II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2035

To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish guidelines for the

relocation, closing, or consolidation of post offices, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 5, 1998

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, or consolidation 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 ‘‘Community and Postal

5 Participation Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR RELOCATION, CLOSING, OR CON7 SOLIDATION OF POST OFFICES.

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

9 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the fol10 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Before making a determination under sub2 section (a)(3) as to the necessity for the relocation, clos3 ing, or consolidation of any post office, the Postal Service

4 shall provide adequate notice to persons served by that

5 post office of the intention of the Postal Service to relo6 cate, close, or consolidate that post office not later than

7 60 days before the proposed date of that relocation, clos8 ing, or consolidation.

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

10 be in writing, hand delivered or delivered by mail to per11 sons served by that post office, and published in 1 or more

12 newspapers of general circulation within the zip codes

13 served by that post office.

14 ‘‘(B) The notification under paragraph (1) shall in15 clude—

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

17 or consolidation of the post office involved;

18 ‘‘(ii) a summary of the reasons for the reloca19 tion, closing, or consolidation; and

20 ‘‘(iii) the proposed date for the relocation, clos21 ing, or consolidation.

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

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

24 an alternative relocation, consolidation, or closing proposal
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1 during the 60-day period beginning on the date on which

2 the notice is provided under paragraph (1).

3 ‘‘(4)(A) At the end of the period specified in para4 graph (3), the Postal Service shall make a determination

5 under subsection (a)(3). Before making a final determina6 tion, the Postal Service shall conduct a hearing, and per7 sons served by the post office that is the subject of a notice

8 under paragraph (1) may present oral or written testi9 mony with respect to the relocation, closing, or consolida10 tion of the post office.

11 ‘‘(B) In making a determination as to whether or not

12 to relocate, close, or consolidate a post office, the Postal

13 Service shall consider—

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

15 of a core downtown business area;

16 ‘‘(ii) any potential effect of the relocation, clos17 ing, or consolidation on the community served by the

18 post office;

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

20 office opposes a relocation, closing, or consolidation;

21 ‘‘(iv) any potential effect of the relocation, clos22 ing, or consolidation on employees of the Postal

23 Service employed at the post office;

24 ‘‘(v) whether the relocation, closing, or consoli25 dation of the post office is consistent with the policy
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1 of the Government under section 101(b) that re2 quires the Postal Service to provide a maximum de3 gree of effective and regular postal services to rural

4 areas, communities, and small towns in which post

5 offices are not self-sustaining;

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

7 to the Postal Service resulting from the relocation,

8 closing, or consolidation;

9 ‘‘(vii) whether postal officials engaged in nego10 tiations with persons served by the post office con11 cerning the proposed relocation, closing, or consoli12 dation;

13 ‘‘(viii) whether management of the post office

14 contributed to a desire to relocate;

15 ‘‘(ix)(I) the adequacy of the existing post office;

16 and

17 ‘‘(II) whether all reasonable alternatives to relo18 cation, closing, or consolidation have been explored;

19 and

20 ‘‘(x) any other factor that the Postal Service

21 determines to be necessary for making a determina22 tion whether to relocate, close, or consolidate that

23 post office.

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

25 relocate, close, or consolidate a post office shall be in writ-
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1 ing and shall include the findings of the Postal Service

2 with respect to the considerations required to be made

3 under paragraph (4).

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

5 alternative proposals described in paragraph (3) in a con6 solidated report that includes—

7 ‘‘(i) the determination and findings under sub8 paragraph (A); and

9 ‘‘(ii) each alternative proposal and a response

10 by the Postal Service.

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

12 public a copy of the report prepared under subparagraph

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

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

15 relocate, close, or consolidate a post office until the appli16 cable date described in subparagraph (B).

17 ‘‘(B) The applicable date specified in this subpara18 graph is—

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

20 the end of the 60-day period specified in that para21 graph; or

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

23 the date on which a determination is made by the

24 Commission under paragraph 7(A), but not later
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1 than 120 days after the date on which the appeal is

2 made.

3 ‘‘(7)(A) A determination of the Postal Service to relo4 cate, close, or consolidate any post office may be appealed

5 by any person served by that post office to the Postal Rate

6 Commission during the 60-day period beginning on the

7 date on which the report is made available under para8 graph (5). The Commission shall review the determination

9 on the basis of the record before the Postal Service in the

10 making of the determination. The Commission shall make

11 a determination based on that review not later than 120

12 days after appeal is made under this paragraph.

13 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall set aside any determina14 tion, findings, and conclusions of the Postal Service that

15 the Commission finds to be—

16 ‘‘(i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discre17 tion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law;

18 ‘‘(ii) without observance of procedure required

19 by law; or

20 ‘‘(iii) unsupported by substantial evidence on

21 the record.

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

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

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

25 the subject of that appeal be returned for further consider-
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1 ation, but the Commission may not modify the determina2 tion of the Postal Service. The Commission may suspend

3 the effectiveness of the determination of the Postal Service

4 until the final disposition of the appeal.

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

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

7 out by the Commission under this paragraph.

8 ‘‘(E) A determination made by the Commission shall

9 not be subject to judicial review.

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

11 procedures to address the relocation, closing, or consolida12 tion of buildings in the community, and the public partici13 pation requirements of those procedures are more strin14 gent than those provided in this subsection, the Postal

15 Service shall apply those procedures to the relocation, con16 solidation, or closing of a post office in that community

17 in lieu of applying the procedures established in this sub18 section.

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

20 consolidate any post office, the Postal Service shall comply

21 with any applicable zoning, planning, or land use laws (in22 cluding building codes and other related laws of State or

23 local public entities, including any zoning authority with

24 jurisdiction over the area in which the post office is lo25 cated).
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1 ‘‘(10) The relocation, closing, or consolidation of any

2 post office under this subsection shall be conducted in ac3 cordance with section 110 of the National Historic Preser4 vation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h–2).’’.

5 SEC. 3. POLICY STATEMENT.

6 Section 101(g) of title 39, United States Code, is

7 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In addition

8 to taking into consideration the matters referred to in the

9 preceding sentence, with respect to the creation of any new

10 postal facility, the Postal Service shall consider the poten11 tial effects of that facility on the community to be served

12 by that facility and the service provided by any facility

13 in operation at the time that a determination is made

14 whether to plan or build that facility.’’.

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