22832 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 93 / Friday, May 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

13175, Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal Governments, 

because it does not have a substantial 

direct effect on one or more Indian 

tribes, on the relationship between the 

Federal Government and Indian tribes, 

or on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian tribes. 

Energy Effects 

We have analyzed this rule under 

Executive Order 13211, Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use. We have 

determined that it is not a ‘‘significant 

energy action’’ under that order because 

it is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

under Executive Order 12866 and is not 

likely to have a significant adverse effect 

on the supply, distribution, or use of 

energy. The Administrator of the Office 

of Information and Regulatory Affairs 

has not designated it as a significant 

energy action. Therefore, it does not 

require a Statement of Energy Effects 

under Executive Order 13211. 

Technical Standards 

The National Technology Transfer 

and Advancement Act (NTTAA) (15 

U.S.C. 272 note) directs agencies to use 

voluntary consensus standards in their 

regulatory activities unless the agency 

provides Congress, through the Office of 

Management and Budget, with an 

explanation of why using these 

standards would be inconsistent with 

applicable law or otherwise impractical. 

Voluntary consensus standards are 

technical standards (e.g., specifications 

of materials, performance, design, or 

operation; test methods; sampling 

procedures; and related management 

systems practices) that are developed or 

adopted by voluntary consensus 

standards bodies. 

This rule does not use technical 

standards. Therefore, we did not 

consider the use of voluntary consensus 

standards. 

Environment 

We have analyzed this rule under 

Department of Homeland Security 

Management Directive 023–01 and 

Commandant Instruction M16475.lD, 

which guide the Coast Guard in 

complying with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321–4370f), and 

have concluded this action is one of a 

category of actions which do not 

individually or cumulatively have a 

significant effect on the human 

environment. This rule is categorically 

excluded, under figure 2–1, paragraph 

(34)(d) of the Instruction and neither an 

environmental assessment nor an 

environmental impact statement is 

required. This rule involves a temporary 

safety zone that will be in effect for less 

than one week. An ‘‘Environmental 

Analysis Check List’’ supporting this 

determination is available in the docket 

where indicated under the ‘‘Public 

Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ section of this preamble. 

List of Subjects 33 CFR Part 165 

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation 

(water), Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Security measures, 

Waterways. 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard amends 33 

CFR part 165 as follows: 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1226, 1231; 46 U.S.C. 

Chapter 701, 3306, 3703; 50 U.S.C. 191, 195; 

33 CFR 1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6 and 160.5; 

Pub. L. 107–295, 116 Stat. 2064; Department 

of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. 

■ 2. Add § 165.T05–0064 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T05–0064 Safety Zone: Ocean City 

Air Show, Atlantic Ocean, Ocean City, MD. 

(a) Regulated Area. The following area 

is a safety zone: specified waters of the 

Atlantic Ocean bound by the following 

coordinates: 38°21′30′′ N/075°03′32′′ W, 

38°21′39′′ N/075°04′08′′ W, 38°29′47′′ N/ 

075°04′58′′ W, 38°19′37′′ N/075°04′20′′ 

W (NAD 1983), in the vicinity of Ocean 

City, Maryland. 

(b) Definition: For the purposes of this 

part, Captain of the Port Representative: 

means any U.S. Coast Guard 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

who has been authorized by the Captain 

of the Port, Hampton Roads, Virginia to 

act on his behalf. 

(c) Regulations: (1) In accordance with 

the general regulations in § 165.23 of 

this part, entry into this zone is 

prohibited unless authorized by the 

Captain of the Port, Hampton Roads or 

his designated representatives. 

(2) The operator of any vessel in the 

immediate vicinity of this safety zone 

shall: 

(i) Stop the vessel immediately upon 

being directed to do so by any 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

on shore or on board a vessel that is 

displaying a U.S. Coast Guard Ensign. 

(ii) Proceed as directed by any 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

on shore or on board a vessel that is 

displaying a U.S. Coast Guard Ensign. 

(3) The Captain of the Port, Hampton 

Roads can be reached through the Sector 

Duty Officer at Sector Hampton Roads 

in Portsmouth, Virginia at telephone 

number (757) 668–5555. 

(4) The Coast Guard Representatives 

enforcing the safety zone can be 

contacted on VHF–FM marine band 

radio channel 13 (165.65Mhz) and 

channel 16 (156.8 Mhz). 

(d) Enforcement Period: This 

regulation will be in enforced from 10 

a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from June 12, 2009 

to June 14, 2009. 

Dated: May 1, 2009. 

M.S. Ogle, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port Hampton Roads. 

[FR Doc. E9–11326 Filed 5–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 17 

RIN 2900–AN23 

Expansion of Enrollment in the VA 

Health Care System 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document amends the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

medical regulations regarding 

enrollment in the VA health care 

system. In particular, it establishes 

additional sub-priorities within 

enrollment priority category 8 and 

provides that beginning on the effective 

date of the rule, VA will begin enrolling 

priority category 8 veterans whose 

income exceeds the current means test 

and geographic means test income 

thresholds by 10 percent or less. 

DATES: Effective date: This final rule is 

effective June 15, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tony Guagliardo, Director, Business 

Policy, Chief Business Office (163), 

Veterans Health Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20420, (202) 461–1591. (This is not a 

toll free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a 

document published in the Federal 

Register (74 FR 3535) on January 21, 

2009, we proposed amendments to 38 

CFR 17.36 regarding enrollment of 

veterans for purposes of VA hospital 

and outpatient care. This document 

adopts as a final rule, without change, 

those proposed amendments. 

This final rule amends regulations 

implementing Public Law 104–262, the 

Veterans’ Health Care Eligibility Reform 

Act of 1996, which required VA to 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 93 / Friday, May 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 22833 

establish a national enrollment system 

to manage the delivery of inpatient 

hospital care and outpatient medical 

care, within available appropriated 

resources. It directed that the 

enrollment system be managed in such 

a way as ‘‘to ensure that the provision 

of care to enrollees is timely and 

acceptable in quality,’’ and authorized 

such sub-prioritization of the statutory 

enrollment categories ‘‘as the Secretary 

determines necessary.’’ The law also 

provided that starting on October 1, 

1998, most veterans had to enroll in the 

VA health care system as a condition for 

receiving VA hospital and outpatient 

care. 

We provided a 60-day comment 

period, which ended on February 20, 

2009. We received comments from one 

individual who essentially expressed 

concern about VA’s evaluation of his 

service-connected disability and 

recommended that VA amend the 

current means test for VA medical care 

to provide certain unspecified 

exceptions. However, we did not 

propose to amend any of the disability 

evaluation regulations in 38 CFR part 3 

or how VA administers the current 

means test for VA medical care in 38 

CFR 17.47(d) through (f). Accordingly, 

the comments are not within the scope 

of this rulemaking and we will not make 

any changes based upon the comments. 

Previous Interim Final Rule and 

Responses to Comments 

The proposed rule also noted that the 

amendments would modify provisions 

adopted in the interim final rule 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 17, 2003 (68 FR 2669), which 

limited enrollment of veterans for VA 

medical care under priority category 8. 

We received five comments concerning 

that interim final rule. All of the 

commenters expressed disagreement 

with VA’s decision to suspend 

enrollment of additional veterans in 

priority category 8. In that regard, each 

of the commenters would support the 

extension of priority 8 coverage in this 

final rule. 

Each of the commenters also generally 

expressed the view that VA should 

provide care to all veterans because they 

served their country. However, as 

discussed in the preambles to the 2003 

interim final rule and 2009 proposed 

rule, VA is required to assess available 

resources and determine the number of 

veterans it is able to enroll to ensure 

that medical services provided are both 

timely and acceptable in quality. An 

enrollment system is necessary because 

the provision of VA health care is 

discretionary and can be provided only 

to the extent that appropriated resources 

are available for that purpose. The 

enrollment decisions made in the 

interim final rule and this final rule 

were based on an assessment 

concerning available resources, and we 

did not receive any comments regarding 

either rule suggesting that VA’s 

assessment was incorrect. 

Based on the rationale in the 

proposed rule, we are adopting the 

provisions of the proposed rule as a 

final rule without change. 

Unfunded Mandates 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

requires, at 2 U.S.C. 1532, that agencies 

prepare an assessment of anticipated 

costs and benefits before issuing any 

rule that may result in the expenditure 

by State, local, and tribal governments, 

in the aggregate, or by the private sector 

of $100 million or more in any given 

year. This rule would have no such 

effect on State, local, or tribal 

governments. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule contains no provisions 

constituting a new collection of 

information, but would change, merely 

by adding an option of a new method 

of submission, a collection of 

information that has been approved by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521). OMB assigns a 

control number for each collection of 

information it approves. VA may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

The information collection provisions 

affected by this rule have been approved 

under control number 2900–0091. 

Executive Order 12866 and 

Congressional Review Act 

This is an economically significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866 and constitutes a major rule 

under the Congressional Review Act. 

Executive Order 12866 directs 

agencies to assess all costs and benefits 

of available regulatory alternatives and, 

when regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety, and other advantages; 

distributive impacts; and equity). 

Executive Order 12866 classifies a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ requiring 

review by OMB as any regulatory action 

that is likely to result in a rule that may: 

(1) Have an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more, or 

adversely affect in a material way the 

economy, a sector of the economy, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, public health or safety, or 

State, local, or tribal governments or 

communities; (2) create a serious 

inconsistency or interfere with an action 

taken or planned by another agency; (3) 

materially alter the budgetary impact of 

entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan 

programs or the rights and obligations of 

entitlement recipients; or (4) raise novel 

legal or policy issues arising out of legal 

mandates, the President’s priorities, or 

the principles set forth in the Executive 

Order. 

VA has examined the economic, 

interagency, budgetary, legal, and policy 

implications of this rule and has 

concluded that it is an economically 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866 because it may 

have an annual effect on the economy 

of $100 million or more and may raise 

novel legal or policy issues arising out 

of legal mandates, the President’s 

priorities, or the principles set forth in 

the Executive Order. This rule is also a 

major rule under the Congressional 

Review Act because it is likely to result 

in an annual effect on the economy of 

$100 million or more. 

VA has attempted to follow OMB 

circular A–4 to the extent feasible in 

this analysis. The circular first calls for 

a discussion of the need for the 

regulation. The Consolidated Security, 

Disaster Assistance, and Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 110– 

329) was enacted on September 30, 

2008. The accompanying report 

language stated that funding was 

included to reopen priority category 8 

enrollment. The preamble above 

discusses the need for the regulation in 

more detail. There are not any 

alternatives to publishing this rule that 

will accomplish the stated provisions in 

the report language of the Consolidated 

Security, Disaster Assistance, and 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 

(Pub. L. 110–329). 

VA uses the Enrollee Health Care 

Projection Model (Model), a health care 

actuarial model, to project veteran 

demand for VA health care. To project 

enrollment and expenditures under this 

proposed regulatory change, VA first 

identified the number of non-enrolled 

veterans whose income exceeds the 

current VA means test and geographic 

means test income thresholds by 10 

percent or less. VA then projected the 

number of those veterans who would 

enroll based on historical priority 

category 8 enrollment rates. The 

projected health care service utilization 

for these new enrollees was based on 

the historical morbidity and reliance 

rates of the current priority category 8 

22834 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 93 / Friday, May 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

enrollee population. The projected 

expenditures represent the cost to 

provide the projected health care 

services to these new enrollees. 

Using the 2008 Model, VA projects 

that this regulatory change would result 

in an additional 258,705 priority 

category 8 enrollees in FY 2009. The 

projected increase in total health care 

service expenditures associated with 

this new enrollment is $485 million in 

FY 2009. The revenues generated by the 

first- and third-party collections are 

projected to be $121 million,1 resulting 

in a $364 million growth in net health 

service expenditures for FY 2009, and 

$375 million was provided in the 

Consolidated Security, Disaster 

Assistance, and Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 110– 

329). VA’s expenditures related to this 

proposed regulatory change are 

projected to be approximately $2.931 

billion for five years.2 These 

expenditures exclude services such as 

Long Term Care, Readjustment 

Counseling, Spina Bifida, Foreign 

Medical Programs, Non-Veteran Medical 

Care and CHAMPVA. 

1The first party collections are based on 

the projected health care service utilization 

of the new Priority 8 enrollees. In the base 

year (2007), we applied the appropriate copayment to the projected services. We then 

balanced the resulting co-payment revenue 

projections to the actual collections for 2007 

for four categories (inpatient, outpatient, 

residential rehabilitation, and pharmacy) and 

by Veterans Integrated Service Network 

(VISN) to account for the amount actually 

collected. The resulting first-party revenue 

per service developed for 2007 is applied to 

the projected services in future years to 

project the first-party revenue associated 

with health care utilization of the new 

Priority 8 enrollees. Further, the pharmacy 

co-payment is increased over time based on 

the legislated Consumer Price Index (CPI) 

schedule. 

To develop the third-party collections, we 

calculated the percentage of third-party 

revenue collected in 2007 as a percent of 

2007 expenditures by VISN, priority level, 

and two age bands (under and over age 65). 

We then applied these percentages to the 

projected expenditures for the new Priority 8 

enrollees in future years. For 2010, the 

percentages were increased to reflect VHA’s 

initiatives to increase third-party revenue 

collections. 2Five Year Projection Table 

($ in billions): 

Present Value: (Future Value)/((1+i)∧n): 

($ in billions) ..................................................................... FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 5 year 

Future Value (FV) ............................................................ $0.485 $0.533 $0.580 $0.631 $0.702 $2.931 

3% discount rate (i) .......................................................... 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% ....................

7% discount rate (i) .......................................................... 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% 7.00% ....................

Number of Years (n) ........................................................ 0 1 2 3 4 ....................

Present Value (PV) at 3% ............................................... $0.485 $0.517 $0.546 $0.578 $0.624 $2.751 

Present Value (PV) at 7% ............................................... $0.485 $0.498 $0.506 $0.515 $0.536 $2.540 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Secretary hereby certifies that the 

adoption of this rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities as 

they are defined in the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–612. This 

rule will not directly affect any small 

entities. Only individuals will be 

directly affected. Therefore, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 605(b), this rule is exempt from 

the final regulatory flexibility analysis 

requirements of section 604. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance numbers and titles for the 

programs affected by this document are 

64.005, Grants to States for the 

Construction of State Homes; 64.007, 

Blind Rehabilitation Centers; 64.008, 

Veterans Domiciliary Care; 64.009, 

Veterans Medical Care Benefits; 64.010, 

Veterans Nursing Home Care; 64.011, 

Veterans Dental Care; 64.012, Veterans 

Prescription Service; 64.013, Veterans 

Prosthetic Appliances; 64.014, Veterans 

State Domiciliary Care; 64.015, Veterans 

State Nursing Home Care; 64.016, 

Veterans State Hospital Care; 64.018, 

Sharing Specialized Medical Resources; 

64.019, Veterans Rehabilitation Alcohol 

and Drug Dependence; and 64.022, 

Veterans Home Based Primary Care. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 17 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Alcohol abuse, Alcoholism, 

Claims, Day care, Dental health, Drug 

abuse, Foreign relations, Government 

contracts, Grant programs—health, 

Grant programs—veterans, Health care, 

Health facilities, Health professions, 

Health records, Homeless, Medical and 

dental schools, Medical devices, 

Medical research, Mental health 

programs, Nursing homes, Philippines, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Scholarships and 

fellowships, Travel and transportation 

expenses, Veterans. 

Approved: April 15, 2009. 

John R. Gingrich, 

Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Department of Veterans 

Affairs amends 38 CFR part 17 as 

follows: 

PART 17—MEDICAL 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 17 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1721, and as 

stated in specific sections. 

■ 2. Amend § 17.36 by revising 

paragraphs (b)(8), (c)(1), (c)(2), and 

(d)(1) and the authority citation to read 

as follows: 

§ 17.36 Enrollment—provision of hospital 

and outpatient care to veterans. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(8) Veterans not included in priority 

category 4 or 7, who are eligible for care 

only if they agree to pay to the United 

States the applicable copayment 

determined under 38 U.S.C. 1710(f) and 

1710(g). This category is further 

prioritized into the following 

subcategories: 

(i) Noncompensable zero percent 

service-connected veterans who were in 

an enrolled status on January 17, 2003, 

or who are moved from a higher priority 

category or subcategory due to no longer 

being eligible for inclusion in such 

priority category or subcategory and 

who subsequently do not request 

disenrollment; 

(ii) Noncompensable zero percent 

service-connected veterans not included 

in paragraph (b)(8)(i) of this section and 

whose income is not greater than ten 

percent more than the income that 

would permit their enrollment in 

priority category 5 or priority category 7, 

whichever is higher; 

(iii) Nonservice-connected veterans 

who were in an enrolled status on 

January 17, 2003, or who are moved 

from a higher priority category or 

subcategory due to no longer being 

eligible for inclusion in such priority 

category or subcategory and who 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 93 / Friday, May 15, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 22835 

subsequently do not request 

disenrollment; 

(iv) Nonservice-connected veterans 

not included in paragraph (b)(8)(iii) of 

this section and whose income is not 

greater than ten percent more than the 

income that would permit their 

enrollment in priority category 5 or 

priority category 7, whichever is higher; 

(v) Noncompensable zero percent 

service-connected veterans not included 

in paragraph (b)(8)(i) or paragraph 

(b)(8)(ii) of this section; and 

(vi) Nonservice-connected veterans 

not included in paragraph (b)(8)(iii) or 

paragraph (b)(8)(iv) of this section. 

(c) * * * 

(1) It is anticipated that each year the 

Secretary will consider whether to 

change the categories and subcategories 

of veterans eligible to be enrolled. The 

Secretary at any time may revise the 

categories or subcategories of veterans 

eligible to be enrolled by amending 

paragraph (c)(2) of this section. The 

preamble to a Federal Register 

document announcing which priority 

categories and subcategories are eligible 

to be enrolled must specify the 

projected number of fiscal year 

applicants for enrollment in each 

priority category, projected healthcare 

utilization and expenditures for 

veterans in each priority category, 

appropriated funds and other revenue 

projected to be available for fiscal year 

enrollees, and projected total 

expenditures for enrollees by priority 

category. The determination should 

include consideration of relevant 

internal and external factors, e.g., 

economic changes, changes in medical 

practices, and waiting times to obtain an 

appointment for care. Consistent with 

these criteria, the Secretary will 

determine which categories of veterans 

are eligible to be enrolled based on the 

order of priority specified in paragraph 

(b) of this section. 

(2) Unless changed by a rulemaking 

document in accordance with paragraph 

(c)(1) of this section, VA will enroll the 

priority categories of veterans set forth 

in § 17.36(b) beginning [effective date of 

regulation], except that those veterans in 

subcategories (v) and (vi) of priority 

category 8 are not eligible to be enrolled. 

(d) * * * 

(1) Application for enrollment. A 

veteran may apply to be enrolled in the 

VA healthcare system at any time. A 

veteran who wishes to be enrolled must 

apply by submitting a VA Form 10– 

10EZ to a VA medical facility or via an 

Online submission at https:// 

www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/ 

1010ez/. 

* * * * * 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 101, 501, 1521, 1701, 

1705, 1710, 1722) 

[FR Doc. E9–11400 Filed 5–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 111 

Standard Mail Volume Incentive 

Program (aka Summer Sale) 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is revising 

Mailing Standards of the United States 

Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual 

(DMM®), to add section 709.2 which 

introduces new standards for a special 

volume incentive program for mailers of 

Standard Mail® letters and flats with 

mail volume exceeding their individual 

USPSTM-determined threshold levels. 

The program period will be from July 1, 

2009 through September 30, 2009. 

DATES: Effective Date: July 1, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin Gunther at 202–268–7208. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Postal 

Service is implementing a volume 

incentive program for qualified highvolume mailers of commercial or 

Nonprofit Standard Mail letters and 

flats, for volume mailed between July 1, 

2009 and September 30, 2009, above 

their USPS-determined threshold level. 

This program encourages mailers to 

provide new volume and to take 

advantage of our current excess capacity 

to process and deliver additional 

volume. 

To participate, mailers must be the 

permit holder (i.e., owner) of a permit 

imprint advance deposit account(s) or 

the owner of qualifying mail volume 

entered through the permit imprint 

advance deposit account of a mail 

service provider. Qualifying mailers 

must be able to demonstrate volume of 

at least one million pieces, within the 

program qualification period of October 

1, 2007 to March 31, 2008, for a permit 

imprint advance deposit account(s), 

precanceled stamp permit(s), postage 

meter permit(s), or by a combination of 

these methods. Applicants may also 

qualify for the program with volume 

mailed through an account(s) owned by 

a mail service provider, when adequate 

documentation is provided that 

specifies the applicant is the owner of 

the mail. Those mailers eligible to 

participate in the program will be 

notified in writing before June 1, 2009. 

Mailers wishing to participate in the 

program, who believe they meet the 

eligibility standards under DMM 709.2.2 

and were not notified by letter, may 

request a review of their eligibility by 

contacting the USPS at 

summersale@usps.gov. 

The Postal Service has a process, 

through its Business Service Network 

(BSN), to review questions from 

qualifying mailers regarding 

calculations of their respective 

threshold levels or their recorded 

volume within the program period. 

Qualifying mailers will be provided 

with program details and the procedure 

for questioning threshold calculations 

by letter before June 1, 2009. 

A Federal Register final rule, 

published April 6, 2009 (74 FR 8009– 

8033) implemented a saturation mail 

volume incentive program encouraging 

mailers to increase their saturation 

Standard Mail letters or flats volume 

within the period beginning on May 11, 

2009 and ending May 10, 2010. This 

program initially excluded mailers, 

entering into the saturation mail volume 

incentive program, from participating in 

other Postal Service-sponsored 

incentive programs. However, standards 

have been revised to allow mailers to be 

eligible for the Standard Mail volume 

incentive program independently of 

their status within the saturation mail 

volume incentive program. 

Participating mailers demonstrating 

Standard Mail letter or flat volume 

above their established threshold level 

will receive a credit following the close 

of the program period. Thresholds will 

be calculated independently for each 

applicant, by comparing the volume of 

Standard Mail letters and flats mailed 

within the period from October 1, 2007 

to March 31, 2008 to the volume of 

Standard Mail letters and flats mailed 

within the period of October 1, 2008 to 

March 31, 2009. The change in recorded 

volume between these two periods will 

represent the applicant’s volume trend. 

Trends that show growth for the period 

of October 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, 

versus that shown in the same period of 

the prior year, will appear as a ratio 

above 1.0 (expressed here in a decimal 

format). A volume decline from October 

1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 will appear 

as a ratio below 1.0. The applicable ratio 

will then be applied to the volume of 

Standard Mail letters and flats, for all of 

the applicant’s permit volume or other 

qualifying volume recorded through the 

permit(s) of a mail service provider, 

demonstrated during the period from 

July 1, 2008 through September 30, 

2008. This result represents the USPSdetermined threshold level for an 

individual applicant. 

Mailers (applicants) are eligible to 

participate in the program with