II 

Calendar No. 366 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2629 

To improve postal operations, service, and transparency. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. HEITKAMP, and Mrs. MCCASKILL) 

introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

APRIL 9, 2018 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To improve postal operations, service, and transparency. 

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 ‘‘Postal Service Reform 

5 Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—POSTAL PERSONNEL 

Sec. 101. Postal Service Health Benefits Program. 

Sec. 102. Postal Service retiree health care benefit funding reform. 

Sec. 103. Medicare part B premium subsidy for newly enrolling Postal Service 

annuitants and family members. 

Sec. 104. Postal Service pension funding reform. 

Sec. 105. Supervisory and other managerial organizations. 

Sec. 106. Right of appeal to Merit Systems Protection Board. 

TITLE II—POSTAL SERVICE OPERATIONS REFORM 

Sec. 201. Governance reform. 

Sec. 202. Modernizing postal rates. 

Sec. 203. Nonpostal services. 

Sec. 204. Shipping of wine, beer, and distilled spirits. 

Sec. 205. Efficient and flexible universal postal service. 

Sec. 206. Fair stamp-evidencing competition. 

Sec. 207. Market-dominant rates. 

Sec. 208. Review of Postal Service cost attribution guidelines. 

Sec. 209. Aviation security for parcels. 

Sec. 210. Long-term solvency plan; annual financial plan and budget. 

Sec. 211. Service standards, performance targets, and performance measurements. 

Sec. 212. Postal Service Chief Innovation Officer. 

Sec. 213. Emergency suspensions of post offices. 

Sec. 214. Mailing address requirements. 

TITLE III—POSTAL CONTRACTING REFORM 

Sec. 301. Contracting provisions. 

Sec. 302. Technical amendment to definition. 

TITLE IV—POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION, INSPECTOR 

GENERAL, RELATED PROVISIONS, AND MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 401. Postal Regulatory Commission. 

Sec. 402. Inspector General of the United States Postal Service and the Postal 

Regulatory Commission. 

Sec. 403. GAO report on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in Federal 

programs and activities. 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 

3 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

5 (2) POSTAL RETAIL FACILITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘postal retail facility’’— 


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1 (A) means a post office, post office branch, 

2 post office classified station, or other facility 

3 that is operated by the Postal Service, the pri4 mary function of which is to provide retail post5 al services; and 

6 (B) does not include a contractor-operated 

7 facility offering postal services. 

8 (3) POSTAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Postal Serv9 ice’’ means the United States Postal Service. 

10 TITLE I—POSTAL PERSONNEL 

11 SEC. 101. POSTAL SERVICE HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 89 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 

15 8903b the following: 

16 ‘‘§ 8903c. Postal Service Health Benefits Program 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) the term ‘initial contract year’ means the 

19 contract year beginning in January of the first full 

20 year that begins not less than 7 months after the 

21 date of enactment of this section; 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘initial participating carrier’ 

23 means a carrier that enters into a contract with the 

24 Office to participate in the Postal Service Health 

25 Benefits Program during the initial contract year; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Medicare eligible individual’ 

2 means an individual who— 

3 ‘‘(A) is entitled to Medicare part A, but ex4 cluding an individual who is eligible to enroll 

5 under such part under section 1818 of the So6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–2); and 

7 ‘‘(B) is eligible to enroll in Medicare part 

8 B; 

9 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Medicare part A’ means the 

10 Medicare program for hospital insurance benefits 

11 under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security 

12 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395c et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(5) the term ‘Medicare part B’ means the 

14 Medicare program for supplementary medical insur15 ance benefits under part B of title XVIII of the So16 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395j et seq.); 

17 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Medicare part D’ means the 

18 Medicare insurance program established under part 

19 D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 1395w–101 et seq.); 

21 ‘‘(7) the term ‘Office’ means the Office of Per22 sonnel Management; 

23 ‘‘(8) the term ‘Postal Service’ means the United 

24 States Postal Service; 


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1 ‘‘(9) the term ‘Postal Service annuitant’ means 

2 an annuitant enrolled in a health benefits plan under 

3 this chapter whose Government contribution is paid 

4 by the Postal Service or the Postal Service Retiree 

5 Health Benefits Fund under section 8906(g)(2); 

6 ‘‘(10) the term ‘Postal Service employee’ means 

7 an employee of the Postal Service enrolled in a 

8 health benefits plan under this chapter; 

9 ‘‘(11) the term ‘Postal Service Health Benefits 

10 Program’ means the program of health benefits 

11 plans established under subsection (c) within the 

12 Federal Employees Health Benefits Program under 

13 this chapter; 

14 ‘‘(12) the term ‘Postal Service Medicare eligible 

15 annuitant’ means an individual who— 

16 ‘‘(A) is a Postal Service annuitant; and 

17 ‘‘(B) is a Medicare eligible individual; 

18 ‘‘(13) the term ‘PSHBP plan’ means a health 

19 benefits plan offered under the Postal Service 

20 Health Benefits Program; and 

21 ‘‘(14) the term ‘qualified carrier’ means a car22 rier for which the total enrollment in the plans pro23 vided under this chapter includes, in the contract 

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1 tial contract year, a combined total of 1,500 or more 

2 enrollees who are— 

3 ‘‘(A) Postal Service employees; or 

4 ‘‘(B) Postal Service annuitants. 

5 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—The requirements 

6 under this section shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) apply to the initial contract year, and each 

8 contract year thereafter; and 

9 ‘‘(2) supersede other provisions of this chapter 

10 to the extent of any specific inconsistency, as deter11 mined by the Office. 

12 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE POSTAL SERVICE

13 HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall establish 

15 the Postal Service Health Benefits Program, which 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) consist of health benefits plans of18 fered under this chapter; 

19 ‘‘(B) include plans offered by— 

20 ‘‘(i) each qualified carrier; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) any other carrier determined ap22 propriate by the Office; 

23 ‘‘(C) be available for participation by all 

24 Postal Service employees, in accordance with 

25 subsection (d); 


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1 ‘‘(D) be available for participation by all 

2 Postal Service annuitants, in accordance with 

3 subsection (d); 

4 ‘‘(E) not be available for participation by 

5 an individual who is not a Postal Service em6 ployee or Postal Service annuitant (except as a 

7 family member of such an employee or annu8 itant); and 

9 ‘‘(F) be implemented and administered by 

10 the Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE POSTAL SERVICE RISK POOL.— 

12 The Office shall ensure that each PSHBP plan in13 cludes rates, one for enrollment as an individual, one 

14 for enrollment for self plus one, and one for enroll15 ment for self and family within each option in the 

16 PSHBP plan, that reasonably and equitably reflect 

17 the cost of benefits provided to a risk pool consisting 

18 solely of Postal Service employees and Postal Service 

19 annuitants (and family members of such employees 

20 and annuitants), taking into specific account the re21 duction in benefits cost for the PSHBP plan due to 

22 the Medicare enrollment requirements under sub23 section (e) and any savings or subsidies resulting 

24 from subsection (f). 


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1 ‘‘(3) ACTUARIALLY EQUIVALENT COVERAGE.— 

2 The Office shall ensure that each carrier partici3 pating in the Postal Service Health Benefits Pro4 gram provides coverage under the PSHBP plans of5 fered by the carrier that is actuarially equivalent, as 

6 determined by the Director of the Office, to the cov7 erage that the carrier provides under the health ben8 efits plans offered by the carrier under the Federal 

9 Employee Health Benefits Program that are not 

10 PSHBP plans. 

11 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE

12 HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Ex13 cept as otherwise set forth in this section, all provi14 sions of this chapter applicable to health benefits 

15 plans offered by a carrier under section 8903 or 

16 8903a shall apply to PSHBP plans. 

17 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION OF CONTINUATION COV18 ERAGE.—In accordance with rules established by the 

19 Office, section 8905a shall apply to PSHBP plans in 

20 the same manner as that section applies to other 

21 health benefits plans offered under this chapter. 

22 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF COVERAGE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graphs (2) and (3), each Postal Service employee 


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1 and Postal Service annuitant who elects to receive 

2 health benefits coverage under this chapter— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall be subject to the requirements 

4 under this section; and 

5 ‘‘(B) may only enroll in a PSHBP plan. 

6 ‘‘(2) ANNUITANTS.—A Postal Service annuitant 

7 shall not be subject to this section if the Postal 

8 Service annuitant— 

9 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a health benefits plan 

10 under this chapter for the contract year before 

11 the initial contract year that is not a health 

12 benefits plan offered by an initial participating 

13 carrier, unless the Postal Service annuitant vol14 untarily enrolls in a PSHBP plan; 

15 ‘‘(B) resides in a geographic area— 

16 ‘‘(i) for which there is not a PSHBP 

17 plan in which the Postal Service annuitant 

18 may enroll; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) in which there is a lack of par20 ticipating Medicare part B providers; or 

21 ‘‘(C) would not derive benefit from enroll22 ing in Medicare part B because of comprehen23 sive medical coverage provided by the Depart24 ment of Veterans Affairs or other programs. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYEES.—A Postal Service employee 

2 who is enrolled in a health benefits plan under this 

3 chapter for the contract year immediately preceding 

4 the initial contract year that is not a health benefits 

5 plan offered by an initial participating carrier shall 

6 not be subject to the requirements under this sec7 tion, except that— 

8 ‘‘(A) if the Postal Service employee 

9 changes enrollment to a different health bene10 fits plan under this chapter during the open 

11 season for the initial contract year, or after the 

12 start of the initial contract year, the Postal 

13 Service employee may only enroll in a PSHBP 

14 plan; 

15 ‘‘(B) if the health benefits plan in which 

16 the Postal Service employee is enrolled for such 

17 contract year becomes available as a PSHBP 

18 plan, the Postal Service employee may only en19 roll in a PSHBP plan; 

20 ‘‘(C) upon becoming a Postal Service an21 nuitant, if the Postal Service employee elects to 

22 continue coverage under this chapter, the Post23 al Service employee shall enroll in a PSHBP 

24 plan during— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the open season that is being held 

2 when the Postal Service employee becomes 

3 a Postal Service annuitant; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) if the date on which the Postal 

5 Service employee becomes a Postal Service 

6 annuitant falls outside of an open season, 

7 the first open season following that date; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(D) subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) 

10 shall not apply to an employee who resides in 

11 a geographic area for which there is not a 

12 PSHBP plan in which the employee may enroll. 

13 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT OF MEDICARE ENROLLMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) POSTAL SERVICE MEDICARE ELIGIBLE AN15 NUITANTS.—A Postal Service Medicare eligible an16 nuitant subject to this section may not continue cov17 erage under the Postal Service Health Benefits Pro18 gram unless the Postal Service Medicare eligible an19 nuitant enrolls in Medicare part A, Medicare part B, 

20 and Medicare part D (as part of a prescription drug 

21 plan described in subsection (f)(2)). 

22 ‘‘(2) MEDICARE ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS.— 

23 If a family member of a Postal Service annuitant 

24 who is subject to this section is a Medicare eligible 

25 individual, the family member may not be covered 


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1 under the Postal Service Health Benefits Program 

2 as a family member of the Postal Service annuitant 

3 unless the family member enrolls in Medicare part 

4 A, Medicare part B, and Medicare part D (as part 

5 of a prescription drug plan described in subsection 

6 (f)(2)). 

7 ‘‘(3) PROCESS FOR COORDINATED ELECTION OF

8 ENROLLMENT UNDER MEDICARE PART B.—The Of9 fice shall establish a process under which— 

10 ‘‘(A) Postal Service annuitants and family 

11 members who are subject to the requirements of 

12 paragraph (1) or (2)— 

13 ‘‘(i) are informed, at the time of en14 rollment under this chapter, of such re15 quirement; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in paragraph 

17 (4), as a consequence of such enrollment 

18 are deemed to have elected to be enrolled 

19 under Medicare part B (under subsection 

20 (m)(1) of section 1837 of the Social Secu21 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p)) in connection 

22 with the enrollment in a PSHBP plan 

23 under this chapter; and 

24 ‘‘(B) the Office provides the Secretary of 

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1 sioner of Social Security in a timely manner 

2 with such information respecting such annu3 itants and family members and such election as 

4 may be required to effect their enrollment and 

5 coverage under Medicare part B and this sec6 tion in a timely manner. 

7 ‘‘(4) WAIVER FOR EXTREME FINANCIAL HARD8 SHIP.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service, in 

10 consultation with recognized labor organizations 

11 and management organizations, shall establish 

12 a waiver program under which the requirement 

13 to enroll in Medicare part B under paragraph 

14 (1) or (2), as applicable, is waived for Postal 

15 Service annuitants and family members who 

16 demonstrate extreme financial hardship. 

17 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF WAIVER.—If the applica18 ble requirement described in subparagraph (A) 

19 is waived for a Postal Service annuitant or fam20 ily member— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Postal Service shall notify the 

22 Office of the waiver; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the annuitant or family member 

24 shall not be deemed to have elected to be 


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1 enrolled under Medicare part B as de2 scribed in paragraph (3)(A)(ii). 

3 ‘‘(f) MEDICARE COORDINATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall require 

5 each PSHBP plan to provide benefits for Medicare 

6 eligible individuals pursuant to the standard coordi7 nation of benefits method used under this chapter, 

8 rather than the exclusion method or the carve-out 

9 method. 

10 ‘‘(2) MEDICARE PART D PRESCRIPTION DRUG

11 BENEFITS.—The Office shall require each PSHBP 

12 plan to provide qualified prescription drug coverage 

13 for Postal Service annuitants and family members 

14 who are part D eligible individuals (as defined in 

15 section 1860D–1(a)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–101(a)(3)(A)) under a prescrip17 tion drug plan under Medicare part D pursuant to 

18 the provisions of section 1860D–22(b) (commonly 

19 referred to as an ‘employer group waiver plan’). For 

20 purposes of the preceding sentence, the carrier offer21 ing the PSHBP plan shall be deemed to be the 

22 sponsor of the plan for purposes of Medicare part D. 

23 ‘‘(g) POSTAL SERVICE CONTRIBUTION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (i), 

25 for purposes of applying section 8906(b) to the 


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1 Postal Service, the weighted average shall be cal2 culated in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) WEIGHTED AVERAGE CALCULATION.—Not 

4 later than October 1 of each year (beginning with 

5 the year before the initial contract year), the Office 

6 shall determine the weighted average of the rates es7 tablished pursuant to subsection (c)(2) for PSHBP 

8 plans that will be in effect during the following con9 tract year with respect to— 

10 ‘‘(A) enrollments for self only; 

11 ‘‘(B) enrollments for self plus one; and 

12 ‘‘(C) enrollments for self and family. 

13 ‘‘(3) WEIGHTING IN COMPUTING RATES FOR

14 INITIAL CONTRACT YEAR.—In determining such 

15 weighted average of the rates for the initial contract 

16 year, the Office shall take into account (for purposes 

17 of section 8906(a)(2)) the enrollment of Postal Serv18 ice employees and annuitants in the health benefits 

19 plans offered by the initial participating carriers as 

20 of March 31 of the year before the initial contract 

21 year. 

22 ‘‘(h) RESERVES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) SEPARATE RESERVES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall en25 sure that each PSHBP plan maintains separate 


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1 reserves (including a separate contingency re2 serve) with respect to the enrollees in the 

3 PSHBP plan in accordance with section 8909. 

4 ‘‘(B) REFERENCES.—For purposes of the 

5 Postal Service Health Benefits Program, each 

6 reference to ‘the Government’ in section 8909 

7 shall be deemed to be a reference to the Postal 

8 Service. 

9 ‘‘(C) AMOUNTS TO BE CREDITED.—The re10 serves (including the separate contingency re11 serve) maintained by each PSHBP plan shall 

12 be credited with a proportionate amount of the 

13 funds in the existing reserves for health benefits 

14 plans offered by an initial participating carrier. 

15 ‘‘(2) DISCONTINUATION OF PSHBP PLAN.—In 

16 applying section 8909(e) relating to a PSHBP plan 

17 that is discontinued, the Office shall credit the sepa18 rate Postal Service contingency reserve maintained 

19 under paragraph (1) for that plan only to the sepa20 rate Postal Service contingency reserves of the 

21 PSHBP plans continuing under this chapter. 

22 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING LAW.—Nothing in 

23 this section shall be construed as affecting section 1005(f) 

24 of title 39 regarding variations, additions, or substitutions 

25 to the provisions of this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘(j) MEDICARE EDUCATION PROGRAM.—Not later 

2 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

3 the Postal Service shall establish a Medicare Education 

4 Program, under which the Postal Service shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) notify annuitants and employees of the 

6 Postal Service about the Postal Service Health Ben7 efits Program; 

8 ‘‘(2) provide information regarding the Postal 

9 Service Health Benefits Program to such annuitants 

10 and employees, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of the health care op12 tions available under the Postal Service Health 

13 Benefits Program; 

14 ‘‘(B) the requirement that annuitants be 

15 enrolled in Medicare under subsection (e)(1); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(C) the premium subsidies under section 

18 103 of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2018; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(3) respond and provide answers to any in21 quiry from such annuitants and employees about the 

22 Postal Service Health Benefits Program or Medicare 

23 enrollment.’’. 

24 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENTS.— 


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1 (A) Section 8903(1) of title 5, United 

2 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘two levels 

3 of benefits’’ and inserting ‘‘2 levels of benefits 

4 for enrollees under this chapter generally and 2 

5 levels of benefits for enrollees under the Postal 

6 Service Health Benefits Program established 

7 under section 8903c’’. 

8 (B) The table of sections for chapter 89 of 

9 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in10 serting after the item relating to section 8903b 

11 the following: 

‘‘8903c. Postal Service Health Benefits Program.’’. 

12 (b) COORDINATION WITH MEDICARE.— 

13 (1) MEDICARE ENROLLMENT AND COVERAGE.— 

14 Section 1837 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1395p) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(m)(1) In the case of an individual who— 

18 ‘‘(A) is (i) a Postal Service Medicare eligible 

19 annuitant, or (ii) an individual who is a family mem20 ber of such an annuitant and is a Medicare eligible 

21 individual; 

22 ‘‘(B) enrolls in a PSHBP plan under section 

23 8903c of title 5, United States Code; and 

24 ‘‘(C) is not enrolled under this part, 


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1 the individual is deemed, in accordance with section 

2 8903c(e)(3) of such title, to have elected to be enrolled 

3 under this part. 

4 ‘‘(2) In the case of an individual who is deemed to 

5 have elected to be enrolled under paragraph (1), the cov6 erage period under this part shall begin on the date that 

7 the individual first has coverage under the PSHBP plan 

8 pursuant to the enrollment described in paragraph (1)(B). 

9 ‘‘(3) The provisions of section 1838(b) shall apply to 

10 an individual who is deemed to have elected to be enrolled 

11 under paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(4) The Secretary, the Commissioner of Social Secu13 rity, the United States Postal Service, and the Office of 

14 Personnel Management shall coordinate to monitor pre15 miums paid by individuals who are deemed to have elected 

16 to be enrolled under paragraph (1) for purposes of deter17 mining whether those individuals are in compliance with 

18 the applicable requirements under section 8903c(e) of title 

19 5, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(5) The definitions in section 8903c(a) of title 5, 

21 United States Code, shall apply for purposes of this sub22 section.’’. 

23 (2) WAIVER OF INCREASE OF PREMIUM.—Sec24 tion 1839(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 1395r(b)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘section 


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1 1837,’’ the following: ‘‘and not pursuant to a 

2 deemed enrollment under subsection (m) of such sec3 tion during the open season for the initial contract 

4 year (as defined in section 8903c(a) of title 5, 

5 United States Code) of the Postal Service Health 

6 Benefits Program,’’. 

7 (3) CONFORMING COORDINATION OF BENEFIT

8 RULES.—Section 1862(b) of the Social Security Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1395y(b)) is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(10) COORDINATION OF BENEFITS WITH

12 POSTAL SERVICE HEALTH BENEFITS PLANS.—Para13 graphs (1) through (9) shall apply except to the ex14 tent that the Secretary, in consultation with the Of15 fice of Personnel Management, determines those 

16 paragraphs to be inconsistent with section 8903c(f) 

17 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

18 SEC. 102. POSTAL SERVICE RETIREE HEALTH CARE BEN19 EFIT FUNDING REFORM. 

20 (a) CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 8906(g) of title 5, 

21 United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘(2)(A) The Government’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘(2)(A)(i) The Government’’; and 

24 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

25 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) in clause (i), as added by para2 graph (1), by striking ‘‘shall through Sep3 tember 30, 2016, be paid’’ and all that fol4 lows and inserting the following: ‘‘shall be 

5 paid as provided in clause (ii).’’; and 

6 (ii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the Government contributions 

9 required to be paid under clause (i)— 

10 ‘‘(I) the portion of the contributions that is 

11 equal to the amount of the net claims costs under 

12 the enrollment of the individuals described in clause 

13 (i) shall be paid from the Postal Service Retiree 

14 Health Benefits Fund up to the amount contained 

15 in the Fund; and 

16 ‘‘(II) any remaining amount shall be paid by 

17 the United States Postal Service.’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the amount of 

20 the net claims costs under the enrollment of an individual 

21 described in subparagraph (A)(i) shall be the amount, as 

22 determined by the Office over any particular period of 

23 time, equal to the difference between— 

24 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the costs incurred by a carrier in pro2 viding health services to, paying for health serv3 ices provided to, or reimbursing expenses for 

4 health services provided to, the individual and 

5 any other person covered under the enrollment 

6 of the individual; and 

7 ‘‘(II) an amount of indirect expenses rea8 sonably allocable to the provision, payment, or 

9 reimbursement described in subclause (I), as 

10 determined by the Office; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the amount withheld from the annuity of 

12 the individual or otherwise paid by the individual 

13 under this section. 

14 ‘‘(D) Any computation by the Office under this sec15 tion that relates to an individual described in subpara16 graph (A)(i) of this paragraph shall be made in consulta17 tion with the United States Postal Service.’’. 

18 (b) POSTAL SERVICE RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS

19 FUND.—Section 8909a(d) of title 5, United States Code, 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘Office’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘United States Postal Service’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘required under section 

25 8906(g)(2)(A)’’ and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘required to be paid from the Postal Service 

2 Retiree Health Benefits Fund under section 

3 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I)’’; 

4 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4); 

5 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para6 graph (4); 

7 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(2) The United States Postal Service shall make 

10 sufficient payments into the Fund, in accordance with 

11 paragraphs (4) and (5)(B), so that the value of the assets 

12 of the Fund is equal to the Postal Service actuarial liabil13 ity. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than June 30, 2019, the United 

15 States Postal Service shall compute, and by June 30 of 

16 each succeeding year, the United States Postal Service 

17 shall recompute, a schedule including a series of annual 

18 installments that provide for the liquidation of the amount 

19 described under subparagraph (B) (regardless of whether 

20 the amount is a liability or surplus) by September 30 of 

21 the first fiscal year that begins 40 years after the date 

22 of enactment of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2018 

23 (unless the schedule is extended as provided in paragraph 

24 (4)(C)(ii)(II)), including interest at the rate used in the 

25 computations under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The amount described in this subparagraph is 

2 the amount, as of the date on which the applicable com3 putation or recomputation under subparagraph (A) is 

4 made, that is equal to the difference between— 

5 ‘‘(i) 80 percent of the Postal Service actuarial 

6 liability as of September 30 of the preceding fiscal 

7 year; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the value of the assets of the Postal Serv9 ice Retiree Health Benefits Fund as of September 

10 30 of the preceding fiscal year.’’; 

11 (5) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

13 (i) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (ii) in clause (iv), by striking the 

16 semicolon at the end and inserting a pe17 riod; and 

18 (iii) by striking clauses (v) through 

19 (x); 

20 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

21 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘para22 graph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), 

23 except to the extent the payment would 

24 cause the value of the assets in the Fund 


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1 to exceed the Postal Service actuarial li2 ability’’; and 

3 (ii) in clause (ii)— 

4 (I) by inserting ‘‘except as pro5 vided in subparagraph (C),’’ before 

6 ‘‘any’’; and 

7 (II) by striking ‘‘paragraph 

8 (2)(B).’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

9 (3).’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(C)(i) Upon request by the United States Postal 

12 Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission may waive the 

13 annual installment payment required to be made in a fis14 cal year under subparagraph (B)(ii) if the United States 

15 Postal Service meets conditions established by the Postal 

16 Regulatory Commission related to— 

17 ‘‘(I) financial stability and retained earnings; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(II) the capability to maintain a high level of 

20 service. 

21 ‘‘(ii) If the Postal Regulatory Commission waives the 

22 annual installment payment required to be made in a fis23 cal year under subparagraph (B)(ii)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for purposes of any financial reporting by 

2 the United States Postal Service, the payment shall 

3 be deemed to have been made; and 

4 ‘‘(II) the United States Postal Service shall ex5 tend the liquidation schedule under paragraph 

6 (3)(A) by 1 year. 

7 ‘‘(iii) If the United States Postal Service does not re8 quest a waiver of the annual installment payment required 

9 to be made in a fiscal year under subparagraph (B)(ii) 

10 and does not make the payment, the United States Postal 

11 Service may not increase rates for market-dominant prod12 ucts under section 3622 of title 39 during the following 

13 fiscal year.’’; 

14 (6) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para15 graph (8); 

16 (7) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(5)(A) Concurrently with each computation or re19 computation under paragraph (3), the United States Post20 al Service shall compute the amount, as of the date of 

21 the computation, that is equal to the difference between— 

22 ‘‘(i) the Postal Service actuarial liability as of 

23 September 30 of the preceding fiscal year; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the value of the assets of the Postal Serv2 ice Retiree Health Benefits Fund as of September 

3 30 of the preceding fiscal year. 

4 ‘‘(B) If the United States Postal Service disposes of 

5 any property owned or leased by the United States Postal 

6 Service, and, based on the most recent computation under 

7 subparagraph (A), the amount described in clause (i) of 

8 that subparagraph is greater than the amount described 

9 in clause (ii) of that subparagraph, the United States 

10 Postal Service shall pay into the Fund the lesser of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the amount of net profit to the United 

12 States Postal Service resulting from the disposal of 

13 property (as determined by the Postal Regulatory 

14 Commission); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the amount computed under subparagraph 

16 (A). 

17 ‘‘(C) The United States Postal Service shall make 

18 each payment required under subparagraph (B) without 

19 regard to whether the United States Postal Service has 

20 completed the annual installment payments required 

21 under paragraph (4)(B)(ii), as scheduled under paragraph 

22 (3)(A). 

23 ‘‘(6) Computations under this subsection shall be 

24 based on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) economic and actuarial methods and as2 sumptions consistent with the methods and assump3 tions used in determining the Postal surplus or sup4 plemental liability under section 8348(h); and 

5 ‘‘(B) any other methods and assumptions, in6 cluding a health care cost trend rate, that the Direc7 tor of the Office determines to be appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(7)(A) The Office shall provide to the United States 

9 Postal Service any data necessary for computations under 

10 this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(B) Upon computing an amount or schedule under 

12 this subsection for a fiscal year, the United States Postal 

13 Service shall provide the data used for the computation 

14 to the Postal Regulatory Commission for review of the 

15 computation. 

16 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days after receiving data from 

17 the United States Postal Service under subparagraph (B), 

18 the Postal Regulatory Commission, in consultation with 

19 the United States Postal Service, shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) determine whether the amount or schedule 

21 was computed in accordance with this subsection; 

22 ‘‘(ii) if the amount or schedule was computed in 

23 accordance with this subsection, submit to the Office 

24 a certification that the amount or schedule is the de25 finitive amount or schedule for that fiscal year; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) if the amount or schedule was not com2 puted in accordance with this subsection, request 

3 that the Office recompute the amount or schedule. 

4 ‘‘(D)(i) Not later than 30 days after receiving a re5 quest from the Postal Regulatory Commission under sub6 paragraph (C)(iii), the Office shall recompute the amount 

7 or schedule. 

8 ‘‘(ii) If the Office recomputes an amount or schedule 

9 under clause (i), the recomputed amount or schedule shall 

10 be the definitive amount or schedule for that fiscal year 

11 for purposes of this subsection.’’; and 

12 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(9) In this subsection, the term ‘Postal Service actu14 arial liability’ means the difference between— 

15 ‘‘(A) the net present value of future payments 

16 required to be paid from the Postal Service Retiree 

17 Health Benefits Fund under section 

18 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I) for current and future United 

19 States Postal Service annuitants; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the net present value as computed under 

21 paragraph (1) attributable to the future service of 

22 United States Postal Service employees. 

23 ‘‘(10) For purposes of computing an amount under 

24 paragraph (1) or (9)(A), section 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I) shall 


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1 be applied as though ‘up to the amount contained in the 

2 Fund’ were struck.’’. 

3 (c) CANCELLATION OF CERTAIN UNPAID OBLIGA4 TIONS OF THE POSTAL SERVICE.—Any obligation of the 

5 Postal Service under section 8909a(d)(3)(A) of title 5, 

6 United States Code, as in effect on the day before the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, that remains unpaid as of such 

8 date of enactment is canceled. 

9 (d) ONE-TIME TRANSFER TO MEDICARE FUNDS.— 

10 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

11 (A) the term ‘‘applicable fiscal year’’ 

12 means the first fiscal year beginning on or after 

13 October 1, 2020, in which the amount com14 puted under paragraph (3)(B) of section 

15 8909a(d) of title 5, United States Code (as 

16 amended by subsection (b)) is a surplus; and 

17 (B) the term ‘‘Medicare fund’’ means— 

18 (i) the Federal Hospital Insurance 

19 Trust Fund under section 1817 of the So20 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i); 

21 (ii) the Federal Supplementary Med22 ical Insurance Trust Fund under section 

23 1841 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395t); and 


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1 (iii) the Medicare Prescription Drug 

2 Account under section 1860D–16 of such 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–116). 

4 (2) TRANSFER REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 

5 days after the date on which the schedule under 

6 paragraph (3)(A) of section 8909a(d) of title 5, 

7 United States Code (as amended by subsection (b)) 

8 in the applicable fiscal year is certified by the Com9 mission or recomputed by the Office of Personnel 

10 Management, as applicable under paragraph (6) of 

11 such section 8909a(d)— 

12 (A) the Secretary of Health and Human 

13 Services shall— 

14 (i) estimate the amount of the in15 creased expenditures required from the 

16 Medicare funds, including the amount re17 quired from each such fund, by reason of 

18 the requirements under section 8903c(e) of 

19 title 5, United States Code (as added by 

20 section 101(a)(1) of this Act) for the 10- 

21 year period beginning on the date of enact22 ment of this Act; and 

23 (ii) notify the Secretary of the Treas24 ury and the Postal Service of the amount 

25 estimated under clause (i); and 


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1 (B) the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

2 transfer from the Postal Service Retiree Health 

3 Benefits Fund to the Medicare funds an 

4 amount equal to the amount estimated by the 

5 Secretary of Health and Human Services under 

6 subparagraph (A)(i), in accordance with para7 graph (3) of this subsection. 

8 (3) DISTRIBUTION.—An amount transferred 

9 under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) shall be 

10 divided among the Medicare funds in proportion to 

11 the increased expenditures required from each such 

12 fund, as estimated by the Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services under subparagraph (A)(i) of that 

14 paragraph. 

15 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

16 The heading of section 8909a of title 5, United States 

17 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Benefit’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘Benefits’’. 

19 (f) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con20 gress that nothing in this section or the amendments made 

21 by this section is intended to establish a precedent with 

22 respect to Federal employees at large, given that the Post23 al Service is a unique entity within the Federal Govern24 ment and benefits for employees of the Postal Service are 


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1 only partially integrated with benefits for Federal employ2 ees at large. 

3 SEC. 103. MEDICARE PART B PREMIUM SUBSIDY FOR 

4 NEWLY ENROLLING POSTAL SERVICE ANNU5 ITANTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means a Post8 al Service annuitant, or a family member of a Postal 

9 Service annuitant, who— 

10 (A) newly enrolls in Medicare part B dur11 ing the open season for the initial contract year 

12 pursuant to a deemed enrollment under sub13 section (m) of section 1837 of the Social Secu14 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395p), as added by section 

15 101 of this Act; and 

16 (B) is not eligible for Medicare cost-shar17 ing or any other subsidies for Medicare part B 

18 premium payments; 

19 (2) the term ‘‘initial contract year’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 8903c(a) of title 

21 5, United States Code, as added by section 101 of 

22 this Act; 

23 (3) the term ‘‘Medicare cost-sharing’’ means 

24 Medicare cost-sharing described in section 

25 1905(p)(3)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 1396d(p)(3)(A)(ii)) under a State plan under 

2 title XIX of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); 

3 (4) the term ‘‘Medicare part B’’ means the 

4 Medicare program for supplementary medical insur5 ance benefits under part B of title XVIII of the So6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395j et seq.); and 

7 (5) the term ‘‘Postal Service annuitant’’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 8903c(a) of title 

9 5, United States Code, as added by section 101 of 

10 this Act. 

11 (b) SUBSIDIES.—With respect to the monthly Medi12 care part B premium payments of eligible individuals (tak13 ing into account any adjustments, including those under 

14 subsections (b) and (i) of section 1839 of the Social Secu15 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r)), the Postal Service— 

16 (1) in the initial contract year, shall subsidize 

17 75 percent of the Medicare part B premium pay18 ments; 

19 (2) in the first year after the initial contract 

20 year, shall subsidize 50 percent of the Medicare part 

21 B premium payments; and 

22 (3) in the second year after the initial contract 

23 year, shall subsidize 25 percent of the Medicare part 

24 B premium payments. 


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1 (c) FUND.—The Postal Service shall establish a fund 

2 to provide the subsidies required under subsection (b). 

3 SEC. 104. POSTAL SERVICE PENSION FUNDING REFORM. 

4 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Section 

5 8348(h) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraphs 

7 (B) and (C) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) The Office shall redetermine the Postal surplus 

9 or supplemental liability as of the close of the fiscal year, 

10 for each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2016. 

11 Subject to subparagraph (C), beginning June 15, 2018, 

12 if the result is a surplus or a supplemental liability, the 

13 Office shall establish an amortization schedule, including 

14 a series of annual installments commencing on September 

15 30 of the subsequent fiscal year, which provides for the 

16 liquidation of the surplus or liability to the Postal Service 

17 or the Fund (as the case may be) by September 30, 2043. 

18 ‘‘(C) Not later than June 30, 2033, the Office shall 

19 determine, and thereafter shall redetermine as necessary, 

20 but not more frequently than once per year, the appro21 priate date by which to complete the liquidation of any 

22 remaining surplus or liability determined under this para23 graph. The appropriate date shall be determined in ac24 cordance with generally accepted actuarial practices and 


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1 principles and shall not be later than 15 years after the 

2 date on which the determination is made.’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(4) For the purpose of carrying out paragraph (1), 

5 for fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal year thereafter, the 

6 Office shall use— 

7 ‘‘(A) demographic factors specific to current 

8 and former employees of the United States Postal 

9 Service, unless such data cannot be generated; and 

10 ‘‘(B) economic assumptions regarding wage and 

11 salary growth that reflect the specific past, and like12 ly future, pay for current employees of the United 

13 States Postal Service.’’. 

14 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM LI15 ABILITY ASSUMPTION REFORM.—Section 8423 of title 5, 

16 United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

20 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘sub21 paragraph (B)),’’ and inserting ‘‘sub22 paragraph (B) or (C)),’’; and 

23 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by strik2 ing the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

3 and’’; and 

4 (iii) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(C) the product of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the normal-cost percentage, as deter8 mined for employees (other than employees cov9 ered by subparagraph (B)) of the United States 

10 Postal Service under paragraph (5), multiplied 

11 by 

12 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of basic pay 

13 payable by the United States Postal Service, for 

14 the period involved, to employees of the United 

15 States Postal Service.’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(5)(A) In determining the normal-cost percentage 

18 for employees of the United States Postal Service for pur19 poses of paragraph (1)(C), the Office shall use— 

20 ‘‘(i) demographic factors specific to such em21 ployees, unless such data cannot be generated; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) economic assumptions regarding wage and 

23 salary growth that reflect the specific past, and like24 ly future, pay for such employees. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The United States Postal Service shall provide 

2 any data or projections the Office requires in order to de3 termine the normal-cost percentage for employees of the 

4 United States Postal Service, consistent with subpara5 graph (A). 

6 ‘‘(C) The Office shall review the determination of the 

7 normal-cost percentage for employees of the United States 

8 Postal Service and make such adjustments as the Office 

9 considers necessary— 

10 ‘‘(i) upon request of the United States Postal 

11 Service, but not more frequently than once each fis12 cal year; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) at such other times as the Office considers 

14 appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(6) For the purpose of carrying out subsection 

16 (b)(1)(B), and consistent with paragraph (5), for fiscal 

17 year 2017, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Office shall 

18 use— 

19 ‘‘(A) demographic factors specific to current 

20 and former employees of the United States Postal 

21 Service, unless such data cannot be generated; and 

22 ‘‘(B) economic assumptions regarding wage and 

23 salary growth that reflect the specific past, and like24 ly future, pay for current employees of the United 

25 States Postal Service.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

3 paragraph (6); and 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(5)(A) In this paragraph, the term ‘postal funding 

7 surplus’ means the amount by which the amount of the 

8 supplemental liability computed under paragraph (1)(B) 

9 is less than zero. 

10 ‘‘(B) If the amount of supplemental liability com11 puted under paragraph (1)(B) as of the close of any fiscal 

12 year after the date of enactment of the Postal Service Re13 form Act of 2018 is less than zero, the Office shall estab14 lish an amortization schedule, including a series of equal 

15 annual installments that— 

16 ‘‘(i) provide for the liquidation of the postal 

17 funding surplus in 30 years, commencing on Sep18 tember 30 of the subsequent fiscal year; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) shall be transferred to the Postal Service 

20 Fund.’’. 

21 SEC. 105. SUPERVISORY AND OTHER MANAGERIAL ORGANI22 ZATIONS. 

23 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Inspector General of the Postal Service 

25 shall submit to Congress a report on compliance by the 


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1 Postal Service with outcomes of consultative discussions 

2 under section 1004(e) of title 39, United States Code, held 

3 with postal management organizations on changes in, or 

4 termination of, pay policies and schedules and fringe ben5 efit programs for members of the postal management or6 ganization, including changes in, or termination of, poli7 cies governing pay-for-performance systems covering su8 pervisory and management employees. 

9 SEC. 106. RIGHT OF APPEAL TO MERIT SYSTEMS PROTEC10 TION BOARD. 

11 Section 1005(a)(4)(A)(ii)(I) of title 39, United States 

12 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(I) is an employee of the Postal Service 

14 or the Office of the Inspector General who is 

15 not represented by a bargaining representative 

16 recognized under section 1203; and’’. 

17 TITLE II—POSTAL SERVICE 

18 OPERATIONS REFORM 

19 SEC. 201. GOVERNANCE REFORM. 

20 (a) BOARD OF GOVERNORS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of title 39, 

22 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘§ 202. Board of Governors 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Post25 al Service a Board of Governors composed of 5 Governors, 


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1 a Postmaster General, and a Deputy Postmaster General, 

2 all of whom shall be appointed in accordance with this sec3 tion. The Governors shall have the power to— 

4 ‘‘(1) exercise the powers of the Postal Service, 

5 consistent with section 203(c); 

6 ‘‘(2) appoint, fix the term of service of, and re7 move the Postmaster General; 

8 ‘‘(3) in consultation with the Postmaster Gen9 eral, appoint, fix the term of service of, and remove 

10 the Deputy Postmaster General; 

11 ‘‘(4) set the strategic direction of postal oper12 ations and approve the pricing and product strategy 

13 for the Postal Service; 

14 ‘‘(5) set the compensation of the Postmaster 

15 General and the Deputy Postmaster General in ac16 cordance with private sector best practices, as deter17 mined by the Governors pursuant to section 3686; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(6) carry out any other duties specifically pro20 vided for in this title. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT; PAY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Governors shall be ap23 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

24 consent of the Senate, not more than 3 of whom 

25 may be adherents of the same political party. The 


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1 Governors shall elect a Chair from among their 

2 members. The Governors shall represent the public 

3 interest generally, and shall be chosen solely on the 

4 basis of their experience in the field of public admin5 istration, law, or accounting, or on their dem6 onstrated ability in managing organizations or cor7 porations (in either the public or private sector) of 

8 substantial size, except that at least 3 of the Gov9 ernors shall be chosen solely on the basis of their 

10 demonstrated ability in managing organizations or 

11 corporations (in either the public or private sector) 

12 that employ at least 10,000 employees. The Gov13 ernors shall not be representatives of specific inter14 ests using the Postal Service, and may be removed 

15 only for cause. 

16 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.—Each Governor shall re17 ceive a salary of $30,000 a year plus $300 a day for 

18 not more than 42 days of meetings each year and 

19 shall be reimbursed for travel and reasonable ex20 penses incurred in attending meetings of the Board. 

21 Nothing in the preceding sentence shall be construed 

22 to limit the number of days of meetings each year 

23 to 42 days. 

24 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In selecting the individ25 uals described in paragraph (1) for nomination for 


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1 appointment to the position of Governor, the Presi2 dent should consult with the Speaker of the House 

3 of Representatives, the minority leader of the House 

4 of Representatives, the majority leader of the Sen5 ate, and the minority leader of the Senate. 

6 ‘‘(c) TERMS OF GOVERNORS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The terms of the 5 Gov8 ernors shall be 7 years, except that the terms of the 

9 5 Governors first taking office shall expire as des10 ignated by the President at the time of appointment, 

11 1 at the end of 1 year, 1 at the end of 2 years, 1 

12 at the end of 3 years, 1 at the end of 4 years, and 

13 1 at the end of 5 years, following the appointment 

14 of the first of them. Any Governor appointed to fill 

15 a vacancy before the expiration of the term for 

16 which the Governor’s predecessor was appointed 

17 shall serve for the remainder of such term. A Gov18 ernor may continue to serve after the expiration of 

19 the Governor’s term until such Governor’s successor 

20 has qualified, but not to exceed one year. 

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No individual may serve 

22 more than 2 terms as a Governor. 

23 ‘‘(d) STAFF.—The Chair of the Board of Governors 

24 shall ensure that the Board has appropriate independent 


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1 staff to carry out the roles and responsibilities of the 

2 Board and the Governors.’’. 

3 (2) APPLICATION.—Any individual serving as a 

4 Governor on the Board of Governors of the Postal 

5 Service on the date of enactment of this Act shall 

6 continue to serve as a Governor until the term appli7 cable to such individual expires (as determined 

8 under section 202(b) of title 39, United States Code, 

9 as in effect before the amendments made by this 

10 section take effect pursuant to subsection (g)). 

11 (b) POSTMASTER GENERAL.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of title 39, 

13 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘§ 203. Postmaster General 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The chief executive officer of the 

16 Postal Service is the Postmaster General, appointed pur17 suant to section 202(a)(2). The alternate chief executive 

18 officer of the Postal Service is the Deputy Postmaster 

19 General, appointed pursuant to section 202(a)(3). 

20 ‘‘(b) POWERS.—Consistent with the requirements of 

21 this title, the exercise of the power of the Postal Service 

22 shall be vested in the Governors and carried out by the 

23 Postmaster General in a manner consistent with the stra24 tegic direction and pricing and product strategy approved 

25 by the Governors. The Postmaster General shall, in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2629.PCS S2629

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1 cordance with bylaws determined appropriate by the 

2 Board, consult with the Governors and the Deputy Post3 master General in carrying out such power.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item re5 lating to section 203 in the table of sections for 

6 chapter 2 of title 39, United States Code, is amend7 ed to read as follows: 

‘‘203. Postmaster General.’’. 

8 (c) PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD.—Section 205 of 

9 title 39, United States Code, is amended to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘§ 205. Procedures of the Board of Governors and the 

12 Governors 

13 ‘‘(a) VACANCIES.—Vacancies in the Board shall not 

14 impair the powers of the Board or the Governors under 

15 this title. 

16 ‘‘(b) VOTE.—The Board and the Governors shall act 

17 upon majority vote of those members who are present, 

18 subject to such quorum requirements as the Board and 

19 the Governors may respectively establish. 

20 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—No officer or employee of the 

21 United States may serve concurrently as a Governor. A 

22 Governor may hold any other office or employment not 

23 inconsistent or in conflict with the Governor’s duties, re24 sponsibilities, and powers as an officer of the Government 

25 of the United States in the Postal Service.’’. 


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1 (d) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 402 of 

2 title 39, United States Code, is amended to read as fol3 lows: 

4 ‘‘§ 402. Delegation of authority 

5 ‘‘(a) POSTMASTER GENERAL.—The Postmaster Gen6 eral may delegate his or her authority under such terms, 

7 conditions, and limitations, including the power of redele8 gation, as he or she determines desirable. The Postmaster 

9 General may establish such committees of officers and em10 ployees of the Postal Service, and delegate such powers 

11 to any committee, as the Postmaster General determines 

12 appropriate to carry out his or her functions and duties. 

13 Delegations under this section shall be consistent with 

14 other provisions of this title, shall not relieve the Post15 master General of full responsibility for the carrying out 

16 the Postmaster General’s duties and functions, and shall 

17 be revocable by the Postmaster General. 

18 ‘‘(b) BOARD OF GOVERNORS.—The Board may estab19 lish such committees of the Board, and delegate such pow20 ers to any committee, as the Board determines appro21 priate to carry out its functions and duties. Delegations 

22 to committees shall be consistent with other provisions of 

23 this title, shall not relieve the Board of full responsibility 

24 for the carrying out of its duties and functions, and shall 

25 be revocable by the Board in its exclusive judgment.’’. 


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1 (e) INTERNATIONAL POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 407 of title 39, 

3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) After submission to the Postal Regulatory Com6 mission by the Department of State of the budget detail7 ing the estimated costs of carrying out the activities under 

8 this section, and the Commission’s review and approval 

9 of such submission, the Postal Service shall transfer to 

10 the Department of State, from any funds available to the 

11 Postal Service, such sums as may be reasonable, docu12 mented, and auditable for the Department of State to 

13 carry out such activities.’’. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

15 paragraph (1) shall take effect on October 1 of the 

16 first fiscal year beginning after the date of enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 633 

19 of title VI of the Treasury and General Government 

20 Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105–277; 39 

21 U.S.C. 407 note) is amended by striking subsection 

22 (d). 

23 (f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 Title 39, United States Code, is amended— 

25 (1) in section 102(3)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘9 members’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘5 members’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘section 202(a)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘section 202(b)(1)’’; 

5 (2) in section 204— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘the Board’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘the Postmaster General’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘the Governors and’’; 

9 (3) in section 207, by striking ‘‘the Board’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘the Postal Service’’; 

11 (4) in section 414(b)(2), by striking ‘‘the Gov12 ernors’’ each place the term appears and inserting 

13 ‘‘the Postal Service’’; 

14 (5) in section 416(c)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘the Governors’’ and in16 serting ‘‘the Postal Service’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘they’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

18 Postal Service’’; 

19 (6) in section 1011, by striking ‘‘the Board’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘the Postal Service’’; 

21 (7) by striking section 2402 and inserting the 

22 following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2402. Annual report 

2 ‘‘The Postmaster General shall render an annual re3 port concerning the operations of the Postal Service under 

4 this title to the President and Congress.’’; 

5 (8) in section 3632— 

6 (A) by striking the section heading, and in7 serting ‘‘Establishment of rates and 

8 classes of competitive products’’; 

9 (B) by striking subsection (a) and redesig10 nating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 

11 (a) and (b), respectively; 

12 (C) in paragraph (a)(2) (as redesignated 

13 by subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘and the 

14 record of the Governors’ proceedings in connec15 tion with such decision’’; 

16 (D) in paragraph (a)(3) (as redesignated 

17 by subparagraph (B))— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘and the record of the 

19 proceedings in connection with such deci20 sion’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘the Governors con22 sider’’ and inserting ‘‘the Postal Service 

23 considers’’; and 

24 (E) by striking ‘‘the Governors’’ each place 

25 the term appears and inserting ‘‘the Postal 

26 Service’’; and 


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1 (9) in the table of sections for chapter 36, by 

2 striking the item relating to section 3632 and insert3 ing the following: 

‘‘3632. Establishment of rates and classes of competitive products.’’. 

4 (g) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 

5 made by this section shall take effect on the date that is 

6 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 202. MODERNIZING POSTAL RATES. 

8 (a) ADEQUACY, EFFICIENCY, AND FAIRNESS OF

9 POSTAL RATES.— 

10 (1) OBJECTIVES.—Section 3622(b) of title 39, 

11 United States Code, is amended— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

13 ensure’’ after ‘‘create’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘and meet’’ after 

16 ‘‘maintain’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, with a focus on 

18 achieving predictable and consistent deliv19 ery’’ before the period at the end; 

20 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘estab21 lish and’’ before ‘‘maintain’’; 

22 (D) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘proc23 ess’’ and inserting ‘‘and cost attribution proc24 esses’’; and 


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1 (E) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘(and to 

2 ensure appropriate levels of transparency)’’ be3 fore the period at the end. 

4 (2) FACTORS.—Section 3622(c) of title 39, 

5 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(c) FACTORS.—In establishing or revising such sys7 tem, the Postal Regulatory Commission shall take into ac8 count the following factors: 

9 ‘‘(1) The effect of rate increases upon the gen10 eral public and business mail users. 

11 ‘‘(2) The available alternative means of sending 

12 and receiving written communications, information, 

13 and letters and other mail matter at reasonable 

14 costs. 

15 ‘‘(3) The reliability of delivery timelines and the 

16 extent to which the Postal Service is meeting its 

17 service standard obligations. 

18 ‘‘(4) The need to ensure that the Postal Service 

19 has adequate revenues and has taken appropriate 

20 cost-cutting measures to maintain financial stability 

21 and meet all legal obligations. 

22 ‘‘(5) The extent to which the Postal Service has 

23 taken actions to increase its efficiency and reduce its 

24 costs. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The value of the mail service actually pro2 vided by each class or type of mail service to both 

3 the sender and the recipient, including the collection, 

4 mode of transportation, and priority of delivery. 

5 ‘‘(7) The requirement that each class of mail or 

6 type of mail service bear the direct and indirect 

7 postal costs attributable to each class or type of mail 

8 service through reliably identified causal relation9 ships plus that portion of all other costs of the Post10 al Service reasonably assignable to such class or 

11 type. 

12 ‘‘(8) The degree of preparation of mail for de13 livery into the postal system performed by the mailer 

14 and its effect upon improving efficiency and reduc15 ing costs to the Postal Service. 

16 ‘‘(9) Simplicity of structure for the entire 

17 schedule and simple, identifiable relationships be18 tween the rates or fees charged the various classes 

19 of mail for postal services. 

20 ‘‘(10) The importance of pricing flexibility to 

21 encourage increased mail volume and operational ef22 ficiency. 

23 ‘‘(11) The relative value to postal users of the 

24 kinds of mail matter entered into the postal system 


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1 and the desirability and justification for special clas2 sifications and services of mail. 

3 ‘‘(12) The importance of providing classifica4 tions with extremely high degrees of reliability and 

5 speed of delivery and of providing those that do not 

6 require high degrees of reliability and speed of deliv7 ery. 

8 ‘‘(13) The desirability of special classifications 

9 for both postal users and the Postal Service in ac10 cordance with the policies of this title, including 

11 agreements between the Postal Service and postal 

12 users, when available on public and reasonable terms 

13 to similarly situated mailers, that— 

14 ‘‘(A) improve the net financial position of 

15 the Postal Service by reducing Postal Service 

16 costs or increasing the overall contribution to 

17 the institutional costs of the Postal Service; and 

18 ‘‘(B) do not cause— 

19 ‘‘(i) unfair competitive advantage for 

20 the Postal Service or postal users eligible 

21 for the agreements; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) unreasonable disruption to the 

23 volume or revenues of other postal users. 

24 ‘‘(14) The educational, cultural, scientific, and 

25 informational value to the recipient of mail matter. 


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1 ‘‘(15) The need for the Postal Service to in2 crease its efficiency and reduce its costs, including 

3 infrastructure costs, to help maintain high quality, 

4 affordable postal services. 

5 ‘‘(16) The value to the Postal Service and post6 al users of promoting intelligent mail and of secure, 

7 sender-identified mail. 

8 ‘‘(17) The importance of stability and predict9 ability of rates to ratepayers. 

10 ‘‘(18) The policies of this title as well as such 

11 other factors as the Commission determines appro12 priate.’’. 

13 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3622(d) of title 

14 39, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

17 (B) through (E) as subparagraphs (C) 

18 through (F), respectively; 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (F) (as redesig20 nated by clause (i)) by striking ‘‘subpara21 graphs (A) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub22 paragraphs (A) and (D)’’; and 

23 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

24 (A) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (4), establish 

2 postal rates for each group of functionally 

3 equivalent agreements between the Postal Serv4 ice and users of the mail that— 

5 ‘‘(i) cover attributable cost; 

6 ‘‘(ii) improve the net financial position 

7 of the Postal Service; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) do not cause unreasonable dis9 ruption in the marketplace, consistent with 

10 subsection (c)(13)(B);’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) GROUP OF FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT

13 AGREEMENTS DEFINED.—For purposes of para14 graph (1)(B), a group of functionally equivalent 

15 agreements shall consist of all service agreements 

16 that are functionally equivalent to each other within 

17 the same market-dominant product, but shall not in18 clude agreements within an experimental product.’’. 

19 (4) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND20 MENTS.—Section 3622 of title 39, United States 

21 Code, is amended— 

22 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘, within 

23 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

24 section,’’; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (d)(1)(D) (as redesig2 nated by paragraph (3)(A)), by striking 

3 ‘‘(c)(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(13)’’. 

4 (b) USE OF NEGOTIATED SERVICE AGREEMENTS.— 

5 (1) STREAMLINED REVIEW OF QUALIFYING

6 SERVICE AGREEMENTS FOR COMPETITIVE PROD7 UCTS.—Section 3633 of title 39, United States 

8 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(c) STREAMLINED REVIEW.—Not later than 90 

11 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, after 

12 notice and opportunity for comment, the Postal Regu13 latory Commission shall promulgate (and may from time 

14 to time thereafter revise) regulations for streamlined 

15 after-the-fact review of newly proposed agreements be16 tween the Postal Service and users of the mail that provide 

17 rates not of general applicability for competitive products. 

18 Streamlined review shall apply only if agreements are 

19 functionally equivalent to existing agreements that have 

20 collectively covered attributable costs and collectively im21 proved the net financial position of the Postal Service. The 

22 regulations issued under this subsection shall provide that 

23 streamlined review shall be concluded not later than 5 

24 business days after the date on which the agreement is 

25 filed with the Commission and shall be limited to approval 


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1 or disapproval of the agreement as a whole based on the 

2 Commission’s determination of its functional equivalence. 

3 Agreements not approved may be resubmitted without 

4 prejudice under section 3632.’’. 

5 (2) SUBMISSION OF SERVICE AGREEMENTS FOR

6 STREAMLINED REVIEW.—Section 3632(b) of title 39, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

9 paragraph (5); and 

10 (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(4) RATES FOR STREAMLINED REVIEW.—In 

13 the case of rates not of general applicability for com14 petitive products that the Postal Service considers 

15 eligible for streamlined review under section 3633(c), 

16 the Postal Service shall cause the agreement to be 

17 filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission by a 

18 date that is on or before the effective date of any 

19 new rate established under the agreement, as the 

20 Postal Service considers appropriate.’’. 

21 (3) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR

22 SERVICE AGREEMENTS.— 

23 (A) CERTAIN INFORMATION REQUIRED TO

24 BE INCLUDED IN DETERMINATIONS OF COMPLIVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2629.PCS S2629

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1 ANCE.—Section 3653 of title 39, United States 

2 Code, is amended— 

3 (i) by redesignating subsections (c), 

4 (d), and (e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), 

5 respectively; and 

6 (ii) by inserting after subsection (b) 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) WRITTEN DETERMINATION.—Each annual writ9 ten determination of the Commission under this section 

10 shall include the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—For each group of func12 tionally equivalent agreements between the Postal 

13 Service and users of the mail, whether such group 

14 fulfilled requirements to— 

15 ‘‘(A) cover costs attributable; and 

16 ‘‘(B) improve the net financial position of 

17 the Postal Service. 

18 ‘‘(2) NONCOMPLIANCE.—Any group of function19 ally equivalent agreements not meeting the require20 ments under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para21 graph (1) shall be determined to be in noncompli22 ance under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub24 section, a group of functionally equivalent agree25 ments shall consist of 1 or more service agreements 


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1 that are functionally equivalent to each other within 

2 the same market-dominant or competitive product, 

3 but shall not include agreements within an experi4 mental product.’’. 

5 (B) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

6 3653(d) of title 39, United States Code (as re7 designated by subparagraph (A)), is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘subsections (c) and (e)’’ and in9 serting ‘‘subsections (c) and (d)’’. 

10 SEC. 203. NONPOSTAL SERVICES. 

11 (a) NONPOSTAL SERVICES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part IV of title 39, United 

13 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 

14 36 the following: 

15 ‘‘CHAPTER 37—NONPOSTAL SERVICES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3701. Purpose. 

‘‘3702. Definitions. 

‘‘3703. Postal Service program for State governments. 

‘‘3704. Postal Service program for other Government agencies. 

‘‘3705. Transparency and accountability for nonpostal services. 

16 ‘‘§ 3701. Purpose 

17 ‘‘The purpose of this chapter is to enable the Postal 

18 Service to increase its net revenues through specific non19 postal products and services that are expressly authorized 

20 by this chapter. Postal Service revenues and expenses 

21 under this chapter shall be funded through the Postal 

22 Service Fund. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3702. Definitions 

2 ‘‘In this chapter— 

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘attributable costs’ has the mean4 ing given the term ‘costs attributable’ in section 

5 3631; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘nonpostal service’ means a serv7 ice offered by the Postal Service that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is expressly authorized under this 

9 chapter; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is not a postal product or service; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘year’ means a fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘§ 3703. Postal Service program for State govern13 ments 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro15 vision of this title, the Postal Service may establish a pro16 gram to enter into agreements with an agency of any State 

17 government, local government, or tribal government to 

18 provide property and services on behalf of such agencies 

19 for non-commercial products and services (referred to in 

20 this section as the ‘program’), but only if such property 

21 and services— 

22 ‘‘(1) provide enhanced value to the public, such 

23 as by lowering the cost or raising the quality of such 

24 services or by making such services more accessible; 

25 ‘‘(2) do not interfere with or detract from the 

26 value of postal services, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the cost and efficiency of postal serv2 ices; and 

3 ‘‘(B) unreasonably restricting access to 

4 postal retail service, such as customer waiting 

5 time and access to parking; and 

6 ‘‘(3) provide a reasonable contribution to the in7 stitutional costs of the Postal Service, defined as re8 imbursement that covers at least 100 percent of at9 tributable costs of all property and services provided 

10 under each relevant agreement in each year. 

11 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—At least 90 days before offer12 ing a service under the program, the Postal Service shall 

13 make available to the public on its website— 

14 ‘‘(1) the agreement with the agency regarding 

15 such service; and 

16 ‘‘(2) a business plan that describes the specific 

17 service to be provided, the enhanced value to the 

18 public, terms of reimbursement, the estimated an19 nual reimbursement to the Postal Service, and the 

20 estimated percentage of attributable Postal Service 

21 costs that will be covered by reimbursement (with 

22 documentation to support the estimates). 

23 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Before offering a service 

24 under the program, the Postal Service shall provide for 

25 a public comment period of at least 30 days that allows 


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1 the public to post comments relating to the provision of 

2 such services on the Postal Service website. The Postal 

3 Service shall make reasonable efforts to provide written 

4 responses to the comments on such website at least 30 

5 days before offering such services. 

6 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The Postal Service may 

7 not establish the program unless a majority of the Gov8 ernors in office vote to approve the program by a recorded 

9 vote that is publicly disclosed on the Postal Service 

10 website. 

11 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF REPORTING REQUIRE12 MENTS.—For purposes of the reporting requirements 

13 under section 3705, the Postal Service shall submit a sep14 arate report for each agreement with an agency entered 

15 into under subsection (a) of this section analyzing the 

16 costs, revenues, rates, and quality of service for the provi17 sion of all services under such agreement, including infor18 mation demonstrating that the agreement satisfies the re19 quirements of paragraphs (1) through (3) of such sub20 section (a). 

21 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Postal Regu22 latory Commission shall issue such regulations as are nec23 essary to carry out this section. 

24 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this sec25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘local government’ means a coun2 ty, municipality, city, town, township, local public 

3 authority, school district, special district, intrastate 

4 district, council of governments, or regional or inter5 state government entity; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State government’ includes the 

7 government of the District of Columbia, the Com8 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

9 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common10 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 

11 other territory or possession of the United States; 

12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘tribal government’ means the 

13 government of an Indian tribe, as that term is de14 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

15 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘United States’, when used in a 

18 geographical sense, means the States, the District of 

19 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

20 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

21 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

22 Islands, and any other territory or possession of the 

23 United States. 


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1 ‘‘(h) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.—Subsection (b) 

2 or (c) shall not be construed as requiring the Postal Serv3 ice to disclose to the public any information— 

4 ‘‘(1) described in section 410(c); or 

5 ‘‘(2) exempt from public disclosure under sec6 tion 552(b) of title 5. 

7 ‘‘§ 3704. Postal Service program for other Govern8 ment agencies 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Service may establish 

10 a program to provide property and services to other Gov11 ernment agencies within the meaning of section 411, but 

12 only if the program provides a reasonable contribution to 

13 the institutional costs of the Postal Service, defined as re14 imbursement by each agency that covers at least 100 per15 cent of the attributable costs of all property and service 

16 provided by the Postal Service in each year to such agency. 

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF REPORTING REQUIRE18 MENTS.—For purposes of the reporting requirements 

19 under section 3705, the Postal Service shall submit a sep20 arate report for each agreement with an agency entered 

21 into under subsection (a) of this section analyzing the 

22 costs, revenues, rates, and quality of service for the provi23 sion of all services under such agreement, including infor24 mation demonstrating that the agreement satisfies the re25 quirements of such subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘§ 3705. Transparency and accountability for non2 postal services 

3 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMISSION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

5 after the last day of each year, the Postal Service 

6 shall submit to the Postal Regulatory Commission a 

7 report that analyzes costs, revenues, rates, and qual8 ity of service for each agreement for the provision of 

9 property and services under this chapter, using such 

10 methodologies as the Commission may prescribe, and 

11 in sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with 

12 the requirements of this chapter. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUPPORTING MATTER.—A report sub14 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include any non15 public annex, the working papers, and any other 

16 supporting matter of the Postal Service and the In17 spector General related to the information submitted 

18 in such report. 

19 ‘‘(b) CONTENT AND FORM OF REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory 

21 Commission shall, by regulation, prescribe the con22 tent and form of the report required under sub23 section (a). In prescribing such regulations, the 

24 Commission shall give due consideration to— 

25 ‘‘(A) providing the public with timely, ade26 quate information to assess compliance; 


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1 ‘‘(B) avoiding unnecessary or unwarranted 

2 administrative effort and expense on the part of 

3 the Postal Service; and 

4 ‘‘(C) protecting the confidentiality of infor5 mation that is commercially sensitive or is ex6 empt from public disclosure under section 

7 552(b) of title 5. 

8 ‘‘(2) REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis9 sion may, on its own motion or on request of any 

10 interested party, initiate proceedings to improve the 

11 quality, accuracy, or completeness of Postal Service 

12 data required by the Commission if— 

13 ‘‘(A) the attribution of costs or revenues to 

14 property or services under this chapter has be15 come significantly inaccurate or can be signifi16 cantly improved; 

17 ‘‘(B) the quality of service data provided to 

18 the Commission for a report under this chapter 

19 has become significantly inaccurate or can be 

20 significantly improved; or 

21 ‘‘(C) such revisions are, in the judgment of 

22 the Commission, otherwise necessitated by the 

23 public interest. 

24 ‘‘(c) AUDITS.—The Inspector General shall regularly 

25 audit the data collection systems and procedures used in 


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1 collecting information and preparing the report required 

2 under subsection (a). The results of any such audit shall 

3 be submitted to the Postal Service and the Postal Regu4 latory Commission. 

5 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Service deter7 mines that any document or portion of a document, 

8 or other matter, which it provides to the Postal Reg9 ulatory Commission in a nonpublic annex under this 

10 section contains information that is described in sec11 tion 410(c) or exempt from public disclosure under 

12 section 552(b) of title 5, the Postal Service shall, at 

13 the time of providing such matter to the Commis14 sion, notify the Commission of its determination, in 

15 writing, and describe with particularity the docu16 ments (or portions of documents) or other matter 

17 for which confidentiality is sought and the reasons 

18 therefor. 

19 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT.—Any information or other 

20 matter described in paragraph (1) to which the 

21 Commission gains access under this section shall be 

22 subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 504(g) 

23 in the same manner as if the Commission had re24 ceived notification with respect to such matter under 

25 section 504(g)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

3 Upon receiving a report required under subsection 

4 (a), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall prompt5 ly— 

6 ‘‘(A) provide an opportunity for comment 

7 on such report by any interested party; and 

8 ‘‘(B) appoint an officer of the Commission 

9 to represent the interests of the general public. 

10 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE OR NON11 COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 90 days after receiv12 ing a report required under subsection (a), the Post13 al Regulatory Commission shall make a written de14 termination as to whether the nonpostal activities 

15 carried out during the applicable year were or were 

16 not in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. 

17 For purposes of this paragraph, any case in which 

18 the requirements for coverage of attributable costs 

19 have not been met shall be considered to be a case 

20 of noncompliance. If, with respect to a year, no in21 stance of noncompliance is found to have occurred, 

22 the determination shall be to that effect. Such deter23 mination of noncompliance shall be included with the 

24 annual compliance determination required under sec25 tion 3653. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If a timely written de2 termination of noncompliance is made under para3 graph (2), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall 

4 take appropriate action. If the requirements for cov5 erage of attributable costs specified by this chapter 

6 are not met, the Commission shall, within 60 days 

7 after the determination, prescribe remedial action to 

8 restore compliance as soon as practicable, including 

9 the full restoration of revenue shortfalls during the 

10 following year. The Commission may order the Post11 al Service to discontinue a nonpostal service under 

12 section 3703 that persistently fails to meet cost cov13 erage requirements. 

14 ‘‘(4) DELIBERATE NONCOMPLIANCE.—In the 

15 case of deliberate noncompliance by the Postal Serv16 ice with the requirements of this chapter, the Postal 

17 Regulatory Commission may order, based on the na18 ture, circumstances, extent, and seriousness of the 

19 noncompliance, a fine (in the amount specified by 

20 the Commission in its order) for each incidence of 

21 such noncompliance. All receipts from fines imposed 

22 under this subsection shall be deposited in the gen23 eral fund of the Treasury. 


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1 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Postal Regu2 latory Commission shall issue such regulations as are nec3 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

4 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND5 MENT.—The table of chapters for part IV of title 

6 39, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

7 after the item relating to chapter 36 the following: 

‘‘37. Nonpostal services ................................................................... 3701’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) SECTION 404.—Section 404(e) of title 39, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 

12 ‘‘subsection’’ the following: ‘‘, or any nonpostal 

13 products or services authorized by chapter 37’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(6) Licensing which, before the date of enactment 

17 of this paragraph, has been authorized by the Postal Reg18 ulatory Commission for continuation as a nonpostal serv19 ice may not be used for any purpose other than— 

20 ‘‘(A) to continue to provide licensed mailing, 

21 shipping, or stationery supplies offered as of June 

22 23, 2011; or 

23 ‘‘(B) to license other goods, products, or serv24 ices, the primary purpose of which is to promote and 

25 enhance the image or brand of the Postal Service. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to pre2 vent the Postal Service from establishing nonpostal prod3 ucts and services that are expressly authorized by chapter 

4 37.’’. 

5 (2) SECTION 411.—The last sentence of section 

6 411 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘including reimbursability’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘including reimbursability within the limitations of 

9 chapter 37’’. 

10 (3) TREATMENT OF EXISTING NONPOSTAL

11 SERVICES.—All individual nonpostal services, pro12 vided directly or through licensing, that are contin13 ued pursuant to section 404(e) of title 39, United 

14 States Code, shall be considered to be expressly au15 thorized by chapter 37 of such title (as added by 

16 subsection (a)(1)) and shall be subject to the re17 quirements of such chapter. 

18 SEC. 204. SHIPPING OF WINE, BEER, AND DISTILLED SPIR19 ITS. 

20 (a) MAILABILITY.— 

21 (1) NONMAILABLE ARTICLES.—Section 1716(f) 

22 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘mails’’ and inserting ‘‘mails, except to the ex24 tent that the mailing is allowable under section 

25 3001(p) of title 39’’. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION OF LAWS.—Section 1161 of 

2 title 18, United States Code, is amended by insert3 ing ‘‘, and, with respect to the mailing of distilled 

4 spirits, wine, or malt beverages (as those terms are 

5 defined in section 117 of the Federal Alcohol Admin6 istration Act (27 U.S.C. 211)), is in conformity with 

7 section 3001(p) of title 39’’ after ‘‘Register’’. 

8 (b) REGULATIONS.—Section 3001 of title 39, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(p)(1) In this subsection, the terms ‘distilled spirits’, 

12 ‘wine’, and ‘malt beverage’ have the same meanings as in 

13 section 117 of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 

14 U.S.C. 211). 

15 ‘‘(2) Distilled spirits, wine, or malt beverages shall 

16 be considered mailable if mailed— 

17 ‘‘(A) in accordance with the laws and regula18 tions of— 

19 ‘‘(i) the State, territory, or district of the 

20 United States where the sender or duly author21 ized agent initiates the mailing; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the State, territory, or district of the 

23 United States where the addressee or duly au24 thorized agent takes delivery; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to an addressee who is at least 21 years 

2 of age— 

3 ‘‘(i) who provides a signature and presents 

4 a valid, government-issued photo identification 

5 upon delivery; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the duly authorized agent of whom— 

7 ‘‘(I) is at least 21 years of age; and 

8 ‘‘(II) provides a signature and pre9 sents a valid, government-issued photo 

10 identification upon delivery. 

11 ‘‘(3) The Postal Service shall prescribe such regula12 tions as may be necessary to carry out this subsection.’’. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall take effect on the earlier of— 

15 (1) the date on which the Postal Service issues 

16 regulations under section 3001(p) of title 39, United 

17 States Code, as amended by this section; and 

18 (2) the date that is 120 days after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act. 

20 (d) NO PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL

21 LAWS PROHIBITING DELIVERIES, SHIPMENTS, OR

22 SALES.—Nothing in this section, the amendments made 

23 by this section, or any regulation promulgated under this 

24 section or the amendments made by this section shall be 

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1 strict any State, local, or tribal law that prohibits or regu2 lates the delivery, shipment, or sale of distilled spirits, 

3 wine, or malt beverages (as those terms are defined in sec4 tion 117 of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 

5 U.S.C. 211)). 

6 SEC. 205. EFFICIENT AND FLEXIBLE UNIVERSAL POSTAL 

7 SERVICE. 

8 (a) CONDITIONS REGARDING DETERMINATIONS FOR

9 POST OFFICE CLOSINGS.—Clause (i) of section 

10 404(d)(2)(A) of title 39, United States Code, is amended 

11 to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) the effect of such closing or consolida13 tion on the community served by such post of14 fice, including through an analysis of— 

15 ‘‘(I) the distance (as measured by 

16 public roads) to the closest postal retail fa17 cility not proposed for closing or consolida18 tion under the determination; 

19 ‘‘(II) the characteristics of such loca20 tion, including weather and terrain; 

21 ‘‘(III) whether commercial mobile 

22 service (as defined in section 332 of the 

23 Communications Act of 1934) and com24 mercial mobile data service (as defined in 

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1 lief and Job Creation Act of 2012) are 

2 available in at least 80 percent of the total 

3 geographic area of the ZIP codes served by 

4 the postal retail facility proposed for clos5 ing or consolidation; and 

6 ‘‘(IV) whether fixed broadband Inter7 net access service is available to households 

8 in at least 80 percent of such geographic 

9 area at speeds not less than those suffi10 cient for service to be considered 

11 broadband for purposes of the most recent 

12 report of the Federal Communications 

13 Commission under section 706 of the Tele14 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 

15 1302);’’. 

16 (b) PRC REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS TO CLOSE OR

17 CONSOLIDATE A POST OFFICE.— 

18 (1) DEADLINE FOR REVIEW.—Section 

19 404(d)(5) title 39, United States Code, is amended 

20 by striking ‘‘120 days’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days, or 

21 a longer period for good cause shown but in no event 

22 longer than 120 days,’’. 

23 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

24 paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to an ap25 peal received by the Commission before the date of 


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1 enactment of this Act (as determined by applying 

2 the rules set forth in section 404(d)(6) of such title). 

3 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3661 of title 39, 

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) The Commission shall issue its opinion within 

8 90 days, or a longer period for good cause shown but in 

9 no event longer than 120 days, after the receipt of any 

10 proposal (as referred to in subsection (b)) concerning an 

11 identical or substantially identical proposal on which the 

12 Commission has issued an opinion within the preceding 

13 5 years. 

14 ‘‘(2) If necessary in order to comply with the 90-day 

15 requirement under paragraph (1), the Commission may 

16 apply expedited procedures which the Commission shall by 

17 regulation prescribe.’’. 

18 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall pre19 scribe any regulations necessary to carry out the 

20 amendment made by paragraph (1) within 90 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (3) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

23 this subsection shall apply with respect to any pro24 posal received by the Commission on or after the 

25 earlier of— 


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1 (A) the date that is 90 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act; or 

3 (B) the effective date of the regulations 

4 prescribed under paragraph (2). 

5 (d) ALTERNATE POSTAL ACCESS CHOICE.—Section 

6 404(d) of title 39, United States Code, is amended by 

7 striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) Prior to making a determination under 

9 subsection (a)(3) as to the necessity for the closing 

10 or consolidation of a post office— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Postal Service shall provide ade12 quate notice of its intention to close or consoli13 date the post office not later than 60 days be14 fore the proposed date of the closing or consoli15 dation to postal patrons served by the post of16 fice; 

17 ‘‘(B) the Postal Service shall conduct a 

18 nonbinding survey on the proposed closing or 

19 consolidation to allow postal patrons served by 

20 the post office an opportunity to indicate their 

21 preference between or among— 

22 ‘‘(i) the closing or consolidation; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more alternative options; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) if the Postal Service determines that 

2 closing or consolidating the post office is nec3 essary— 

4 ‘‘(i) the Postal Service shall endeavor 

5 to provide alternative access to postal serv6 ices to the postal patrons served by the 

7 post office by the option chosen by the 

8 highest number of survey respondents 

9 under subparagraph (B)(ii); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) if the Postal Service is unable to 

11 provide alternative access through the op12 tion identified under clause (i), or if that 

13 option is cost prohibitive— 

14 ‘‘(I) the Postal Service may pro15 vide alternative access through a dif16 ferent method; and 

17 ‘‘(II) upon selecting an alter18 native access method other than the 

19 option identified under clause (i), the 

20 Postal Service shall provide written 

21 notice to the postal patrons served by 

22 the post office identifying the alter23 native access method and explaining 

24 why the option identified under clause 


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1 (i) was not possible or was cost pro2 hibitive.’’. 

3 (e) APPLICABILITY OF PROCEDURES RELATING TO

4 CLOSINGS AND CONSOLIDATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(d) of title 39, 

6 United States Code, as amended by this section, is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘post 

9 office’ means a post office and any other postal retail facil10 ity, as defined in section 3 of the Postal Service Reform 

11 Act of 2018.’’. 

12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—In the case of any post 

13 office, as defined in subsection (d) of section 404 of 

14 title 39, United States Code, as amended by para15 graph (1), that, but for that amendment, would not 

16 otherwise be subject to such subsection (d), the 

17 amendments made by subsections (a) and (d) of this 

18 section shall be effective with respect to any closure 

19 or consolidation, the proposed effective date of which 

20 occurs on or after the date that is 60 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (f) ENHANCED REPORTING ON POSTAL SERVICE EF23 FICIENCY.—Section 3652(a) of title 39, United States 

24 Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(3) which shall provide the overall change in 

8 Postal Service productivity and the resulting effect 

9 of such change on overall Postal Service costs during 

10 such year, using such methodologies as the Commis11 sion shall by regulation prescribe, if necessary.’’. 

12 (g) POSTPLAN STUDY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 30 

14 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the In15 spector General of the Postal Service shall conduct 

16 a 1-year review of the impacts of the POSTPlan 

17 post office restructuring plan on Postal Service ex18 penses, revenue, and retail service provision. 

19 (2) CONTENT.—In conducting the review under 

20 paragraph (1), the Inspector General shall exam21 ine— 

22 (A) changes in the costs for the provision 

23 of Postal Service operated retail service, both 

24 nationwide and in the aggregate for each of the 

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1 fices for which the hours, functions, or respon2 sibilities changed as a result of the POSTPlan 

3 initiative before and after the implementation of 

4 the POSTPlan initiative; 

5 (B) changes in revenue received by Postal 

6 Service operated retail service, both nationwide 

7 and in the aggregate for each of the Level 2, 

8 Level 4, Level 6, and Level 18 post offices for 

9 which the hours, functions, or responsibilities 

10 changed as a result of the POSTPlan initiative 

11 before and after the implementation of the 

12 POSTPlan initiative; 

13 (C) a determination of the relative cost 

14 savings, taking into account any changes in rev15 enue earned, realized on an annual basis for 

16 Level 2, Level 4, Level 6, and Level 18 offices 

17 each in the aggregate and any trends in such 

18 cost savings; 

19 (D) the relative impact on retail access to 

20 postal services for individuals served by Level 2, 

21 Level 4, Level 6, and Level 18 offices each in 

22 the aggregate; and 

23 (E) any other factors the Inspector Gen24 eral determines appropriate. 


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1 (3) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Upon 

2 completion of the review required under paragraph 

3 (1), the Inspector General shall submit to the Postal 

4 Service, the Committee on Homeland Security and 

5 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Com6 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

7 House of Representatives a report containing— 

8 (A) the results of the review; and 

9 (B) any recommendations resulting from 

10 such review. 

11 (4) POSTAL SERVICE REVIEW.—Prior to any 

12 hour changes or consolidation decisions related to 

13 POSTPlan initiative-impacted post offices, the Post14 al Service shall— 

15 (A) review the report and any rec16 ommendations submitted pursuant to para17 graph (3); and 

18 (B) revise any planned efforts regarding 

19 the POSTPlan initiative, as appropriate. 

20 SEC. 206. FAIR STAMP-EVIDENCING COMPETITION. 

21 Section 404a(a) of title 39, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

24 end; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(4) offer to the public any postage-evidencing 

5 product or service that does not comply with any 

6 rule or regulation that would be applicable to such 

7 product or service if the product or service were of8 fered by a private company.’’. 

9 SEC. 207. MARKET-DOMINANT RATES. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RATE BASELINE.—Notwith11 standing any order of the Commission to the contrary— 

12 (1) not earlier than the first Sunday after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, on a date selected by 

14 the Postmaster General in the exercise of the Post15 master General’s unreviewable discretion, the Postal 

16 Service shall reinstate, as nearly as is practicable, 50 

17 percent of the rate surcharge implemented under 

18 section 3622(d)(1)(F) (as redesignated by this Act) 

19 that was in effect on April 9, 2016; and 

20 (2) the partially reinstated surcharge reinstated 

21 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be considered a part 

22 of the rate base for purposes of determining the per23 centage changes in rates when the Postal Service 

24 files a notice of rate adjustment. 


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1 (b) SUBSEQUENT RATE INCREASES.—The reinstate2 ment described under subsection (a)(1) may not affect the 

3 calculation of the Postal Service’s maximum rate adjust4 ment authority under subpart C of part 3010 of title 39, 

5 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), 

6 for purposes of any rate increase that occurs following 

7 such reinstatement. 

8 (c) COMMISSION REVIEW OF SYSTEM FOR REGU9 LATING RATES AND CLASSES FOR MARKET-DOMINANT

10 PRODUCTS.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

12 (A) the term ‘‘initial rate regulation re13 view’’ means the proceeding conducted under 

14 the order of the Commission entitled, ‘‘Statu15 tory Review of the System for Regulating Mar16 ket Dominant Rates and Classifications’’ (81 

17 Fed. Reg. 9507 (December 20, 2016)); and 

18 (B) the term ‘‘underwater product’’ means 

19 a market-dominant class, product, or type of 

20 mail service that does not bear the direct and 

21 indirect costs attributable to that class, prod22 uct, or type of mail service under current cost23 ing procedures. 

24 (2) UNDERWATER PRODUCTS STUDY.—Not 

25 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of 


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1 this Act, the Commission, without delaying comple2 tion of the initial rate regulation review, shall begin 

3 a study, in conjunction with the Inspector General 

4 of the Postal Service and including notice and op5 portunity for public comment, to— 

6 (A) determine whether and to what extent 

7 any market-dominant classes, products, or types 

8 of mail service are underwater products; 

9 (B) quantify the impact of any operational 

10 decisions of the Postal Service on the direct and 

11 indirect costs attributable to any underwater 

12 products identified under subparagraph (A); 

13 and 

14 (C) determine whether any operational de15 cisions of the Postal Service have caused any 

16 direct or indirect costs to be inappropriately at17 tributed to any underwater product identified 

18 under subparagraph (A). 

19 (3) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 paragraph (4), the Commission shall supple22 ment and modify, as appropriate, the record of 

23 proceedings in the initial rate regulation review, 

24 taking into account the provisions of this Act 


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1 and the amendments made by this Act, before 

2 making a determination to— 

3 (i) modify the system for regulating 

4 rates and classes for market-dominant 

5 products established under section 3622 of 

6 title 39, United States Code; or 

7 (ii) adopt an alternative system for 

8 regulating rates and classes for market9 dominant products. 

10 (B) MINIMUM CONSIDERATIONS.—In 

11 supplementing or modifying the record under 

12 subparagraph (A)— 

13 (i) the Commission shall, at a min14 imum, recalculate the projected liabilities 

15 of the Postal Service by reason of the re16 quirements under section 8903c(e) of title 

17 5, United States Code (as added by section 

18 101(a)(1) of this Act) (requiring Medicare19 eligible postal annuitants enrolled in the 

20 Postal Service Health Benefits Program to 

21 also enroll in Medicare); and 

22 (ii) if the Commission determines that 

23 other provisions of this Act or the amend24 ments made by this Act reduce liabilities 

25 or increase revenues of the Postal Service, 


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1 the Commission shall incorporate those 

2 changes into the calculations of the Com3 mission. 

4 (C) CONSIDERATION OF UNDERWATER

5 PRODUCTS STUDY.—After completing any sup6 plementation and modification of the record 

7 under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph and 

8 quantifying the impact of operational decisions 

9 under paragraph (2)(B), the Commission 

10 shall— 

11 (i) take into account the impact quan12 tified under paragraph (2)(B) and modify, 

13 if appropriate, the record under subpara14 graph (A) of this paragraph; 

15 (ii) incorporate the findings of the 

16 study under paragraph (2) into any subse17 quent adjustment to rates for underwater 

18 products identified under subparagraph 

19 (A) of that paragraph; and 

20 (iii)(I) account for the cultural and in21 formational value that underwater prod22 ucts identified under paragraph (2)(A) 

23 have to the mail; and 

24 (II) recognize that— 


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1 (aa) the services provided by the 

2 Postal Service have changed over 

3 time; and 

4 (bb) the timely delivery of the 

5 underwater products identified under 

6 paragraph (2)(A) impacts the overall 

7 value of those products. 

8 (4) SUBSEQUENT REVIEW REQUIRED IF INITIAL

9 REVIEW COMPLETED BEFORE ENACTMENT.—If, on 

10 or before the date of enactment of this Act, the 

11 Commission completes the initial rate regulation re12 view, the Commission— 

13 (A) shall determine whether to— 

14 (i) further modify the system for reg15 ulating rates and classes for market-domi16 nant products established under section 

17 3622 of title 39, United States Code; or 

18 (ii) adopt an alternative system for 

19 regulating rates and classes for market20 dominant products; and 

21 (B) in making the determination under 

22 subparagraph (A), shall— 

23 (i) take into account the provisions of 

24 this Act and the amendments made by this 

25 Act; 


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1 (ii) comply with the requirements 

2 under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 

3 (3)(B); and 

4 (iii) take into account, and incor5 porate into any adjustment to rates for un6 derwater products identified under sub7 paragraph (A) of paragraph (2), the im8 pact quantified under subparagraph (B) of 

9 that paragraph. 

10 (5) APPLICATION OF NEW RATES TO UNDER11 WATER PRODUCTS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission 

13 modifies the system for regulating rates and 

14 classes for market-dominant products estab15 lished under section 3622 of title 39, United 

16 States Code, or adopts an alternative system 

17 for regulating rates and classes for market18 dominant products, the Commission— 

19 (i) may not apply any new rates under 

20 the modified or alternative system to un21 derwater products until the Commission 

22 has— 

23 (I) completed the study under 

24 paragraph (2); and 


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1 (II) complied with subparagraph 

2 (C) of paragraph (3); and 

3 (ii) in order to offer as many under4 water products as possible for as long as 

5 possible, shall establish a process to gradu6 ally phase in the application of any new 

7 rates to underwater products. 

8 (B) RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.—If, be9 fore the date of enactment of this Act, the 

10 Commission modifies the system for regulating 

11 rates and classes for market-dominant products 

12 established under section 3622 of title 39, 

13 United States Code, or adopts an alternative 

14 system for regulating rates and classes for mar15 ket-dominant products, the Commission— 

16 (i) shall, effective 90 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, apply the 

18 rates for underwater products that were in 

19 effect on the day before the date on which 

20 the modified or alternative system took ef21 fect; and 

22 (ii) before applying the rates under 

23 the modified or alternative system to un24 derwater products, shall comply with sub25 paragraph (A). 


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1 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this paragraph shall be construed to affect the 

3 requirement under subsection (a) relating to re4 instatement of the rate surcharge that was in 

5 effect on April 9, 2016, including with respect 

6 to underwater products. 

7 (d) POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHORITY

8 NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this section (other than 

9 subsection (c)) shall be construed as affecting the author10 ity of the Commission to, by regulation, make such modi11 fication or adopt such alternative system for regulating 

12 rates and classes for market-dominant products as pro13 vided under section 3622 of title 39, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 208. REVIEW OF POSTAL SERVICE COST ATTRIBUTION 

15 GUIDELINES. 

16 Not later than April 1, 2019, the Commission shall 

17 initiate a review of the regulations issued pursuant to sec18 tions 3633(a) and 3652(a)(1) of title 39, United States 

19 Code, to determine whether revisions are appropriate to 

20 ensure that all direct and indirect costs attributable to 

21 competitive and market-dominant products are properly 

22 attributed to those products, including by considering the 

23 underlying methodologies in determining cost attribution 

24 and considering options to revise such methodologies. If 

25 the Commission determines, after notice and opportunity 


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1 for public comment, that revisions are appropriate, the 

2 Commission shall make modifications or adopt alternative 

3 methodologies as necessary. 

4 SEC. 209. AVIATION SECURITY FOR PARCELS. 

5 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Inspector General of the Postal Service 

7 shall transmit to the Committee on Oversight and Govern8 ment Reform of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af10 fairs of the Senate the results of a review of the security 

11 measures in place for parcels carried on air carriers to 

12 domestic and international destinations for which audit 

13 trails are generated. The review required under this sub14 section shall assess, at a minimum— 

15 (1) the effectiveness of the audit trail created 

16 by postage evidencing systems that have been vali17 dated under the Federal Information Processing 

18 Standards in accurately and consistently identifying 

19 the senders of parcels carried on air carriers; 

20 (2) the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s in21 person identity verification procedures in accurately 

22 and consistently identifying the senders of parcels 

23 carried on air carriers; and 

24 (3) the effectiveness of the audit trail generated 

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1 ently identifying the senders of parcels carried on air 

2 carriers to international destinations. 

3 SEC. 210. LONG-TERM SOLVENCY PLAN; ANNUAL FINAN4 CIAL PLAN AND BUDGET. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Board of Governors’’ means the 

7 Board of Governors of the Postal Service; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘long-term solvency plan’’ means 

9 the plan required to be submitted by the Postmaster 

10 General under subsection (b)(1); and 

11 (3) the term ‘‘solvency’’ means the ability of the 

12 Postal Service to pay debts and meet expenses, in13 cluding the ability to perform maintenance and re14 pairs, make investments, and maintain financial re15 serves, as necessary to fulfill the requirements 

16 under, and comply with the policies of, title 39, 

17 United States Code, and other obligations of the 

18 Postal Service. 

19 (b) PLAN FOR THE LONG-TERM SOLVENCY OF THE

20 POSTAL SERVICE.— 

21 (1) SOLVENCY PLAN REQUIRED.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date 

23 described in subparagraph (B), the Postmaster 

24 General shall submit to the Board of Governors 


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1 a plan describing the actions the Postal Service 

2 intends to take to achieve long-term solvency. 

3 (B) DATE.—The date described in this 

4 subparagraph is the later of— 

5 (i) the date that is 90 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act; and 

7 (ii) the earliest date as of which the 

8 Board of Governors has the number of 

9 members required for a quorum. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The long-term solvency 

11 plan shall take into account— 

12 (A) the legal authority of the Postal Serv13 ice; 

14 (B) changes in the legal authority and re15 sponsibilities of the Postal Service under this 

16 Act and the amendments made by this Act; 

17 (C) projected changes in mail volume; 

18 (D) the impact of any regulations that the 

19 Postal Service is required to promulgate under 

20 Federal law; 

21 (E) projected changes in the number of 

22 employees needed to carry out the responsibil23 ities of the Postal Service; 

24 (F) the long-term capital needs of the 

25 Postal Service, including the need to maintain, 


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1 repair, and replace facilities and equipment; 

2 and 

3 (G) the distinctions between market-domi4 nant and competitive products. 

5 (3) REVIEW AND SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS

6 AND COMMISSION.— 

7 (A) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of the long8 term solvency plan, the Board of Governors 

9 shall review the long-term solvency plan and 

10 may request that the Postmaster General make 

11 changes to the long-term solvency plan. 

12 (B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS AND COM13 MISSION.—Not later than 60 days after initial 

14 receipt of the long-term solvency plan, the 

15 Board of Governors shall provide a copy of the 

16 long-term solvency plan, together with a letter 

17 indicating whether and in what respects the 

18 Board of Governors agrees or disagrees with 

19 the measures set out in the long-term solvency 

20 plan, to— 

21 (i) the Committee on Homeland Secu22 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Sen23 ate; 


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1 (ii) the Committee on Oversight and 

2 Government Reform of the House of Rep3 resentatives; and 

4 (iii) the Commission. 

5 (4) UPDATES.— 

6 (A) ANNUAL UPDATES REQUIRED.—The 

7 Postmaster General shall update and submit to 

8 the Board of Governors the long-term solvency 

9 plan not less frequently than annually for 5 

10 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (B) REVIEW BY BOARD OF GOVERNORS.— 

12 The Board of Governors shall review and sub13 mit to Congress and the Commission the up14 dates under this paragraph in accordance with 

15 paragraph (3). 

16 (c) ANNUAL FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of the first 5 full 

18 fiscal years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

19 not later than August 1 of the preceding fiscal year, 

20 the Postmaster General shall submit to the Board of 

21 Governors a financial plan and budget for the fiscal 

22 year that is consistent with the goal of achieving the 

23 long-term solvency of the Postal Service. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDG2 ET.—The financial plan and budget for a fiscal year 

3 shall— 

4 (A) promote the financial stability of the 

5 Postal Service and provide for progress towards 

6 the long-term solvency of the Postal Service; 

7 (B) include the annual budget program of 

8 the Postal Service under section 2009 of title 

9 39, United States Code, and the plan of the 

10 Postal Service commonly referred to as the ‘‘In11 tegrated Financial Plan’’; 

12 (C) describe lump-sum expenditures by all 

13 categories traditionally used by the Postal Serv14 ice; 

15 (D) describe capital expenditures, together 

16 with a schedule of projected capital commit17 ments and cash outlays of the Postal Service, 

18 and proposed sources of funding; 

19 (E) contain estimates of overall debt (both 

20 outstanding and expected to be incurred); 

21 (F) contain cash flow and liquidity fore22 casts for the Postal Service at such intervals as 

23 the Board of Governors may require; 

24 (G) include a statement describing meth25 ods of estimations and significant assumptions; 


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1 (H) distinguish between market-dominant 

2 and competitive products, as practicable; and 

3 (I) address any other issues that the 

4 Board of Governors considers appropriate. 

5 (3) PROCESS FOR SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL

6 OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET.— 

7 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

8 term ‘‘covered recipient’’ means— 

9 (i) the Postmaster General; 

10 (ii) the President; 

11 (iii) the Committee on Homeland Se12 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

13 Senate; and 

14 (iv) the Committee on Oversight and 

15 Government Reform of the House of Rep16 resentatives. 

17 (B) REVIEW BY THE BOARD OF GOV18 ERNORS.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of a 

20 financial plan and budget under paragraph 

21 (1), the Board of Governors shall promptly 

22 review the financial plan and budget. 

23 (ii) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In 

24 conducting the review under this subpara25 graph, the Board of Governors may reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2629.PCS S2629

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1 quest any additional information it con2 siders necessary and appropriate to carry 

3 out the duties of the Board of Governors. 

4 (C) APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL PLAN AND

5 BUDGET SUBMITTED BY THE POSTMASTER

6 GENERAL.—If the Board of Governors deter7 mines that the financial plan and budget for a 

8 fiscal year received under paragraph (1) meets 

9 the requirements under paragraph (2) and oth10 erwise adequately addresses the financial situa11 tion of the Postal Service— 

12 (i) the Board of Governors shall ap13 prove the financial plan and budget and 

14 submit a notice of approval to each covered 

15 recipient; and 

16 (ii) the Postmaster General shall sub17 mit the annual budget program for the rel18 evant fiscal year to the Office of Manage19 ment and Budget in accordance with sec20 tion 2009 of title 39, United States Code. 

21 (D) DISAPPROVAL OF FINANCIAL PLAN

22 AND BUDGET SUBMITTED BY THE POSTMASTER

23 GENERAL.— 

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Board of 

25 Governors determines that the financial 


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1 plan and budget for a fiscal year under 

2 paragraph (1) does not meet the require3 ments under paragraph (2) or is otherwise 

4 inadequate in addressing the financial situ5 ation of the Postal Service, the Board of 

6 Governors shall— 

7 (I) disapprove the financial plan 

8 and budget; 

9 (II) submit to each covered re10 cipient a statement that describes the 

11 reasons for the disapproval; 

12 (III) direct the Postmaster Gen13 eral to appropriately revise the finan14 cial plan and budget for the Postal 

15 Service; and 

16 (IV) submit the revised financial 

17 plan and budget to each covered re18 cipient. 

19 (ii) SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF MAN20 AGEMENT AND BUDGET.—Upon receipt of 

21 a revised financial plan and budget under 

22 clause (i)(IV), the Postmaster General 

23 shall submit the annual budget program 

24 for the relevant fiscal year to the Office of 

25 Management and Budget in accordance 


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1 with section 2009 of title 39, United 

2 States Code. 

3 (E) DEADLINE FOR TRANSMISSION OF FI4 NANCIAL PLAN AND BUDGET BY BOARD OF

5 GOVERNORS.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of this paragraph, not later than Sep7 tember 30 of the fiscal year that precedes each 

8 fiscal year for which a financial plan and budg9 et is required under paragraph (1), the Board 

10 of Governors shall submit to each covered re11 cipient— 

12 (i) a notice of approval under sub13 paragraph (C)(i); or 

14 (ii) an approved financial plan and 

15 budget for the fiscal year under subpara16 graph (D)(i)(IV). 

17 (F) REVISIONS TO FINANCIAL PLAN AND

18 BUDGET.— 

19 (i) PERMITTING POSTMASTER GEN20 ERAL TO SUBMIT REVISIONS.—The Post21 master General may submit proposed revi22 sions to the financial plan and budget for 

23 a fiscal year to the Board of Governors at 

24 any time during that fiscal year. 


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1 (ii) PROCESS FOR REVIEW, APPROVAL, 

2 DISAPPROVAL, AND POSTMASTER GENERAL

3 ACTION.—The procedures described in sub4 paragraphs (B) through (E) shall apply 

5 with respect to a proposed revision to a fi6 nancial plan and budget in the same man7 ner as such procedures apply with respect 

8 to the original financial plan and budget. 

9 (d) ASSUMPTIONS BASED ON CURRENT LAW.—In 

10 preparing the long-term solvency plan or an annual finan11 cial plan and budget required under this section, the Post12 al Service shall base estimates of revenues and expendi13 tures on Federal law as in effect at the time of the prepa14 ration of the long-term solvency plan or the financial plan 

15 and budget. 

16 (e) THIRD-PARTY ANALYSIS OF POSTAL SERVICE FI17 NANCES.—The Commission shall enter into a contract 

18 with 1 or more independent third parties under which the 

19 third party or parties, in not less than 2 years, shall— 

20 (1) complete a study that analyzes— 

21 (A) the finances of the Postal Service; 

22 (B) the finances of, and business trends in, 

23 the overall mailing industry; 


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1 (C) the demand for market-dominant and 

2 competitive products and services in rural, 

3 urban, and suburban communities; and 

4 (D) revenue changes and cost savings of 

5 the Postal Service attributable to recent— 

6 (i) closings and consolidations of proc7 essing plants, post offices, and other facili8 ties; 

9 (ii) changes to service standards; and 

10 (iii) service performance; and 

11 (2) submit to the Commission a report on the 

12 study conducted under paragraph (1) that includes 

13 recommendations on affordable options and time14 tables for improving postal operations and services, 

15 including— 

16 (A) how rural service measurement can be 

17 made more accurate to ensure that the Postal 

18 Service comprehensively measures the mail 

19 service provided to each region of the United 

20 States, regardless of population size and geo21 graphic location; 

22 (B) the feasibility of restoring overnight 

23 service standards for market-dominant products 

24 similar to the service standards that were in ef25 fect on July 1, 2012, including an examination 


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1 of the resources needed, structural and oper2 ational changes needed, and market demand for 

3 such a change; and 

4 (C) recommended definitions for the terms 

5 ‘‘rural’’ and ‘‘urban’’ for purposes of measuring 

6 the performance of the Postal Service relative 

7 to service standards under section 3691 of title 

8 39, United States Code, as amended by section 

9 210 of this Act. 

10 SEC. 211. SERVICE STANDARDS, PERFORMANCE TARGETS, 

11 AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS. 

12 (a) SERVICE STANDARDS, PERFORMANCE TARGETS, 

13 AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3691 of title 39, 

15 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 3691. Modern service standards, performance tar17 gets, and performance measurements 

18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘Area’ and ‘District’ mean the 

20 administrative field units established and given those 

21 designations by the Postal Service; 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Commission’ means the Postal 

23 Regulatory Commission; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘performance targets’ means the 

2 targets established by the Postal Service under sub3 section (e)(1)(A); 

4 ‘‘(4) the terms ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ have the 

5 meanings given those terms under regulations pro6 mulgated by the Commission under subsection 

7 (e)(2)(A); and 

8 ‘‘(5) the term ‘service standards’ means the 

9 service standards established by the Postal Service 

10 under subsection (b). 

11 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY GENERALLY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT; REVISION.—The Postal 

13 Service shall by regulation establish (and may from 

14 time to time thereafter by regulation revise) a set of 

15 service standards for market-dominant products 

16 based on— 

17 ‘‘(A) the finances of the Postal Service; 

18 ‘‘(B) the ability of the Postal Service to 

19 meet the service standards; and 

20 ‘‘(C) the ability of Postal Service cus21 tomers to receive fair and reliable service. 

22 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—On the date on 

23 which the Postal Service requests an advisory opin24 ion under section 3661 with respect to any regula25 tion promulgated or revised under paragraph (1), 


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1 the Postal Service shall notify Congress of the re2 quest and the proposed regulation or revision of a 

3 regulation. 

4 ‘‘(c) OBJECTIVES.—The service standards shall be 

5 designed to achieve the following objectives: 

6 ‘‘(1) To ensure that the Postal Service meets 

7 the universal service obligation, including the obliga8 tion to preserve regular and effective access to postal 

9 services in all communities, including those in rural 

10 areas or where post offices are not self-sustaining. 

11 ‘‘(2) To enhance the value of postal services to 

12 both senders and recipients. 

13 ‘‘(3) To assure Postal Service customers deliv14 ery reliability, speed, and frequency consistent with 

15 reasonable rates and best business practices. 

16 ‘‘(4) To provide a system of objective perform17 ance measurements for each market-dominant prod18 uct as a basis for measurement of Postal Service 

19 performance, in accordance with subsection (e). 

20 ‘‘(d) FACTORS.—In establishing or revising the serv21 ice standards, the Postal Service shall take into account— 

22 ‘‘(1) the actual level of service that Postal Serv23 ice customers receive under any service guidelines 

24 previously established by the Postal Service or serv25 ice standards established under this section; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the degree of customer satisfaction with 

2 Postal Service performance in the acceptance, proc3 essing, and delivery of mail; 

4 ‘‘(3) the needs of all Postal Service customers; 

5 ‘‘(4) mail volume and revenues projected for fu6 ture years; 

7 ‘‘(5) the projected growth in the number of ad8 dresses the Postal Service will be required to serve 

9 in future years; 

10 ‘‘(6) the current and projected future cost of 

11 serving Postal Service customers; 

12 ‘‘(7) the effect of changes in technology, demo13 graphics, and population distribution on the efficient 

14 and reliable operation of the postal delivery system; 

15 ‘‘(8) the financial status of the Postal Service, 

16 including the status of any accrued unfunded liabil17 ities or obligations; 

18 ‘‘(9) ensuring that the performance of the Post19 al Service is as strong as reasonably possible under 

20 the applicable circumstances, including the factors 

21 described in paragraphs (1) through (8); and 

22 ‘‘(10) the policies of this title and such other 

23 factors as the Postal Service determines appropriate. 

24 ‘‘(e) PERFORMANCE TARGETS, MEASUREMENTS, AND

25 PUBLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE TARGETS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Each year, the 

3 Postal Service shall establish reasonable targets 

4 for performance to ensure that mail service for 

5 postal customers meets the service standards 

6 for market-dominant products. 

7 ‘‘(B) COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION.—For 

8 purposes of section 3653(b)(2), the Commission 

9 shall evaluate the compliance of the Postal 

10 Service with the service standards for market11 dominant products by reference to the perform12 ance targets. 

13 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS OF URBAN AND

15 RURAL.—For purposes of measuring perform16 ance under the performance targets, the Com17 mission, in consultation with the Postal Serv18 ice— 

19 ‘‘(i) shall promulgate regulations de20 fining the terms— 

21 ‘‘(I) rural; and 

22 ‘‘(II) urban, which shall be de23 fined by the Commission as any geo24 graphic area that is not defined as 

25 rural under subclause (I); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in defining the terms under 

2 clause (i), shall consider— 

3 ‘‘(I) the recommendations of the 

4 report submitted to the Commission 

5 under section 210(e) of the Postal 

6 Service Reform Act of 2018; 

7 ‘‘(II) existing definitions of those 

8 terms that are in use by the Postal 

9 Service, the Federal Government, and 

10 other sources; and 

11 ‘‘(III) stakeholder input. 

12 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE REPORTING.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Serv14 ice shall measure and report to the Com15 mission on the performance of the Postal 

16 Service with respect to market-dominant 

17 products on a nationwide, Area, and Dis18 trict basis based on the performance tar19 gets, taking into consideration the Com20 mission’s opinion on any proposed target, 

21 and in a manner that reflects separate con22 sideration of performance with respect 

23 to— 

24 ‘‘(I) rural customers; and 

25 ‘‘(II) urban customers. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COMMISSION REVIEW.—The 

2 Commission shall review and comment 

3 upon the performance of the Postal Service 

4 as reported under clause (i). 

5 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), the Postal Service shall publish on 

8 the website of the Postal Service the perform9 ance targets, the actual measurements under 

10 those targets, and the comments of the Com11 mission under paragraph (2)— 

12 ‘‘(i) covering a period designated by 

13 the Commission, the length of which shall 

14 be not less than 2 years; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) categorized in accordance with 

16 that paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(B) COMMERCIALLY SENSITIVE OR PRO18 PRIETARY INFORMATION.—To the extent that 

19 the Postal Service considers any information re20 quired to be reported under subparagraph (A) 

21 to be commercially sensitive or proprietary in 

22 nature, the Commission shall determine the 

23 level of information that shall be publicly dis24 closed in accordance with section 504(g)(3)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(f) REVIEW UPON COMPLAINT.—The regulations 

2 promulgated pursuant to this section (and any revisions 

3 thereto), and any violations thereof, shall be subject to re4 view upon complaint under sections 3662 and 3663. 

5 ‘‘(g) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH PERFORMANCE TAR6 GETS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Service fails 

8 to meet 1 or more performance targets— 

9 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), the 

10 Postal Service shall develop a plan to make spe11 cific operational corrections under the control of 

12 the Postal Service that will cause the perform13 ance targets to be met as soon as is reasonably 

14 practicable, as determined by the Postal Serv15 ice; and 

16 ‘‘(B) if the Postal Service makes best ef17 forts to develop a plan described in subpara18 graph (A) and determines that achieving com19 pliance with the performance targets through 

20 such a plan would be impractical, would not be 

21 cost effective, and would not be in the best 

22 long-term interest of the Postal Service and its 

23 customers, the Postal Service shall make ad24 justments to the service standards or perform25 ance targets. 


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1 ‘‘(2) POSTAL SERVICE SUBMISSION OF PLAN.— 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of noncompli3 ance with a performance target, the Postal Service 

4 shall submit to the Commission— 

5 ‘‘(A) the plan required under paragraph 

6 (1)(A); or 

7 ‘‘(B) a report explaining why the Postal 

8 Service is making an adjustment described in 

9 paragraph (1)(B). 

10 ‘‘(3) COMMISSION CONSIDERATION OF POSTAL

11 SERVICE PLAN.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission— 

13 ‘‘(i) shall review each plan or report 

14 submitted by the Postal Service under 

15 paragraph (2); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) may make such recommendations 

17 as the Commission considers appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(B) POSTAL SERVICE RESPONSE.—If the 

19 Commission provides recommendations regard20 ing a plan or report to the Postal Service under 

21 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Postal Service shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) consider the recommendations; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) not later than 90 days after the 

25 date on which the Postal Service receives 


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1 the recommendations, submit a response to 

2 the Commission explaining the bases for 

3 any decision to accept or reject a rec4 ommendation. 

5 ‘‘(4) POSTAL SERVICE IMPLEMENTATION OF

6 PLAN.—After developing a plan under paragraph 

7 (1)(A), the Postal Service shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) implement the plan; and 

9 ‘‘(B) in each report provided under section 

10 3652, discuss— 

11 ‘‘(i) the implementation of the plan; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the extent to which the Postal 

13 Service is improving performance to meet 

14 the performance targets; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) if the performance targets sub16 ject to the plan are still not being met, 

17 whether— 

18 ‘‘(I) the plan remains sufficient 

19 to achieve compliance within a reason20 ably practicable period of time, and is 

21 therefore being maintained; 

22 ‘‘(II) the plan is being revised; or 

23 ‘‘(III) the Postal Service has de24 termined to make adjustments deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2629.PCS S2629

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1 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) rather 

2 than continue with the plan. 

3 ‘‘(5) COMMISSION REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTA4 TION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In making the deter6 mination required under section 3653, the Com7 mission shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) review the implementation of each 

9 plan developed under paragraph (1)(A); 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) make such recommendations as 

12 the Commission considers appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—The Postal Serv14 ice shall consider any recommendations under 

15 subparagraph (A)(ii) in the same manner as 

16 provided under paragraph (3). 

17 ‘‘(h) PERIODIC REVIEW OF SERVICE STANDARDS.— 

18 The Commission shall periodically— 

19 ‘‘(1) review the appropriateness of the service 

20 standards; and 

21 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress and the Postal Service 

22 a report on the review conducted under paragraph 

23 (1).’’. 

24 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 36 of title 


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1 39, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

2 item relating to section 3691 and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

‘‘3691. Modern service standards, performance targets, and performance measurements.’’. 

4 (b) REVIEW OF NATIONWIDE SERVICE STANDARD

5 CHANGES.—Section 3661 of title 39, United States Code, 

6 as amended by section 205 of this Act, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) CHANGES RELATING TO MARKET-DOMINANT

9 PRODUCTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.—Upon a 

11 request by the Postal Service for an advisory opinion 

12 from the Commission under subsection (b) relating 

13 to a nationwide or substantially nationwide change 

14 in service standards for the delivery of market-domi15 nant products, including when the Postal Service es16 tablishes new performance targets under section 

17 3691(e), the Inspector General shall, not later than 

18 90 days after the submission of the request— 

19 ‘‘(A) conduct a review of the proposal to 

20 determine whether— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Postal Service formulated the 

22 proposal based on accurate data; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Postal Service followed ap24 propriate policies and procedures of the 


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1 Postal Service in formulating the proposal; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the proposal prioritizes the 

4 needs of the postal customer; and 

5 ‘‘(B) submit a report on the review con6 ducted under subparagraph (A) to— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Postal Service; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Commission; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Se10 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

11 Senate; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Oversight and 

13 Government Reform of the House of Rep14 resentatives. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION REVIEW.—Not earlier than 

16 30 days after the date on which the Inspector Gen17 eral submits a report on a proposal to the Commis18 sion under paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

19 issue its opinion on the proposal.’’. 

20 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date on which the report is submitted to the 

22 Commission under section 210(e)(2) of this Act, the Com23 mission shall submit to Congress a report that includes— 

24 (1) a determination as to whether the service 

25 standards for market-dominant products in effect on 


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1 the day before the date of enactment of this Act 

2 achieve the objectives and factors set forth under 

3 section 3691 of title 39, United States Code, as 

4 amended by this section; and 

5 (2) recommendations as to how delivery service 

6 to postal customers could be improved based on the 

7 financial condition of the Postal Service. 

8 (d) TEMPORARY FLOOR FOR SERVICE STAND9 ARDS.—The Postal Service may not revise the service 

10 standards for market-dominant products in effect on the 

11 day before the date of enactment of this Act in a manner 

12 that lengthens delivery times before the date on which the 

13 report is submitted to the Commission under section 

14 210(e)(2) of this Act. 

15 SEC. 212. POSTAL SERVICE CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 39, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘§ 209. Chief Innovation Officer 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

21 Postal Service the position of Chief Innovation Officer, ap22 pointed by the Postmaster General, who shall manage the 

23 Postal Service’s development and implementation of inno24 vative postal and nonpostal products and services. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The primary duties of the Chief Inno2 vation Officer are as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) Leading the development of innovative 

4 nonpostal products and services that will maximize 

5 revenue to the Postal Service. 

6 ‘‘(2) Developing innovative postal products and 

7 services, specifically those that utilize emerging in8 formation technologies, to maximize revenue to the 

9 Postal Service. 

10 ‘‘(3) Implementing the innovation strategy de11 scribed under subsection (d). 

12 ‘‘(4) Monitoring the performance of innovative 

13 products and services and revising them as needed 

14 to meet changing market trends. 

15 ‘‘(5) Taking into consideration comments or ad16 visory opinions, if applicable, issued by the Postal 

17 Regulatory Commission prior to the initial sale of in18 novative postal or nonpostal products and services. 

19 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—As soon as practicable after 

21 the date of enactment of the Postal Service Reform 

22 Act of 2018, but not later than 6 months after such 

23 date, the Postmaster General shall appoint a Chief 

24 Innovation Officer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any individual ap2 pointed to serve as the Chief Innovation Officer shall 

3 have proven expertise and a record of success in at 

4 least 1 of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Postal and shipping industry. 

6 ‘‘(B) Innovation product research and de7 velopment. 

8 ‘‘(C) Marketing brand strategy. 

9 ‘‘(D) Emerging communications tech10 nology. 

11 ‘‘(E) Business process management. 

12 ‘‘(3) CURRENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE ELIGI13 BLE.—An officer or employee of the Postal Service 

14 may be appointed to the position of Chief Innovation 

15 Officer under this chapter. Upon appointment to 

16 such position, such officer or employee may not con17 currently hold any other position in the Postal Serv18 ice. 

19 ‘‘(d) INNOVATION STRATEGY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

21 after the date on which the Chief Innovation Officer 

22 is appointed under subsection (c)(1), the Postmaster 

23 General shall submit to the Committee on Oversight 

24 and Government Reform of the House of Represent25 atives, the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Postal 

2 Regulatory Commission a comprehensive strategy for 

3 maximizing revenues through innovative postal and 

4 nonpostal products and services. 

5 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—The strat6 egy submitted under paragraph (1) shall address— 

7 ‘‘(A) the specific innovative postal and 

8 nonpostal products and services to be developed 

9 and offered by the Postal Service, including the 

10 nature of the market to be filled by each prod11 uct and service and the likely date by which 

12 each product and service will be introduced; 

13 ‘‘(B) the cost of developing and offering 

14 each product or service; 

15 ‘‘(C) the anticipated sales volume of each 

16 product and service; 

17 ‘‘(D) the anticipated revenues and profits 

18 expected to be generated by each product and 

19 service; 

20 ‘‘(E) the likelihood of success of each prod21 uct and service as well as the risks associated 

22 with the development and sale of each product 

23 and service; 

24 ‘‘(F) the trends anticipated in market con25 ditions that may affect the success of each 


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1 product and service over the 5-year period be2 ginning on the date such strategy or update is 

3 submitted; 

4 ‘‘(G) the metrics that will be utilized to as5 sess the effectiveness of the innovation strategy; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(H) the specific methods by which 

8 mailpiece design analysis may be improved to 

9 speed the approval process and promote the in10 creased use of innovative mailpiece design. 

11 ‘‘(3) STRATEGY UPDATES.—On January 1, 

12 2019, and every 3 years thereafter, the Postal Serv13 ice shall submit an update to the innovation strategy 

14 submitted under paragraph (1) to the Committee on 

15 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

16 Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and 

18 the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the date of submission 

21 of the President’s annual budget under section 

22 1105(a) of title 31, the Postmaster General shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Govern24 ment Reform of the House of Representatives, the 

25 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 


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1 Affairs of the Senate, and the Postal Regulatory 

2 Commission a report that details the Postal Serv3 ice’s progress in implementing the innovation strat4 egy described under subsection (d). 

5 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—The report 

6 required under paragraph (1) shall address— 

7 ‘‘(A) the revenue generated by each prod8 uct and service developed through the innova9 tion strategy and the costs of developing and 

10 offering each such product and service for the 

11 most recent fiscal year; 

12 ‘‘(B) the total sales volume and revenue 

13 generated by each product and service on a 

14 monthly basis for the preceding year; 

15 ‘‘(C) trends in the markets filled by each 

16 product and service; 

17 ‘‘(D) products and services identified in 

18 the innovation strategy that are to be discon19 tinued, the date on which the discontinuance 

20 will occur, and the reasons for the discontinu21 ance; 

22 ‘‘(E) alterations in products and services 

23 identified in the innovation strategy that will be 

24 made to meet changing market conditions, and 

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1 sure the success of the products and services; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(F) the performance of the innovation 

4 strategy according to the metrics identified in 

5 subsection (d)(2)(G). 

6 ‘‘(f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

8 shall conduct a study on the implementation of the 

9 innovation strategy described under subsection (d) 

10 not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 

11 of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2018. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The study required under 

13 paragraph (1) shall assess the effectiveness of the 

14 Postal Service in identifying, developing, and selling 

15 innovative postal and nonpostal products and serv16 ices. The study shall also include— 

17 ‘‘(A) an audit of the costs of developing 

18 each innovative postal and nonpostal product 

19 and service developed or offered by the Postal 

20 Service during the period beginning on the date 

21 of enactment of the Postal Service Reform Act 

22 of 2018 and ending 4 years after such date; 

23 ‘‘(B) the sales volume of each such product 

24 and service; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the revenues and profits generated by 

2 each such product and service; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the likelihood of continued success of 

4 each such product and service. 

5 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION.—The results of the study re6 quired under this subsection shall be submitted to 

7 the Committee on Oversight and Government Re8 form of the House of Representatives, the Com9 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af10 fairs of the Senate, and the Postal Regulatory Com11 mission.’’. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

13 The table of sections for chapter 2 of title 39, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

‘‘209. Chief Innovation Officer.’’. 

16 SEC. 213. EMERGENCY SUSPENSIONS OF POST OFFICES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of title 39, United 

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(f) EMERGENCY SUSPENSIONS.— 

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

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

23 ‘temporary location’ include a location at which 

24 customers affected by an emergency suspension 

25 of a post office, or the expiration of the lease 


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1 or rental agreement for a post office, may send 

2 and receive mail, which may include the provi3 sion and regular servicing of a Cluster Box 

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

5 Postal Service; 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘discontinuance procedures’ 

7 means the procedures required for the dis8 continuance of a post office under subsection 

9 (d) and any regulations promulgated under that 

10 subsection; 

11 ‘‘(C) the term ‘emergency suspension’ 

12 means the temporary suspension of retail oper13 ations at a post office, without following dis14 continuance procedures for the post office, be15 cause of— 

16 ‘‘(i) a natural disaster; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the termination of a lease or 

18 rental agreement by the lessor; 

19 ‘‘(iii) a lack of qualified personnel to 

20 operate the post office; 

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

22 or destruction of, the post office when al23 ternate quarters acceptable to the Postal 

24 Service for use as a post office are not im25 mediately available in the community; 


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

2 mail; or 

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

4 safeguard the post office or its revenues; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(D) the term ‘post office’— 

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

8 is defined in section 241.1 of title 39, Code 

9 of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

10 regulation; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) includes a post office branch or 

12 post office station. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—The Postal Service may im14 plement an emergency suspension of a post office in 

15 accordance with the requirements under paragraphs 

16 (3) through (7). 

17 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—If the Postal Service im18 plements an emergency suspension of a post office, 

19 the Postal Service shall provide immediate notice of 

20 the suspension to— 

21 ‘‘(A) the relevant local, regional, State, and 

22 Federal officials, including— 

23 ‘‘(i) each Member of Congress who 

24 represents the area in which the affected 

25 post office is located; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the chief executive of each rel2 evant unit of local government; and 

3 ‘‘(B) customers, notification to whom shall 

4 include— 

5 ‘‘(i) the effective date of the suspen6 sion; 

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

8 ‘‘(iii) any alternate service available; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the nearest postal retail facility 

10 (as defined in section 3 of the Postal Serv11 ice Reform Act of 2018) and hours of serv12 ice; and 

13 ‘‘(v) the name and contact informa14 tion of an individual to contact for more 

15 information. 

16 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATE SERVICE.—If the Postal Serv17 ice implements an emergency suspension of a post 

18 office, the Postal Service shall provide alternate 

19 drop-off, pick-up, and post office box services at 1 

20 or more locations that are as close as feasible to the 

21 suspended post office. 

22 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYEE REASSIGNMENT.—If the Postal 

23 Service implements an emergency suspension of a 

24 post office, the Postal Service shall temporarily reas25 sign each employee of the post office in accordance 


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1 with each applicable Federal statute, Federal regula2 tion, and collective bargaining agreement. 

3 ‘‘(6) SUSPENSION REVIEW.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within a reasonable 

5 period of time after the date on which the Post6 al Service implements an emergency suspension 

7 of a post office, the Postal Service shall review 

8 the emergency suspension and determine wheth9 er to— 

10 ‘‘(i) reopen the post office; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) continue the emergency suspen12 sion. 

13 ‘‘(B) REOPENING.— 

14 ‘‘(i) NOTIFICATION.—If the Postal 

15 Service makes a determination under sub16 paragraph (A) to reopen a post office, the 

17 Postal Service shall provide notice to the 

18 persons described in paragraph (3) of the 

19 date by which the Postal Service expects to 

20 reopen the post office. 

21 ‘‘(ii) DELAY.—If the Postal Service 

22 does not reopen a post office by the date 

23 specified under clause (i), not later than 

24 the next business day after that date, the 

25 Postal Service shall provide notice of the 


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1 delay to the persons described in para2 graph (3), including a new date by which 

3 the Postal Service expects to reopen the 

4 post office, if such a date is known. 

5 ‘‘(iii) SUBSEQUENT DELAYS.—If the 

6 Postal Service does not reopen a post of7 fice by a new date specified under clause 

8 (ii), the Postal Service shall provide to the 

9 persons described in paragraph (3) notice, 

10 and a new date in the same manner as 

11 under clause (ii) of this subparagraph, and 

12 shall continue to do so at regular intervals 

13 until the Postal Service reopens the post 

14 office or initiates discontinuance proce15 dures for the post office. 

16 ‘‘(C) CONTINUED SUSPENSION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Serv18 ice makes a determination under subpara19 graph (A) to continue the emergency sus20 pension of a post office, the Postal Serv21 ice— 

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

23 making the determination, shall— 

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1 stantially similar to the services 

2 provided at the suspended post 

3 office on a temporary basis at a 

4 location within a reasonable dis5 tance of the suspended post of6 fice, which may be at the nearest 

7 postal facility; and 

8 ‘‘(bb)(AA) initiate dis9 continuance procedures for the 

10 post office; 

11 ‘‘(BB) publish a plan to re12 store service to the affected com13 munity within a reasonable pe14 riod of time; or 

15 ‘‘(CC) provide notice to the 

16 persons described in paragraph 

17 (3) of the date on which the 

18 Postal Service expects to publish 

19 a plan to restore the same or 

20 substantially similar service to 

21 the affected community within a 

22 reasonable period of time; and 

23 ‘‘(II) if the Postal Service elects 

24 to provide notice under subclause 

25 (I)(bb)(CC), shall, not later than 90 


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1 days after the date of the initial deter2 mination to implement the emergency 

3 suspension, publish the plan described 

4 in that subclause. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DELAY IN RESTORATION OF

6 SERVICE.—If the Postal Service publishes 

7 a plan to restore service to an affected 

8 community under subclause (I)(bb)(BB) or 

9 (II) of clause (i) and such service to the af10 fected community is not restored within 

11 180 days of the date on which the emer12 gency suspension was implemented, the 

13 Postal Service shall— 

14 ‘‘(I)(aa) publish notice of the 

15 continued suspension, including— 

16 ‘‘(AA) a reason for the 

17 delay; and 

18 ‘‘(BB) an anticipated date 

19 of restoration of service; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) not later than 30 days 

21 after publishing the notice under item 

22 (aa), host a question-and-answer 

23 forum— 

24 ‘‘(AA) that members of the 

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1 tion accessible to the affected 

2 community; or 

3 ‘‘(BB) in which members of 

4 the affected community may par5 ticipate by teleconference or vid6 eoconference; or 

7 ‘‘(II) initiate discontinuance pro8 cedures for the post office. 

9 ‘‘(iii) 1-YEAR DELAY.—If, as of the 

10 date that is 1 year after the date on which 

11 an emergency suspension of a post office 

12 was implemented, service to the affected 

13 community has not been restored and the 

14 Postal Service has not initiated discontinu15 ance procedures for the post office, the 

16 Postal Service— 

17 ‘‘(I) shall publish notice of the 

18 continued suspension, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) a reason for the delay; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(bb) an anticipated date of 

22 restoration of such service; 

23 ‘‘(II) shall host— 

24 ‘‘(aa) not later than 30 days 

25 after publishing the notice under 


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1 subclause (I), a second question2 and-answer forum described in 

3 clause (ii)(I)(bb); and 

4 ‘‘(bb) additional question5 and-answer fora described in 

6 clause (ii)(I)(bb) every subse7 quent 180 days until— 

8 ‘‘(AA) such service is 

9 restored; or 

10 ‘‘(BB) the Postal Serv11 ice initiates discontinuance 

12 procedures for the post of13 fice; and 

14 ‘‘(III) if services similar to those 

15 that have not been restored are not lo16 cated within a reasonable distance of 

17 the post office, not later than 60 days 

18 after the date that is 1 year after the 

19 date on which the emergency suspen20 sion was implemented, shall develop 

21 and publish a plan to provide essential 

22 services, including alternate retail and 

23 post office box services, on a tem24 porary basis at a location within a 


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1 reasonable distance of the suspended 

2 post office. 

3 ‘‘(7) RESTORATION OF SERVICE.—Upon the 

4 restoration of service under paragraph (6)(C), the 

5 Postal Service shall immediately notify— 

6 ‘‘(A) the affected community; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the Headquarters Review Coordi8 nator. 

9 ‘‘(8) LEASE OR RENTAL AGREEMENT EXPIRA10 TION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON EMERGENCY

13 SUSPENSIONS.—The Postal Service may 

14 not implement an emergency suspension of 

15 a post office based on the expiration of the 

16 lease or rental agreement for the post of17 fice. 

18 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVE PROCESS.—The 

19 Postal Service shall establish an alternative 

20 process for the suspension of postal serv21 ices to a community based on the expira22 tion of a lease or rental agreement for a 

23 post office in accordance with subpara24 graphs (B) through (G) of this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO REACH AGREEMENT.— 

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

3 or rental agreement for a post office, the Postal 

4 Service does not expect to reach an agreement 

5 with the lessor to extend the lease or rental 

6 agreement or to sell the property to the Postal 

7 Service, the Postal Service shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) notify the affected community of 

9 a possible disruption in service due to the 

10 possible expiration of the lease or rental 

11 agreement; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) include in the notification under 

13 clause (i)— 

14 ‘‘(I) the expiration date of the 

15 lease or rental agreement; 

16 ‘‘(II) alternate services available 

17 if the lease or rental agreement ex18 pires,; 

19 ‘‘(III) the nearest post offices 

20 and hours of service; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) the name, telephone num22 ber, and email address of an indi23 vidual to contact for more informa24 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(C) RESTORATION OF SERVICE.—Not 

2 later than 5 days after the date on which a 

3 lease or rental agreement for a post office ex4 pires, the Postal Service shall make best efforts 

5 to commence actions required to restore the 

6 same or substantially similar service to the 

7 community in which the post office that was the 

8 subject of the expired lease or rental agreement 

9 is located. 

10 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO RESTORE SERVICE.—If, 

11 within 30 days after the expiration of a lease or 

12 rental agreement for a post office, the Postal 

13 Service is unable to restore service at the same 

14 location or at another location in the affected 

15 community, the Postal Service shall publish no16 tice of intent to restore the same or substan17 tially similar service to the affected commu18 nity— 

19 ‘‘(i) within a reasonable period of 

20 time; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in any event, not later than 180 

22 days after the date on which the lease or 

23 rental agreement expired. 

24 ‘‘(E) DELAY IN RESTORATION OF SERV25 ICE.—If the Postal Service publishes notice of 


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1 intent to restore the same or substantially simi2 lar service to an affected community under sub3 paragraph (D) and such service to the affected 

4 community is not restored within 180 days of 

5 the date on which the lease or rental agreement 

6 for the post office expired, the Postal Service 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) publish notice of the delay, in9 cluding— 

10 ‘‘(I) a reason for the delay; and 

11 ‘‘(II) an anticipated date of res12 toration of such service; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) within a reasonable period of 

14 time after publishing the notice under 

15 clause (i), host a question-and-answer 

16 forum— 

17 ‘‘(I) that members of the commu18 nity may attend, at a location acces19 sible to the affected community; or 

20 ‘‘(II) in which members of the af21 fected community may participate by 

22 teleconference or videoconference. 

23 ‘‘(F) FURTHER DELAYS IN RESTORATION

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

25 day period after the date on which the Postal 


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1 Service publishes notice of a delay under sub2 paragraph (E)(i), if the same or substantially 

3 similar service to the affected community has 

4 not been restored, the Postal Service shall pub5 lish an updated notice of the delay that includes 

6 the anticipated date of restoration of such serv7 ice. 

8 ‘‘(G) 1-YEAR DELAY.—If the same or sub9 stantially similar service to the affected commu10 nity is not restored within 1 year of the date on 

11 which the lease or rental agreement for the post 

12 office expired, the Postal Service— 

13 ‘‘(i) shall host— 

14 ‘‘(I) a second question-and-an15 swer forum described in subparagraph 

16 (E)(ii); and 

17 ‘‘(II) additional question-and-an18 swer fora described in subparagraph 

19 (E)(ii) in the affected community as 

20 determined necessary by the Postal 

21 Service until— 

22 ‘‘(aa) such service is re23 stored; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the Postal Service ini2 tiates discontinuance procedures 

3 for the post office; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) if no alternate services are lo5 cated within a reasonable distance of the 

6 post office, not later than 60 days after the 

7 date that is 1 year after the date on which 

8 the lease or rental agreement for the post 

9 office expired, shall develop and publish a 

10 plan to provide essential services, including 

11 alternate retail and post office box services, 

12 on a temporary basis at a location within 

13 a reasonable distance of the post office.’’. 

14 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub15 section (a) shall apply to any emergency suspension of a 

16 post office that is implemented on or after the date that 

17 is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 214. MAILING ADDRESS REQUIREMENTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VI of chapter 36 of 

20 title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 3687. Mailing address requirements 

23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) the term ‘municipality’ means a city, town, 

25 borough, county, parish, district, association, or 


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1 other public entity established by, or pursuant to, 

2 applicable State law; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ means each of the several 

4 States, territories, and possessions of the United 

5 States, the District of Columbia, and the Common6 wealth of Puerto Rico. 

7 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT FOR PHYSICAL AND MAILING

8 ADDRESSES TO CORRESPOND.—The State and munici9 pality used by the Postal Service for the delivery address 

10 for purposes of mail matter shall correspond with the 

11 State and municipality of the physical address of the loca12 tion for the delivery of such mail matter.’’. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

14 The table of sections for chapter 36 of title 39, United 

15 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat16 ing to section 3686 the following: 

‘‘3687. Mailing address requirements.’’. 

17 TITLE III—POSTAL 

18 CONTRACTING REFORM 

19 SEC. 301. CONTRACTING PROVISIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title 39, United States 

21 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘CHAPTER 7—CONTRACTING PROVISIONS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘701. Definitions. 

‘‘702. Delegation of contracting authority. 

‘‘703. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests for noncompetitive contracts. 


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‘‘704. Review of ethical issues. 

‘‘705. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain contracting activity. 

1 ‘‘§ 701. Definitions 

2 ‘‘In this chapter— 

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘contracting officer’ means an 

4 employee of a covered postal entity who has author5 ity to enter into a postal contract; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered postal entity’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Postal Service; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

9 ‘‘(3) the term ‘head of a covered postal entity’ 

10 means— 

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Postal Service, the 

12 Postmaster General; or 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Postal Regulatory 

14 Commission, the Chairman of the Postal Regu15 latory Commission; 

16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘postal contract’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Postal Service, any 

18 contract (including any agreement or memo19 randum of understanding) entered into by the 

20 Postal Service for the procurement of goods or 

21 services; or 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Postal Regulatory 

23 Commission, any contract (including any agree24 ment or memorandum of understanding) in an 


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1 amount exceeding the simplified acquisition 

2 threshold (as defined in section 134 of title 41) 

3 entered into by the Postal Regulatory Commis4 sion for the procurement of goods or services; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘senior procurement executive’ 

7 means the senior procurement executive of a covered 

8 postal entity. 

9 ‘‘§ 702. Delegation of contracting authority 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) POLICY.—Not later than 60 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this chapter, the head of each 

13 covered postal entity shall issue a policy on con14 tracting officer delegations of authority for postal 

15 contracts for the covered postal entity. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The policy issued under 

17 paragraph (1) shall require that— 

18 ‘‘(A) notwithstanding any delegation of au19 thority with respect to postal contracts, the ulti20 mate responsibility and accountability for the 

21 award and administration of postal contracts 

22 resides with the senior procurement executive; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) a contracting officer shall maintain 

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1 ties being performed on postal contracts of 

2 which that officer has cognizance, notwith3 standing any delegation of authority that may 

4 have been executed. 

5 ‘‘(b) POSTING OF DELEGATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each covered 

7 postal entity shall make any delegation of authority 

8 for postal contracts outside the functional con9 tracting unit readily available and accessible on the 

10 website of the covered postal entity. 

11 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph shall 

12 apply to any delegation of authority made on or 

13 after the date that is 30 days after the date of en14 actment of this chapter. 

15 ‘‘§ 703. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests 

16 for noncompetitive contracts 

17 ‘‘(a) POSTING REQUIRED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION.—The 

19 Postal Regulatory Commission shall make the non20 competitive purchase request for any noncompetitive 

21 award for any contract (including any agreement or 

22 memorandum of understanding) entered into by the 

23 Postal Regulatory Commission for the procurement 

24 of goods and services in an amount of $20,000 or 

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1 competitive award, publicly available on the website 

2 of the Postal Regulatory Commission— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 

4 of the award of the noncompetitive contract; or 

5 ‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 

6 of the award of the noncompetitive contract, if 

7 the basis for the award was a compelling busi8 ness interest. 

9 ‘‘(2) POSTAL SERVICE.—The Postal Service 

10 shall make the noncompetitive purchase request for 

11 any noncompetitive award of a postal contract in an 

12 amount of $250,000 or more, including the rationale 

13 supporting the noncompetitive award, publicly avail14 able on the website of the Postal Service— 

15 ‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 

16 of the award; or 

17 ‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 

18 of the award, if the basis for the award was a 

19 compelling business interest. 

20 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POSTING THRESH21 OLD.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REVIEW AND DETERMINATION.—Not 

23 later than January 31 of each year, the Postal 

24 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) review the applicable threshold es2 tablished under paragraph (1) or (2); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) based on any change in the Con4 sumer Price Index for All Urban Con5 sumers of the Department of Labor, deter6 mine whether an adjustment to the thresh7 old shall be made. 

8 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENTS.—An ad9 justment under subparagraph (A) shall be made 

10 in increments of $5,000. If the covered postal 

11 entity determines that a change in the Con12 sumer Price Index for a year would require an 

13 adjustment in an amount that is less than 

14 $5,000, the covered postal entity may not make 

15 an adjustment to the threshold for the year. 

16 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

17 apply to any noncompetitive contract awarded on or 

18 after the date that is 90 days after the date of en19 actment of this chapter. 

20 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

22 the information required to be made publicly avail23 able by a covered postal entity under subsection (a) 

24 shall be readily accessible on the website of the cov25 ered postal entity. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA2 TION.—A covered postal entity shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) carefully screen any description of the 

4 rationale supporting a noncompetitive award re5 quired to be made publicly available under sub6 section (a) to determine whether the description 

7 includes proprietary data (including any ref8 erence or citation to the proprietary data) or se9 curity-related information; and 

10 ‘‘(B) remove any proprietary data or secu11 rity-related information before making publicly 

12 available a description of the rationale sup13 porting a noncompetitive award. 

14 ‘‘(c) WAIVERS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) WAIVER PERMITTED.—If the Postal Serv16 ice determines that making a noncompetitive pur17 chase request for a postal contract of the Postal 

18 Service under subsection (a)(2) publicly available 

19 would risk placing the Postal Service at a competi20 tive disadvantage relative to a private sector compet21 itor, the senior procurement executive, in consulta22 tion with the advocate for competition of the Postal 

23 Service, may waive the requirements under sub24 section (a). 

25 ‘‘(2) FORM AND CONTENT OF WAIVER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FORM.—A waiver under paragraph 

2 (1) shall be in the form of a written determina3 tion placed in the file of the contract to which 

4 the noncompetitive purchase request relates. 

5 ‘‘(B) CONTENT.—A waiver under para6 graph (1) shall include— 

7 ‘‘(i) a description of the risk associ8 ated with making the noncompetitive pur9 chase request publicly available; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) a statement that redaction of 

11 sensitive information in the noncompetitive 

12 purchase request would not be sufficient to 

13 protect the Postal Service from being 

14 placed at a competitive disadvantage rel15 ative to a private sector competitor. 

16 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

17 The Postal Service may not delegate the authority to 

18 approve a waiver under paragraph (1) to any em19 ployee having less authority than the senior procure20 ment executive. 

21 ‘‘§ 704. Review of ethical issues 

22 ‘‘If a contracting officer identifies any ethical issues 

23 relating to a proposed contract and submits those issues 

24 and that proposed contract to the designated ethics official 


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1 for the covered postal entity before the awarding of that 

2 contract, that ethics official shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) review the proposed contract; and 

4 ‘‘(2) advise the contracting officer on the appro5 priate resolution of ethical issues. 

6 ‘‘§ 705. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain 

7 contracting activity 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) a contracting officer; or 

11 ‘‘(B) any employee of a covered postal en12 tity whose decisionmaking affects a postal con13 tract as determined by regulations prescribed 

14 by the head of a covered postal entity; 

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘final conviction’ means a convic16 tion entered by a court, regardless of whether such 

17 conviction was entered on a verdict or pursuant to 

18 a plea (including a plea of nolo contendere), and 

19 with regard to which no further appeal may be taken 

20 or is pending; and 

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered relationship’ means a 

22 covered relationship described in section 

23 2635.502(b)(1) of title 5, Code of Federal Regula24 tions, or any successor thereto. 

25 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The head of each covered 

2 postal entity shall prescribe regulations that— 

3 ‘‘(A) require a covered employee to include 

4 in the file of any noncompetitive purchase re5 quest for a noncompetitive postal contract a 

6 written certification that— 

7 ‘‘(i) discloses any covered relationship 

8 of the covered employee; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) states that the covered employee 

10 will not take any action with respect to the 

11 noncompetitive purchase request that af12 fects the financial interests of any person 

13 with which the covered employee has a cov14 ered relationship, or otherwise gives rise to 

15 an appearance of the use of public office 

16 for private gain, as described in section 

17 2635.702 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu18 lations, or any successor thereto; 

19 ‘‘(B) require a contracting officer to con20 sult with the ethics counsel for the covered 

21 postal entity regarding any disclosure made by 

22 a covered employee under subparagraph (A)(i), 

23 to determine whether participation by the cov24 ered employee in the noncompetitive purchase 

25 request would give rise to a violation of part 


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1 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations 

2 (commonly referred to as the Standards of Eth3 ical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 

4 Branch), or any successor thereto; 

5 ‘‘(C) require the ethics counsel for a cov6 ered postal entity to review any disclosure made 

7 by a contracting officer under subparagraph 

8 (A)(i) to determine whether participation by the 

9 contracting officer in the noncompetitive pur10 chase request would give rise to a violation of 

11 part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula12 tions (commonly referred to as the Standards of 

13 Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 

14 Branch), or any successor thereto; 

15 ‘‘(D) under subsections (d) and (e) of sec16 tion 2635.502 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu17 lations, or any successor thereto, require the 

18 ethics counsel for a covered postal entity to— 

19 ‘‘(i) authorize a covered employee that 

20 makes a disclosure under subparagraph 

21 (A)(i) to participate in the noncompetitive 

22 postal contract; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) disqualify a covered employee 

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1 graph (A)(i) from participating in the non2 competitive postal contract; 

3 ‘‘(E) require a contractor to timely disclose 

4 to the contracting officer in a bid, solicitation, 

5 award, or performance of a postal contract any 

6 conflict of interest with a covered employee; and 

7 ‘‘(F) include authority for the head of the 

8 covered postal entity to grant a waiver or other9 wise mitigate any organizational or personal 

10 conflict of interest, if the head of the covered 

11 postal entity determines that the waiver or miti12 gation is in the best interests of the covered 

13 postal entity. 

14 ‘‘(2) POSTING OF WAIVERS.—Not later than 30 

15 days after the head of a covered postal entity grants 

16 a waiver described in paragraph (1)(F), the head of 

17 the covered postal entity shall make the waiver pub18 licly available on the website of the covered postal 

19 entity. 

20 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT VOIDANCE AND RECOVERY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—In any case in 

22 which there is a final conviction for a violation of 

23 any provision of chapter 11 of title 18 relating to a 

24 postal contract, the head of a covered postal entity 

25 may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) void that contract; and 

2 ‘‘(B) recover the amounts expended and 

3 property transferred by the covered postal enti4 ty under that contract. 

5 ‘‘(2) OBTAINING OR DISCLOSING PROCUREMENT

6 INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 

8 a contractor under a postal contract fails to 

9 timely disclose a conflict of interest to the ap10 propriate contracting officer as required under 

11 the regulations promulgated under subsection 

12 (b)(1)(E), the head of a covered postal entity 

13 may— 

14 ‘‘(i) void that contract; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) recover the amounts expended 

16 and property transferred by the covered 

17 postal entity under that contract. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONVICTION OR ADMINISTRATIVE DE19 TERMINATION.—A case described under sub20 paragraph (A) is any case in which— 

21 ‘‘(i) there is a final conviction for an 

22 offense punishable under section 2105 of 

23 title 41; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the head of a covered postal enti25 ty determines, based upon a preponderance 


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1 of the evidence, that the contractor or 

2 someone acting for the contractor has en3 gaged in conduct constituting an offense 

4 punishable under section 2105 of such 

5 title.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of chapters at the beginning of part I is amend8 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘7. Contracting Provisions ............................................................ 701’’. 

9 SEC. 302. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION. 

10 Section 7101(8) of title 41, United States Code, is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara13 graph (C); 

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub15 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(E) the United States Postal Service and 

18 the Postal Regulatory Commission.’’. 

19 TITLE IV—POSTAL REGULATORY 

20 COMMISSION, INSPECTOR 

21 GENERAL, RELATED PROVI22 SIONS, AND MISCELLANEOUS 

23 SEC. 401. POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION. 

24 Section 502 of title 39, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 

2 (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and (g)’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(g) A Commissioner may serve for not more than 

5 2 full terms as a Commissioner.’’. 

6 SEC. 402. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES 

7 POSTAL SERVICE AND THE POSTAL REGU8 LATORY COMMISSION. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE

10 UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE AND THE POSTAL

11 REGULATORY COMMISSION BY PRESIDENT.—Section 8G 

12 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 

16 United States International Trade Commission, 

17 the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the 

18 United States Postal Service’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘the United States International Trade Com20 mission, and the United States Postal Service 

21 and the Postal Regulatory Commission’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking subpara23 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(B) with respect to the United States 

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1 mission, such term, for purposes of oversight 

2 of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the United States Postal Service, 

4 means the Governors (as defined in section 

5 102(3) of title 39, United States Code); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the Postal Regulatory Commis8 sion, means the Chairman of the Postal 

9 Regulatory Commission;’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ‘‘or sub11 section (f)(3)’’ after ‘‘Except as provided in para12 graph (2)’’; and 

13 (3) in subsection (f)— 

14 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(1)(A) There is established in the United States 

17 Postal Service the Office of the Inspector General of the 

18 United States Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory 

19 Commission. 

20 ‘‘(B) There shall be at the head of the Office of the 

21 Inspector General of the United States Postal Service and 

22 the Postal Regulatory Commission an Inspector General 

23 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Inspector General’) 

24 who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 

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1 ical affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and dem2 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial anal3 ysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or 

4 investigations. 

5 ‘‘(C) The Inspector General may be removed from of6 fice by the President. If the Inspector General is removed 

7 from office or is transferred to another position or location 

8 within the United States Postal Service, the President 

9 shall communicate in writing the reasons for any such re10 moval or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later 

11 than 30 days before the removal or transfer. Nothing in 

12 this subparagraph shall prohibit a personnel action other13 wise authorized by law, other than transfer or removal. 

14 ‘‘(D) For the purposes of section 7324 of title 5, 

15 United States Code, the Inspector General shall not be 

16 considered to be an employee who determines policies to 

17 be pursued by the United States in the nationwide admin18 istration of Federal laws. 

19 ‘‘(E) The Inspector General shall have all of the au20 thorities and responsibilities provided by this Act with re21 spect to the Postal Regulatory Commission, as if the Post22 al Regulatory Commission were part of the United States 

23 Postal Service.’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of the 

25 United States Postal Service (hereinafter in 


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1 this subsection referred to as the ‘Inspector 

2 General’)’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (I) in clause (i), in the matter 

6 preceding subclause (I), by inserting 

7 ‘‘relating to the United States Postal 

8 Service’’ before ‘‘which require access 

9 to sensitive information’’; and 

10 (II) in clause (iii), by striking 

11 ‘‘Committee on Governmental Affairs 

12 of the Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘Com13 mittee on Homeland Security and 

14 Governmental Affairs of the Senate’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by insert16 ing ‘‘and the Postal Regulatory Commis17 sion’’ after ‘‘United States Postal Service’’; 

18 and 

19 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

20 ‘‘Committee on Governmental Affairs of 

21 the Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee on 

22 Homeland Security and Governmental Af23 fairs of the Senate’’; 

24 (D) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end 

25 the following: ‘‘Nothing in this paragraph may 


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1 be invoked by the United States Postal Service 

2 to restrict or limit any audit or investigation 

3 that the Inspector General considers appro4 priate.’’; and 

5 (E) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘and 

6 the Postal Regulatory Commission’’ after 

7 ‘‘United States Postal Service’’. 

8 (b) INTERIM POWER OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

9 THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.—During the pe10 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 

11 ending on the date on which the first individual is ap12 pointed as Inspector General of the United States Postal 

13 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of 

15 the United States Postal Service shall have all of the au16 thorities and responsibilities provided by the Inspector 

17 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) with respect to the 

18 Postal Regulatory Commission on the day before the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, as if the Postal Regulatory Com20 mission were part of the United States Postal Service. 

21 (c) TRANSFER OF PERSONNEL.— 

22 (1) OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

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1 ferred to the Office of the Inspector General of the 

2 United States Postal Service and the Postal Regu3 latory Commission. 

4 (2) OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

5 THE POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION.—The per6 sonnel employed in the Office of the Inspector Gen7 eral of the Postal Regulatory Commission may be 

8 transferred to the other offices of the Postal Regu9 latory Commission. 

10 (3) MODERN SERVICE AND PERFORMANCE

11 STANDARDS.—Any unobligated amounts made avail12 able to carry out the functions of the Office of the 

13 Inspector General of the Postal Regulatory Commis14 sion before the date of enactment of this Act shall 

15 be used to establish and revise modern service stand16 ards and measure performance under section 3691 

17 of title 39, United States Code, as amended by sec18 tion 210(a) of this Act. 

19 (4) EFFECT.—During the 1-year period begin20 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, any full21 time or part-time employee who, on the day before 

22 such date of enactment, was employed in a perma23 nent position in the Office of the Inspector General 

24 of the Postal Regulatory Commission, shall not be 

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1 cause of the transfer under an amendment made by 

2 this section. 

3 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE.—Title 39, 

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) in section 102(4), by striking ‘‘section 

7 202(e) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

8 8G(f)(1)(B) of the Inspector General Act of 

9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; 

10 (B) in section 202, by striking subsection 

11 (e); 

12 (C) in section 504, by striking subsection 

13 (h); 

14 (D) in section 1001(b), in the first sen15 tence, by inserting ‘‘, and section 8G(f)(1)(B) 

16 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

17 App.)’’ after ‘‘1001(c) of this title’’; 

18 (E) in section 1003(b), by striking ‘‘11(2)’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘12(2)’’; 

20 (F) in section 1005(a)(3), by inserting ‘‘, 

21 and section 8G(f)(1)(B) of the Inspector Gen22 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’ after 

23 ‘‘1001(c) of this title’’; 


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1 (G) in section 2009, by inserting ‘‘and the 

2 Postal Regulatory Commission’’ after ‘‘United 

3 States Postal Service’’; and 

4 (H) in section 2011(h)(2)(D), by inserting 

5 ‘‘and the Postal Regulatory Commission’’ after 

6 ‘‘United States Postal Service’’. 

7 (2) OMNIBUS CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS

8 ACT, 1997.—Section 662(d) of the Omnibus Consoli9 dated Appropriations Act, 1997 (39 U.S.C. 2802 

10 note) is amended— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in13 serting ‘‘AND THE POSTAL REGULATORY

14 COMMISSION’’ after ‘‘POSTAL SERVICE’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

16 ‘‘and the Postal Regulatory Commission’’ 

17 after ‘‘Postal Service’’; and 

18 (iii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by insert19 ing ‘‘and the Postal Regulatory Commis20 sion’’ after ‘‘Postal Service’’; and 

21 (B) in the first sentence of paragraph (2), 

22 by inserting ‘‘and the Postal Regulatory Com23 mission’’ after ‘‘Postal Service’’. 

24 (e) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 


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1 (1) SUITS.—The provisions of this Act shall not 

2 affect suits commenced before the effective date of 

3 this Act, and in all such suits, proceeding shall be 

4 had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the 

5 same manner and with the same effect as if this Act 

6 had not been enacted. 

7 (2) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, ac8 tion, or other proceeding commenced by or against 

9 the Inspector General of the United States Postal 

10 Service or the Inspector General of the Postal Regu11 latory Commission, or by or against any individual 

12 in the official capacity of such individual as an offi13 cer of the Office of the Inspector General of the 

14 United States Postal Service or the Office of the In15 spector General of the Postal Regulatory Commis16 sion shall abate by reason of the enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (3) CONTINUANCE OF SUITS.—If, before the ef19 fective date of this Act, the Office of the Inspector 

20 General of the United States Postal Service or the 

21 Office of the Inspector General of the Postal Regu22 latory Commission or officer thereof in the official 

23 capacity of such officer, is party to a suit, and under 

24 this Act any function of the Office of the Inspector 

25 General of the United States Postal Service or the 


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1 Office of the Inspector General of the Postal Regu2 latory Commission or officer is transferred to the In3 spector General of the United States Postal Service 

4 and the Postal Regulatory Commission or any other 

5 official of the Office of the Inspector General of the 

6 United States Postal Service and the Postal Regu7 latory Commission, then such suit shall be continued 

8 with the Inspector General of the United States 

9 Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commis10 sion or other appropriate official of the Office of the 

11 Inspector General of the United States Postal Serv12 ice and the Postal Regulatory Commission sub13 stituted or added as a party. 

14 (f) APPLICABILITY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except with respect to the 

16 amendment made by subsection (a)(1)(A) relating to 

17 the Postal Regulatory Commission and the amend18 ment made by subsection (d)(1)(C), the amendments 

19 made by this section shall apply with respect to the 

20 first individual appointed as Inspector General of 

21 the United States Postal Service and the Postal 

22 Regulatory Commission after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act. 

24 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

25 Act may be construed to alter the authority or the 


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1 length of the term of the individual serving as In2 spector General of the United States Postal Service 

3 on the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (g) REFERENCES IN THIS ACT TO THE INSPECTOR

5 GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.— 

6 On and after the date on which the first individual is ap7 pointed as Inspector General of the United States Postal 

8 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, each reference in this Act 

10 to the Inspector General of the Postal Service shall be 

11 deemed to be a reference to the Inspector General of the 

12 United States Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory 

13 Commission. 

14 (h) RESOURCES FOR WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE

15 INVESTIGATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 39, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘§ 417. Waste, fraud, and abuse investigations 

20 ‘‘The Postal Service may transfer such resources to 

21 the Inspector General for waste, fraud, and abuse inves22 tigations as the Postal Service determines necessary.’’. 

23 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND24 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 4 of title 


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1 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

‘‘417. Waste, fraud, and abuse investigations.’’. 

3 SEC. 403. GAO REPORT ON FRAGMENTATION, OVERLAP, 

4 AND DUPLICATION IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS 

5 AND ACTIVITIES. 

6 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

7 include in the annual report to Congress required under 

8 section 21 of the Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘Joint Resolu9 tion increasing the statutory limit on the public debt’’, ap10 proved February 12, 2010 (31 U.S.C. 712 note), that is 

11 applicable to the first year beginning after the date of en12 actment of this Act a review of the duplication of services 

13 and functions between the Office of the Inspector General 

14 of the Postal Service, the Postal Inspection Service, and 

15 any other Federal agency. 


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Calendar No. 366 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2629 

A BILL 

To improve postal operations, service, and 

A

transparency. 

PRIL 9, 2018 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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