I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3319 

To direct the Postmaster General to conduct a pilot program to provide 

nonpostal services at certain post offices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Postmaster General to conduct a pilot program 

to provide nonpostal services at certain post offices, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postal Innovation 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANDED SERVICES. 

7 (a) PILOT PROGRAM FOR PROVISION OF NONPOSTAL

8 SERVICES.— 


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

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and notwith3 standing the provisions of title 39, United States 

4 Code, the Postmaster General shall establish a pilot 

5 program to provide nonpostal services through pub6 lic-private partnerships in 5 postal districts or re7 gions, as determined by the Postmaster General, of 

8 which at least 1 district or region contains a post of9 fice located in a rural area. 

10 (2) SERVICES.—The nonpostal services de11 scribed in paragraph (1) may include— 

12 (A) financial services; 

13 (B) warehousing; 

14 (C) experimental postal products market 

15 testing; 

16 (D) community support services; 

17 (E) Internet voting; 

18 (F) municipal broadband Internet service; 

19 (G) public wireless Internet service; 

20 (H) emergency broadband Internet service; 

21 and 

22 (I) passport services. 

23 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of the establishment of the pilot program under 


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1 subsection (a), the Postmaster General shall submit 

2 to Congress a report containing— 

3 (A) an analysis of the pilot program con4 ducted under paragraph (1); and 

5 (B) an assessment of the most cost-effec6 tive implementation of nonpostal services under 

7 the pilot program. 

8 (b) GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES.—Section 411 of title 

9 39, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘this 

11 section’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; 

12 (2) in the heading of such section, by striking 

13 ‘‘Government’’ and inserting ‘‘government’’; 

14 (3) by striking ‘‘Executive agencies’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘(a) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Executive agen16 cies’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF POSTAL SERVICE.—The 

20 Postal Service is authorized to furnish property and 

21 services to a State, local government, or tribal gov22 ernment under such terms and conditions, including 

23 the possibility for reimbursement, as the Postal 

24 Service and the applicable State, local government, 

25 or tribal government shall determine appropriate. 


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

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘State’ means each of the 

3 several States, the District of Columbia, Amer4 ican Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

5 Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth 

6 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United 

7 States, and any other territory or possession of 

8 the United States. 

9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘tribal government’ means 

10 the government of an Indian tribe (as defined 

11 in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination 

12 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e))).’’. 

13 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item related to 

14 section 411 in the analysis of chapter 4 of title 39, United 

15 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘411. Cooperation with other government agencies.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. SHIPPING OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 

17 (a) MAILABILITY.— 

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

19 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by strik20 ing ‘‘mails’’ and inserting ‘‘mails, except to the ex21 tent that the mailing is allowable under section 

22 3001(p) of title 39’’. 

23 (2) MAILABLE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.—Sec24 tion 1154(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

25 amended, by inserting ‘‘or, with respect to the mailVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3319.IH H3319

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1 ing of alcoholic beverages to the extent allowed 

2 under section 3001(p) of title 39’’ after ‘‘mechanical 

3 purposes’’. 

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

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(p)(1) Alcoholic beverages shall be considered mail8 able if mailed— 

9 ‘‘(A) by a covered shipper in accordance with 

10 applicable regulations under paragraph (2); and 

11 ‘‘(B) in accordance with the delivery require12 ments otherwise applicable to privately carried ship13 ments of alcoholic beverages. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Postal Service shall prescribe such regula15 tions as may be necessary to carry out this subsection, 

16 including regulations providing that— 

17 ‘‘(A) the mailing shall be by a means estab18 lished by the Postal Service to ensure direct delivery 

19 to the addressee or a duly authorized agent at a 

20 postal facility; 

21 ‘‘(B) the addressee (and any duly authorized 

22 agent) shall be an individual at least 21 years of 

23 age, and shall present a valid, government-issued 

24 photo identification at the time of delivery; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the alcoholic beverage may not be for re2 sale or other commercial purpose; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the covered shipper involved shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) certify in writing to the satisfaction of 

5 the Postal Service, through a registration proc6 ess administered by the Postal Service, that the 

7 mailing is not in violation of any provision of 

8 this subsection or regulation prescribed under 

9 this subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) provide any other information or af11 firmation that the Postal Service may require, 

12 including with respect to the prepayment of 

13 State alcohol beverage taxes. 

14 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘alcoholic beverage’ has the 

16 meaning given such term in section 203 of the Fed17 eral Alcohol Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 214); 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) the term ‘covered shipper’ means a win20 ery, brewery, or beverage distilled spirits plant, or 

21 other wholesaler, distributer, or retailer of alcoholic 

22 beverages that— 

23 ‘‘(i) possesses a notice of registration or 

24 permit approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco 

25 Tax and Trade Bureau of the Department of 


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1 the Treasury pursuant to the Federal Alcohol 

2 Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) has registered with, obtained a permit 

4 from, or obtained approval of a notice or an ap5 plication from, the Secretary of the Treasury 

6 pursuant to Chapter 51 of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 5001 et seq.).’’. 

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

9 this section shall take effect on the earlier of— 

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

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

12 States Code, as amended by this section; or 

13 (2) 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act. 

15 SEC. 4. UPGRADING THE FLEET OF THE POSTAL SERVICE. 

16 (a) CONTRACTING.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General 

18 may enter into contracts to upgrade the postal fleet 

19 to increase long-term savings by reducing collision, 

20 maintenance, fuel, or other costs. 

21 (2) REVIEW.—In determining whether to enter 

22 into contracts under paragraph (1), the Postal Serv23 ice shall review and identify routes for which the 

24 Postal Service provides delivery to determine if 

25 motor vehicles used on such routes can be replaced 


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1 or retrofitted with commercially available tech2 nologies that— 

3 (A) increase average fuel economy; 

4 (B) reduce collisions with other motorized 

5 vehicles, nonmotorized vehicles, and pedes6 trians; or 

7 (C) reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. 

8 (b) GUIDELINES.—The Postmaster General shall de9 velop guidelines for contracted vehicles and vehicles pur10 chased or leased for use by the Postal Service, that, at 

11 a minimum, require that— 

12 (1) in the case of a passenger car, the car 

13 meets— 

14 (A) with respect to emissions of carbon di15 oxide, the more stringent of— 

16 (i) the applicable standards developed 

17 by the Environmental Protection Agency 

18 under title II of the Clean Air Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); or 

20 (ii) on average, less than 235 grams 

21 per mile; and 

22 (B) with respect to average fuel economy, 

23 the more stringent of— 

24 (i) the applicable average fuel econ25 omy standards developed by the National 


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1 Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

2 under chapter 329 of title 49, United 

3 States Code; or 

4 (ii) 37.8 miles per gallon; 

5 (2) in the case of a light-duty truck, the truck 

6 meets— 

7 (A) with respect to emissions of carbon di8 oxide, the more stringent of— 

9 (i) the applicable standards developed 

10 by the Environmental Protection Agency 

11 under title II of the Clean Air Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); or 

13 (ii) on average, less than 310 grams 

14 per mile; and 

15 (B) with respect to average fuel economy, 

16 the more stringent of— 

17 (i) the applicable average fuel econ18 omy standards developed by the National 

19 Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

20 under chapter 329 of title 49, United 

21 States Code; or 

22 (ii) 28.8 miles per gallon; 

23 (3) medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles com24 ply with applicable standards— 


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1 (A) for emissions of carbon dioxide devel2 oped by the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency under title II of the 

4 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); and 

5 (B) for average fuel economy developed by 

6 the Secretary of Transportation under chapter 

7 329 of title 49, United States Code; and 

8 (4) for safety, the vehicles described in para9 graphs (1) through (3) are equipped with commer10 cially available crash avoidance solutions, includ11 ing— 

12 (A) camera-based sensors; and 

13 (B) automatic emergency braking for new 

14 vehicles. 

15 (c) APPLICABILITY OF GUIDELINES.—The standards 

16 described in subsection (b) shall apply to contracted vehi17 cles and vehicles purchased or leased for use by the Postal 

18 Service after the date that is 1 year after the date of en19 actment of this Act. 

20 (d) REDUCTION OF CONSUMPTION OF PETROLEUM

21 PRODUCTS.—The Postmaster General shall reduce the 

22 total consumption of petroleum products by vehicles in the 

23 postal fleet by not less than 2 percent annually through 

24 the end of fiscal year 2025, relative to the baseline estab25 lished for fiscal year 2005. 


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1 SEC. 5. INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF THE POSTAL SERV2 ICE. 

3 The Postmaster General may use cost savings from 

4 section 2 to reinvest in innovation, research and develop5 ment, and operations of the Postal Service. 

6 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

9 shall submit to Congress a report on the feasibility of the 

10 Postal Service providing Internet services to the public, 

11 including access to broadband Internet and Internet vot12 ing services. Such study shall include— 

13 (1) cost-effective strategies for using the infra14 structure, technology, and processes of existing net15 works that the Postal Service uses for transpor16 tation, delivery, and retail to provide the Internet 

17 services; 

18 (2) recommendations for providing such serv19 ices in a manner that is consistent with the public 

20 interest; and 

21 (3) an analysis of whether providing such serv22 ices has the potential to improve the financial posi23 tion of the Postal Service. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Postal Service’’ means the 

3 United States Postal Service. 

Æ 


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