 

15 day period after the date on which the District 

16 Manager publishes notice under subparagraph 

17 (G)(i), if service has not been restored to the 

18 affected community, the District Manager shall 

19 publish an updated notice of the delay that in20 cludes the anticipated date of restoration of 

21 service. 

22 ‘‘(I) 1-YEAR DELAY.—If service to the af23 fected community is not restored within 1 year 

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1 ment for the post office expired, the District 

2 Manager— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall host— 

4 ‘‘(I) a second live, in-person 

5 question-and-answer forum in the af6 fected community; and 

7 ‘‘(II) additional live, in-person 

8 question-and-answer fora in the af9 fected community every subsequent 

10 180 days until— 

11 ‘‘(aa) service is restored; or 

12 ‘‘(bb) the District Manager 

13 initiates discontinuance proce14 dures for the post office; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) if no alternate services are lo16 cated within 10 miles of the post office, 

17 not later than 60 days after the date that 

18 is 1 year after the date on which the lease 

19 or rental agreement for the post office ex20 pired, shall develop and publish a plan to 

21 establish a temporary location from which 

22 to provide service within 10 miles of the 

23 post office. 

24 ‘‘(9) DELEGATION.—A District Manager may 

25 delegate any authority or responsibility under this 


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1 subsection except under paragraph (2), (4)(B), or 

2 (6)(A). 

3 ‘‘(10) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall 

4 apply to any emergency suspension of a post office 

5 that is implemented on or after the date of enact6 ment of the Post Office Discontinuance Account7 ability Act of 2017.’’. 

Æ 


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