II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3515 

To improve communication between the United States Postal Service and 

local communities relating to the relocation and establishment of Postal 

Service retail service facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve communication between the United States Postal 

Service and local communities relating to the relocation 

and establishment of Postal Service retail service facilities, 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 ‘‘Mandating Advisable 

5 and Informed Locations and Solutions Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘MAILS Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) POST OFFICE.—The term ‘‘post office’’— 

2 (A) means a facility that— 

3 (i) is owned or leased by the Postal 

4 Service; 

5 (ii) is managed by a Postmaster; 

6 (iii) has responsibility for— 

7 (I) customer services; 

8 (II) local delivery; and 

9 (III) receipt and dispatch of all 

10 classes of mail; and 

11 (iv) may have responsibility for proc12 essing and distribution of mail for other 

13 such facilities in the surrounding geo14 graphic area; and 

15 (B) includes a remotely managed post of16 fice, a part-time post office, and an administra17 tive post office. 

18 (2) POSTAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Postal Serv19 ice’’ means the United States Postal Service. 

20 (3) TEMPORARY RELOCATION.—The term 

21 ‘‘temporary relocation’’ means a temporary reloca22 tion of retail services from a post office to support 

23 Postal Service business for a holiday, special event, 

24 or overflow business, as described in paragraph 


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1 (a)(2)(i) of section 241.4 of title 39, Code of Federal 

2 Regulations. 

3 SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR NEW POST OFFICES. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Postal Service shall establish by regulation 

6 a formal process for a local government official to request 

7 a new post office within the locality. 

8 SEC. 4. COMMUNICATION RELATING TO POST OFFICE RE9 LOCATION. 

10 The Postal Service shall amend section 241.4 of title 

11 39, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide the following: 

12 (1) COMMUNITY INPUT.—The Postal Service 

13 may not implement a temporary relocation, including 

14 for a commemorative event, for a period longer than 

15 2 days without collecting and considering community 

16 input under paragraph (c) of that section. 

17 (2) NOTIFICATION.— 

18 (A) ELECTED OFFICIALS.—Not later than 

19 30 days before the date of a temporary reloca20 tion, the Postal Service shall— 

21 (i) submit to 1 or more local elected 

22 officials in the area in which the affected 

23 post office is located a written outline of 

24 the proposal; and 


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1 (ii) offer to discuss the proposal with 

2 the elected official under paragraph (c) of 

3 that section. 

4 (B) PUBLIC PRESENTATION.—The Postal 

5 Service shall— 

6 (i) not later than 15 days before the 

7 date of a temporary relocation, provide 

8 public notice of the temporary relocation in 

9 the area in which the affected post office 

10 is located; and 

11 (ii) not later than 15 days after pro12 viding notice to local elected officials under 

13 subparagraph (A)(i), hold a public presen14 tation under paragraph (c) of that section. 

15 (3) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Not later than 60 

16 days after the end of the initial 30-day comment pe17 riod under paragraph (c) of that section, and every 

18 60 days thereafter until the date that is 60 days 

19 after the last day of a temporary relocation, the 

20 Postal Service shall submit to relevant local govern21 ment officials updates on the status of the tem22 porary relocation. 

23 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

24 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—With respect to any tem25 porary relocation for a period that is longer than 180 days 


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1 (whether due to the originally projected length of the relo2 cation or due to an extension), not later than 30 days after 

3 the first day of the temporary relocation (or of the exten4 sion that caused the length of the relocation to exceed 180 

5 days, if applicable), the Postal Service shall submit a re6 port relating to the temporary relocation or extension to— 

7 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

8 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

9 (2) the Committee on Oversight and Account10 ability of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (3) the members of Congress who represent the 

12 congressional district or State in which the affected 

13 post office is located. 

14 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report described 

15 in subsection (a) shall include a discussion of— 

16 (1) whether the communication requirements 

17 were met within the required timelines, and if not, 

18 an explanation for the failure to comply with the re19 quirements; and 

20 (2) whether the period of the temporary reloca21 tion is being extended, and if so, an explanation for 

22 the extension. 

Æ 


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