II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 556

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

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 5, 1999

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

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

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Partnership Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR RELOCATION, CLOSING, CONSOLI2 DATION, OR CONSTRUCTION OF POST OF3 FICES.

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

5 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(b)(1) Before making a determination under sub8 section (a)(3) as to the necessity for the relocation, clos9 ing, consolidation, or construction of any post office, the

10 Postal Service shall provide adequate notice to persons

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

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

13 post office not later than 60 days before the final deter14 mination is made to relocate, close, consolidate, or con15 struct.

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

17 be in writing, hand delivered or delivered by mail to per18 sons served by that post office, and published in 1 or more

19 newspapers of general circulation within the zip codes

20 served by that post office.

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

22 include—

23 ‘‘(i) an identification of the relocation, closing,

24 consolidation, or construction of the post office in25 volved;
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1 ‘‘(ii) a summary of the reasons for the reloca2 tion, closing, consolidation, or construction;

3 ‘‘(iii) the proposed date for the relocation, clos4 ing, consolidation, or construction;

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

6 requested; and

7 ‘‘(v) notice of the opportunity for public com8 ment, including suggestions.

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

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

11 an alternative relocation, closing, consolidation, or con12 struction proposal during the 60-day period beginning on

13 the date on which the notice is provided under paragraph

14 (1).

15 ‘‘(4)(A) At the end of the period specified in para16 graph (3), the Postal Service shall make a determination

17 under subsection (a)(3). Before making a final determina18 tion, the Postal Service shall conduct a hearing, if re19 quested by persons served by the post office that is the

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

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

22 office may present oral or written testimony with respect

23 to the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of

24 the post office.
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1 ‘‘(B) In making a determination as to whether or not

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

3 the Postal Service shall consider—

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

5 of a core downtown business area;

6 ‘‘(ii) any potential effect of the relocation, clos7 ing, consolidation, or construction on the community

8 served by the post office;

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

10 office opposes a relocation, closing, consolidation, or

11 construction;

12 ‘‘(iv) any potential effect of the relocation, clos13 ing, consolidation, or construction on employees of

14 the Postal Service employed at the post office;

15 ‘‘(v) whether the relocation, closing, consolida16 tion, or construction of the post office is consistent

17 with the policy of the Government under section

18 101(b) that requires the Postal Service to provide a

19 maximum degree of effective and regular postal serv20 ices to rural areas, communities, and small towns in

21 which post offices are not self-sustaining;

22 ‘‘(vi) the quantified long-term economic saving

23 to the Postal Service resulting from the relocation,

24 closing, consolidation, or construction;
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1 ‘‘(vii)(I) the adequacy of the existing post of2 fice; and

3 ‘‘(II) whether all reasonable alternatives to relo4 cation, closing, consolidation, or construction have

5 been explored; and

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

7 determines to be necessary for making a determina8 tion whether to relocate, close, consolidate, or con9 struct that post office.

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

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

12 the Postal Service may not consider compliance with any

13 provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of

14 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

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

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

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

18 Service with respect to the considerations required to be

19 made under paragraph (4).

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

21 alternative proposals described in paragraph (3) in a con22 solidated report that includes—

23 ‘‘(i) the determination and findings under sub24 paragraph (A); and
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1 ‘‘(ii) each alternative proposal and a response

2 by the Postal Service.

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

4 public a copy of the report prepared under subparagraph

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

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

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

8 the applicable date described in subparagraph (B).

9 ‘‘(B) The applicable date specified in this subpara10 graph is—

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

12 the end of the 30-day period specified in that para13 graph; or

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

15 the date on which a determination is made by the

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

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

18 made.

19 ‘‘(7)(A) A determination of the Postal Service to relo20 cate, close, consolidate, or construct any post office may

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

22 the Postal Rate Commission during the 30-day period be23 ginning on the date on which the report is made available

24 under paragraph (5). The Commission shall review the de25 termination on the basis of the record before the Postal
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1 Service in the making of the determination. The Commis2 sion shall make a determination based on that review not

3 later than 120 days after appeal is made under this para4 graph.

5 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall set aside any determina6 tion, findings, and conclusions of the Postal Service that

7 the Commission finds to be—

8 ‘‘(i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discre9 tion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law;

10 ‘‘(ii) without observance of procedure required

11 by law; or

12 ‘‘(iii) unsupported by substantial evidence on

13 the record.

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

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

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

17 the subject of that appeal be returned for further consider18 ation, but the Commission may not modify the determina19 tion of the Postal Service. The Commission may suspend

20 the effectiveness of the determination of the Postal Service

21 until the final disposition of the appeal.

22 ‘‘(D) The provisions of sections 556 and 557, and

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

24 out by the Commission under this paragraph.
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1 ‘‘(E) A determination made by the Commission shall

2 not be subject to judicial review.

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

4 procedures to address the relocation, closing, consolida5 tion, or construction of buildings in the community, and

6 the public participation requirements of those procedures

7 are more stringent than those provided in this subsection,

8 the Postal Service shall apply those procedures to the relo9 cation, closing, consolidation, or construction of a post of10 fice in that community in lieu of applying the procedures

11 established in this subsection.

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

13 consolidate, or construct any post office, the Postal Serv14 ice shall comply with any applicable zoning, planning, or

15 land use laws (including building codes and other related

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

17 authority with jurisdiction over the area in which the post

18 office is located).

19 ‘‘(10) The relocation, closing, consolidation, or con20 struction of any post office under this subsection shall be

21 conducted in accordance with the National Historic Pres22 ervation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h–2).

23 ‘‘(11) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

24 to apply to a temporary customer service facility to be
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1 used by the Postal Service for a period of less than 60

2 days.

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

4 ‘emergency’ means any occurrence that forces an imme5 diate relocation from an existing facility, including natural

6 disasters, fire, health and safety factors, and lease termi7 nations.

8 ‘‘(B) If the Postmaster General makes a determina9 tion that an emergency exists relating to a post office, the

10 Postmaster General may suspend the application of the

11 provisions of this subsection for a period not to exceed

12 180 days with respect to such post office.

13 ‘‘(C) The Postmaster General may exercise the sus14 pension authority under subparagraph (A) once with re15 spect to a single emergency for any specific post office.’’.

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