I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2956 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for additional criteria 

for the United States Postal Service to consider with respect to closing 

or consolidating a post office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 

Ms. MOORE (for herself and Ms. FUDGE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for additional criteria for the United States Postal Service to 

consider with respect to closing or consolidating a post 

office, 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 ‘‘Fair and Equitable 

5 Postal Service Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO POST OFFICE CLOSURE OR CON2 SOLIDATION PROCEDURES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(d) of title 39, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by inserting before 

6 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including whether 

7 such closing or consolidation will decrease access to 

8 postal or nonpostal service offered at such post of9 fice in such community with respect to elderly indi10 viduals, economically disadvantaged individuals, indi11 viduals with limited mobility, or individuals without 

12 reliable and affordable access to the Internet’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)(A)(v), by inserting before 

14 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including, during the 

15 previous 5 years: the number of, and revenue derived 

16 from, money-order transactions processed by such 

17 post office; the volume of international mail proc18 essed by such post office; and the number of cus19 tomers served at such post office’’; 

20 (3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(3)(A) Any determination of the Postal Service to 

23 close or consolidate a post office shall be in writing and 

24 shall include the findings of the Postal Service with re25 spect to the considerations required to be made under 


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1 paragraph (2). Such determination and findings shall be 

2 made available to individuals served by such post office. 

3 ‘‘(B) With respect to the closing or consolidation of 

4 a post office located in a community where individuals list5 ed in paragraph (2)(A)(i) reside, the analysis required 

6 under paragraph (2) shall include an assessment of the 

7 effect such closing or consolidation will have on such indi8 viduals.’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(7) The Postal Service shall not close or consolidate 

11 a post office if such closing or consolidation would result 

12 in a disproportionate, unreasonable, or undue burden on 

13 a class of individuals listed in paragraph (2)(A)(i). 

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

15 ‘‘(A) an individual is ‘economically disadvan16 taged’ if, with respect to the community in which 

17 such individual lives, at least 60 percent of the 

18 households have children who are eligible for free or 

19 reduced price lunches under the school lunch pro20 gram under the Richard B. Russell National School 

21 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

22 ‘‘(B) the term ‘elderly’, used with respect to an 

23 individual, means age 65 or older; 

24 ‘‘(C) the term ‘post office’ includes a branch 

25 post office and a post office station; 


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1 ‘‘(D) whether an individual has limited mobility 

2 shall be determined by, with respect to the commu3 nity in which such individual lives— 

4 ‘‘(i) how accessible public transportation is, 

5 as measured by the availability of public trans6 portation options in the community; the fre7 quency of service on such options; and the time 

8 and distance required to access such options as 

9 a pedestrian; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the rate of highway motor vehicle 

11 ownership, as measured by, in the most recent 

12 American Community Survey published by the 

13 Bureau of the Census, the difference between 

14 the number of individuals in such community 

15 that own or lease a highway motor vehicle and 

16 the statewide average of individuals who own or 

17 lease such a vehicle; 

18 ‘‘(E) in order to determine whether an indi19 vidual has reliable and affordable access to the 

20 Internet, the Postal Service shall use the Internet 

21 Use Supplement in the most recent Current Popu22 lation Survey published by the Bureau of the Cen23 sus; and 

24 ‘‘(F) in order to determine the statistical data 

25 required under this subsection with respect to a 


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1 class of individuals listed in paragraph (2)(A)(i), the 

2 Postal Service may use any available data from local 

3 or State governments or the Federal Government.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to any post office— 

6 (1) that has been determined to be necessary 

7 for closing or consolidation under section 404(d) of 

8 title 39, United States Code; or 

9 (2) that is included in a proposal— 

10 (A) to change the nature of postal services 

11 on a nationwide or substantially nationwide 

12 basis; and 

13 (B) for which the Postal Service has re14 quested an advisory opinion from the Postal 

15 Regulatory Commission pursuant to section 

16 3661(b) of such title. 

Æ 


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