10408 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules

1CSAC is an advisory body created by the Postal

Service to provide technical information, advice,

and recommendations to the Postal Service on

subjects for postage stamps. See ‘‘Administrative

Support Manual’’ § 644.5. It also provides broad

judgment and experience on various factors that

lead to the issuance of stamps and establishes

criteria for selecting stamp subjects. CSAC’s fifteen

members reflects a wide range of educational,

artistic, historical, and professional expertise.

Members are appointed by, and serve at the

pleasure of, the Postmaster General.

Unfunded Mandates

This rule will not impose a cost of

$100 million or more in any given year

on any governmental entity or the

private sector.

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 938

Intergovernmental relations, Surface

mining, Underground mining.

Dated: January 18, 2001.

Vann Weaver,

Acting Regional Director, Appalachian

Regional Coordinating Center.

[FR Doc. 01–3836 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P

POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 551

Semipostal Stamp Program

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would

create implementation regulations for

the Semipostal Authorization Act,

which authorizes the Postal Service to

issue and sell semipostal postage

stamps. Semipostal stamps are intended

to raise funds for causes determined by

the Postal Service to be in the public

interest and appropriate. The proposed

regulations relate to the selection

procedures for causes and recipient

executive agencies, the offices and

authorities responsible for making

decisions related to causes and recipient

executive agencies, the criteria to be

applied in evaluating proposals for

causes and recipient executive agencies,

sales limitations, the calculation of

amounts to be transferred to executive

agencies, and the determination of costs

to be offset from differential revenue.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before March 19, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed or delivered to the Manager,

Stamp Services, ATTN: Semipostal

Proposed Rules, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW.,

Room 5670, Washington, DC 20260–

2435, or sent via e-mail at the address

posted on the Postal Service’s Internet

Web site at www.usps.com. Copies of

all written comments will be available

for inspection and photocopying

between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday

through Friday, in the Postal Service

Library, at the above address.

Arrangements should be made in

advance for inspection by contacting

(202) 268–2900.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cindy Tackett, (202) 268–6555.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

The Semipostal Authorization Act,

Pub. Law No. 106–253, 114 Stat. 634

(2000) (hereinafter ‘‘Act’’), authorizes

the Postal Service to establish a ten-year

program to sell semipostal stamps. The

differential between the price of a

semipostal stamp and the First-Class

Mail service rate, less an offset for the

reasonable costs of the Postal Service,

consists of an amount to fund causes

that the ‘‘Postal Service determines to be

in the national public interest and

appropriate.’’ By law, revenue from

sales, net of postage and the reasonable

costs of the Postal Service, is to be

transferred to selected executive

agencies within the meaning of 5 U.S.C.

105.

The Governors of the Postal Service

are authorized to set prices for

semipostal stamps according to a

formula prescribed in the Act.

Specifically, the Act prescribes that the

price of a semipostal stamp is the ‘‘rate

of postage that would otherwise

regularly apply,’’ plus a differential, i.e.,

the difference between sales revenue

and postage, of not to exceed 25 percent.

This is essentially the same formula

prescribed by the Stamp Out Breast

Cancer Act, Pub. L. No. 105–41, 111

Stat. 1119 (1997).

II. Statutory Requirements for

Regulations

The Act provides that the Postal

Service is to promulgate certain

regulations via a notice and comment

rulemaking. Specifically, the Postal

Service must identify the ‘‘office or

other authority within the Postal

Service’’ to make decisions on the

‘‘appropriate causes and agencies’’

eligible to receive amounts becoming

available from differential revenue less

an offset for the reasonable costs of the

Postal Service. The Postal Service is also

directed to issue regulations on the

‘‘criteria and procedures’’ to be applied

in making decisions on recipient

executive agencies and causes. The Act

further requires the Postal Service to

identify ‘‘what limitations shall apply, if

any, relating to the issuance of

semipostals (such as whether more than

one semipostal may be offered for sale

at the same time).’’ Finally, the Postal

Service’s regulations must ‘‘specifically

address how the costs incurred by the

Postal Service . . . shall be computed,

recovered, and kept to a minimum.’’

III. Summary of Proposed Regulations

The proposed rules are intended to

enable the Postal Service to fulfill the

Act’s objectives. Proposed section 551.1

provides that the office of Stamp

Services is primarily responsible for the

Semipostal Stamp Program, and that the

office of Controller has primary

responsibility for financial issues

related to the program.

Proposed section 551.2 describes

semipostal stamps, and defines the

differential to be the difference between

the sales price and the postage value of

semipostal stamps at the time of

purchase.

Proposed section 551.3 establishes a

procedure for the selection of causes

and recipient executive agencies. From

time to time, the Postal Service will

publish a request for proposals in the

Federal Register inviting interested

persons to submit proposals for

consideration. Proposals will be

reviewed by the office of Stamp Services

for consistency with the selection

criteria in proposed section 551.4.

Those proposals deemed to be eligible

for consideration will be forwarded to

the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory

Committee (CSAC).1 CSAC will review

the eligible proposals and make

recommendations to the Postmaster

General, who will act on those

recommendations. Special rules would

apply if more than one proposal is

submitted for the same cause, with

different executive agencies proposed to

receive the funds. In those cases, the

funds would be evenly divided, unless

an agency can demonstrate it is entitled

to a larger share. In those instances, the

Postal Service’s vice president and

Consumer Advocate would determine

the share for each executive agency.

Proposed section 551.4 would

establish the submission requirements

and selection criteria. Interested

persons, defined to include individuals,

corporations, associations, and

executive agencies, may submit

proposals. Proposals must satisfy certain

technical requirements, and provide a

description of the cause to be funded.

The submission must also demonstrate

that the cause has broad national

appeal, and the cause is in the national

public interest and furthers human

welfare. Submissions must be

accompanied by a letter from an

executive agency designated to receive

the funds. The letter provides assurance

that the agency is qualified to receive

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules 10409

funds under the Act, and also ensures

that the proposal can be successfully

executed if it is selected. Consideration

would not be given to proposals that

support a number of enumerated factors,

including: anniversaries; historical

events; public works; people; specific

organizations or associations;

commercial enterprises or products;

cities, towns, municipalities, counties,

or secondary schools; hospitals,

libraries, or similar institutions;

religious institutions; any cause that has

been previously supported by a

semipostal stamp, including the stamp

issued pursuant to 39 U.S.C. § 414;

causes that do not further human

welfare; or causes determined by the

Postal Service or the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee to be inconsistent

with the spirit, intent, or history of the

Semipostal Authorization Act. These

enumerated factors are intended to give

effect to the Act’s intent that only causes

in the national public interest should be

funded. Proposed section 551.4 also

makes clear that proposal submissions

become the property of the Postal

Service.

Proposed section 551.5 specifies the

frequency and other limitations on

semipostal stamps. The Act provides

that the period within which the Postal

Service may sell semipostal stamps

under 39 U.S.C. 416 is limited to ten

years. The sales period will commence

after sales of the Breast Cancer Research

Stamp are discontinued. The sales

period of the Breast Cancer Research

Stamp was extended by the Semipostal

Authorization Act to July 29, 2002. New

semipostal stamps will accordingly not

be issued until after this time. To ensure

that the Semipostal Stamp Program

reflects the broad spectrum of causes

that further the national public interest,

proposed section 551.5 specifies that the

sales period for any given semipostal

would be limited to no more than two

years. While the Postal Service expects

that most semipostal stamps will be

offered for the full two-year period,

changes in the sales period may be

made by the office of Stamp Services to

coincide with changes in the First-Class

Mail service single-piece first ounce

rate. To minimize costs, avoid customer

confusion, and facilitate ease of

administration, no more than one

semipostal stamp would be offered for

sale at any given time. Proposed 551.5

also reserves the right to withdraw a

semipostal stamp.

Proposed section 551.6 establishes

that the price of semipostal stamps will

be based on the First-Class Mail

service single-piece first-ounce rate.

Prices are to be determined by the

Governors of the Postal Service in

accordance with the requirements of 39

U.S.C. 416.

Proposed section 551.7 identifies the

procedure for calculation of the funds to

be transferred to executive agencies. A

special account identifier code (AIC)

will be used to record sales revenue.

The amounts to be transferred consist of

the differential revenue less an amount

for the reasonable costs of the Postal

Service. Funds are to be transferred to

recipient executive agencies pursuant to

mutual agreement.

Proposed section 551.8 sets forth the

Postal Service’s policy to recover from

the differential those costs determined

to be attributable to the semipostal and

that would not normally be incurred for

commemorative stamps having similar

sales objectives; physical characteristics;

and marketing, promotional, and public

relations activities. Such

commemorative stamps are defined as

‘‘comparable stamps.’’ The office of the

Controller will identify comparable

stamps and develop a cost profile for

purposes of comparison. Costs that may

be recovered from the differential

include packaging costs in excess of

those for comparable stamps, printing

costs for flyers or special receipts, costs

of changes to equipment, costs of

developing and executing marketing

and promotional plans in excess of

those for comparable stamps, and other

costs that would not normally have been

incurred for comparable stamps. Other

specified costs would not be recovered

from the differential, but rather would

be ‘‘recovered’’ through retention of

revenue from the postage portion of

semipostal stamps. The office of the

Controller would bear responsibility for

tracking specified costs in proposed

section 551.8. The Postal Service

intends to maximize differential

revenues by avoiding, to the extent

practicable, promotional costs that

exceed those of comparable stamps,

establishing restrictions on the number

of concurrently issued semipostals, and

making financial and retail system

changes in conjunction with regularly

scheduled revisions.

IV. Conclusion

In accordance with 39 U.S.C.

416(e)(2), the Postal Service invites

public comment on the following

proposed amendments to the ‘‘Code of

Federal Regulations.’’

An appropriate amendment to 39 CFR

part 551 to reflect these changes will be

published if the proposal is adopted.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 551

Administrative practice and

procedure, Postal Service.

For the reasons set out in this

document, the Postal Service proposes

to add 39 CFR part 551 as follows:

PART 551—SEMIPOSTAL STAMP

PROGRAM

Sec.

551.1 Semipostal stamp program.

551.2 Semipostal stamps.

551.3 Procedure for selection of causes and

recipient executive agencies.

551.4 Submission requirements and

selection criteria.

551.5 Frequency and other limitations.

551.6 Pricing.

551.7 Calculation of funds for recipient

executive agencies.

551.8 Cost offset policy.

Authority: 39 U.S.C. 101, 201, 203, 401,

403, 404, 410, 414, and 416.

§ 551.1 Semipostal stamp program.

The Semipostal Stamp Program is

established under the Semipostal

Authorization Act, Pub. Law No. 106–

253, 114 Stat. 634 (2000). The office of

Stamp Services has primary

responsibility for administering the

Semipostal Stamp Program. The office

of the Controller has primary

responsibility for financial aspects of

the Semipostal Stamp Program.

§ 551.2 Semipostal stamps.

Semipostal stamps are stamps that are

sold for a price that exceeds the postage

value of the stamp. The difference

between the price and postage value of

semipostal stamps, also known as the

differential, less an offset for reasonable

costs, as determined by the Postal

Service, consists of a contribution to

fund causes determined by the Postal

Service to be in the national public

interest and appropriate. Funds are to be

transferred to selected recipient

executive agencies, as defined under 5

U.S.C. 105. The office of Stamp Services

determines the print quantities of

semipostal stamps.

§ 551.3 Procedure for selection of causes

and recipient executive agencies.

The Postal Service is authorized to

select causes and recipient executive

agencies to receive funds raised through

the sale of semipostal stamps. The

procedure for selection of causes and

recipient executive agencies is as

follows:

(a) In advance of the issuance of a

semipostal stamp, the office of Stamp

Services will publish a request for

proposals in the Federal Register

inviting interested persons to submit

proposals for a cause and recipient

executive agency for a future semipostal

stamp. The notice will specify the

beginning and ending dates of the

period during which proposals may be

10410 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules

submitted. The notice will also specify

the approximate period in which the

semipostal stamp for which proposals

are solicited is to be sold. The office of

Stamp Services may publicize the

request for proposals through other

means, as it determines in its discretion.

(b) Proposals will be received by the

office of Stamp Services, which will

review each proposal under § 551.4.

(c) Those proposals that the office of

Stamp Services determines satisfy the

requirements of § 551.4 will be

forwarded to the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee for consideration.

(d) The Citizens’ Stamp Advisory

Committee will review eligible

proposals forwarded by the office of

Stamp Services. Based on the proposals

submitted, the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory

Committee will make recommendations

to the Postmaster General on a cause

and eligible recipient executive

agency(ies) to the Postmaster General. If

no eligible proposals are recommended,

the Postal Service will solicit additional

proposals through publication of a

notice in the Federal Register and

through other means as it determines in

its discretion.

(e) Meetings of the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee are closed, and

deliberations of the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee are predecisional

in nature.

(f) The Postmaster General will act on

the recommendations of the Citizens’

Stamp Advisory Committee. The

decision of the Postmaster General shall

consist of the final agency decision.

(g) The office of Stamp Services will

notify the executive agency(ies) in

writing of a decision designating the

agency(ies) as recipients of funds from

a semipostal stamp.

(h)(1) A proposal submission may

designate one or two recipient executive

agencies to receive funds, but if more

than one executive agency is proposed,

the proposal must specify the

percentage shares of differential

revenue, net of the Postal Service’s

reasonable costs, to be given to each

agency. If percentage shares are not

specified, it is presumed that the

proposal intends that the funds be split

evenly between the agencies. If more

than two recipient executive agencies

are proposed to receive funds and the

proposal is selected, the proposal is

treated as prescribed by paragraph (h)(3)

of this section.

(2) If more than one proposal is

submitted for the same cause, and the

proposals would have different

executive agencies receiving funds, the

funds would be evenly divided between

the executive agencies, with no more

than two agencies being designated to

receive funds, as determined by the vice

president and Consumer Advocate.

(3) Within ten days of receipt of a

notice indicating that it has been

selected to receive funds, a selected

agency could request a proportionately

larger share if it can demonstrate that its

share of total funding of the cause from

other sources (excluding any additional

funds available as a result of the

semipostal stamp) exceeds that of the

other recipient executive agency. The

request must be in writing and must be

sent to the Manager of Stamp Services.

In those cases, the determination

regarding the proportional share to be

divided among the recipient executive

agencies is made by the Postal Service’s

vice president and Consumer Advocate.

(i) As either a separate matter, or in

combination with recommendations on

a cause and a recipient executive

agency(ies), the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee will recommend to

the Postmaster General a design (i.e.,

artwork) for the semipostal stamp. The

Postmaster General will make a final

determination on the design to be

featured.

§ 551.4 Submission requirements and

selection criteria.

(a) Proposals on recipient executive

agencies and causes must satisfy the

following requirements:

(1) An original and twenty copies of

the proposal submission must be timely

submitted by an interested person. For

purposes of this section, interested

persons include, but are not limited to,

individuals, corporations, associations,

and executive agencies under 5 U.S.C.

105. Interested persons submitting

proposals are also encouraged to submit

an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file saved on a

3.5 inch diskette or CD–ROM diskette

containing the entire contents of the

submission. In extraordinary

circumstances, the office of Stamp

Services may, in its discretion, consider

a late-filed proposal.

(2) The proposal submission must be

signed by the individual or a duly

authorized representative and must

provide the mailing address, phone

number, fax number (if available), and

e-mail address (if available) of a

designated point of contact.

(3) The submission must describe the

cause and the purposes for which the

funds would be spent.

(4) The submission must demonstrate

that the cause to be funded has broad

national appeal, and that the cause is in

the national public interest and furthers

human welfare. Respondents are

encouraged to submit supporting

documentation demonstrating that

funding the cause would benefit the

national public interest.

(5) The submission must be

accompanied by a letter from an

executive agency on agency letterhead

representing that:

(i) It is an executive agency as defined

under 5 U.S.C. 105,

(ii) It is willing and able to implement

the proposal, and

(iii) It is willing and able to meet the

requirements of the Semipostal

Authorization Act, if it is selected. The

letter must be signed by a duly

authorized representative of the agency.

(b) Proposal submissions become the

property of the Postal Service and are

not returned to interested persons who

submit them. Interested persons who

submit proposals are not entitled to any

remuneration, compensation, or any

other form of payment, whether their

proposal submissions are selected or

not, for any reason.

(c) The following persons are

disqualified from submitting proposals:

(1) Any contractor of the Postal

Service that may stand to benefit

financially from the Semipostal Stamp

Program; or

(2) Members of the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee and their

immediate families, and employees or

contractors of the Postal Service, and

their immediate families, who are

involved in any decisionmaking related

to causes, recipient agencies, or artwork

for the Semipostal Stamp Program.

(d) Consideration for evaluation

would not be given to proposals that

request support for the following:

anniversaries; historical events; public

works; people; specific organizations or

associations; commercial enterprises or

products; cities, towns, municipalities,

counties, or secondary schools;

hospitals, libraries, or similar

institutions; religious institutions; any

cause that has been previously

supported by a semipostal stamp,

including the stamp issued pursuant to

39 U.S.C. 414; causes that do not further

human welfare; or causes determined by

the Postal Service or the Citizens’ Stamp

Advisory Committee to be inconsistent

with the spirit, intent, or history of the

Semipostal Authorization Act.

(e) Artwork and stamp designs should

not be submitted with proposals.

§ 551.5 Frequency and other limitations.

(a) The Postal Service is authorized to

issue semipostal stamps for a ten-year

period beginning on the date on which

semipostal stamps are first sold to the

public under 39 U.S.C. 416. The tenyear period will commence after the

sales period of the Breast Cancer

Research Stamp is concluded in

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Proposed Rules 10411

accordance with the Stamp Out Breast

Cancer Act, as amended by the

Semipostal Authorization Act. The

office of Stamp Services will determine

the date of commencement of the tenyear period.

(b) The Postal Service will offer only

one semipostal stamp for sale at any

given time during the ten-year period.

(c) The sales period for any given

semipostal stamp is limited to no more

than two years, as determined by the

office of Stamp Services.

(d) Prior to or after the issuance of a

given semipostal stamp, the Postal

Service reserves the right to withdraw

the semipostal stamp from sale, or to

reduce the sales period, if, inter alia:

(1) Its sales or revenue statistics are

lower than expected,

(2) The sales or revenue projections

are lower than previously expected, or

(3) The cause or recipient executive

agency does not further, or comply with,

the statutory purposes or requirements

of the Semipostal Authorization Act.

The decision to withdraw a semipostal

stamp is to be made by the Postmaster

General, after review of supporting

documentation prepared by the office of

Stamp Services.

§ 551.6 Pricing.

(a) The Semipostal Authorization Act

prescribes that the price of a semipostal

stamp is the ‘‘rate of postage that would

otherwise regularly apply.’’ For

purposes of this provision, the FirstClass Mail single-piece first-ounce rate

of postage will be considered ‘‘the rate

of postage that would otherwise

regularly apply.’’

(b) The prices of semipostal stamps

are determined by the Governors of the

United States Postal Service in

accordance with the requirements of 39

U.S.C. 416.

§ 551.7 Calculation of funds for recipient

executive agencies.

(a) The Postal Service is to determine

its reasonable costs in executing its

responsibilities pursuant to the

Semipostal Authorization Act, as

specified in § 551.8. These costs are

offset against the revenue received

through sale of each semipostal stamp

in excess of the First-Class Mail singlepiece first-ounce rate in effect at the

time of purchase.

(b) Any reasonable costs offset by the

Postal Service shall be retained by it,

along with revenue from the sale of the

semipostal stamps, as recorded by sales

units through the use of a speciallydesignated account information code.

(c) The Postal Service is to pay

designated recipient executive

agency(ies) the remainder of the

differential revenue less an amount to

recover the reasonable costs of the

Postal Service, as determined under

§ 551.8.

(d) The amounts for recipient

executive agencies are transferred in a

manner and frequency determined by

mutual agreement, consistent with the

requirements of 39 U.S.C. 416.

§ 551.8 Cost offset policy.

(a) Postal Service policy is to recover

from the differential revenue for each

semipostal stamp those costs

determined to be attributable to the

semipostal stamp and that would not

normally be incurred for

commemorative stamps having similar

sales objectives; physical characteristics;

and marketing, promotional, and public

relations activities (hereinafter

‘‘comparable stamps’’).

(b) Overall responsibility for tracking

costs associated with semipostal stamps

will rest with the office of the

Controller. Individual organizational

units incurring costs will provide

supporting documentation to the office

of the Controller.

(c) For each semipostal stamp, the

office of the Controller shall, based on

judgment and available information,

identify the comparable commemorative

stamp(s) and create a profile of the

typical cost characteristics of the

comparable stamp(s), thereby

establishing a baseline for cost

comparison purposes. The

determination of comparable

commemorative stamps may change

during or after the sales period, if the

projections of stamp sales differ from

actual experience.

(d) Except as specified, all costs

associated with semipostal stamps will

be tracked by the office of the

Controller. Costs that will not be tracked

include:

(1) Costs that the Postal Service

determines to be inconsequentially

small;

(2) Costs for which the cost of tracking

would be burdensome (e.g., costs for

which the cost of tracking exceeds the

cost to be tracked);

(3) Costs attributable to mail to which

semipostal stamps are affixed (which

are attributable to the appropriate class

and/or subclass of mail); and

(4) Administrative and support costs

that the Postal Service would have

incurred whether or not the Semipostal

Stamp Program had been established.

(e) Cost items recoverable from the

differential revenue may include, but

are not limited to, the following:

(1) Packaging costs in excess of the

cost to package comparable stamps;

(2) Printing costs for flyers and special

receipts;

(3) Cost of changes to equipment;

(4) Cost of developing and executing

marketing and promotional plans in

excess of the cost for comparable

stamps; and

(5) Other costs specific to the stamp

that would not normally have been

incurred for comparable stamps.

(f) The Semipostal Stamp Program

incorporates the following provisions

that are intended to maximize

differential revenues available to the

selected causes. These include, but are

not limited to, the following:

(1) Avoiding, to the extent practicable,

promotional costs that exceed those of

comparable stamps;

(2) Establishing restrictions on the

number of concurrently issued

semipostals; and

(3) Making financial and retail system

changes in conjunction with regularly

scheduled revisions.

(g) Other costs attributable to

semipostals but which would normally

be incurred for comparable stamps

would be recovered through the postage

component of the semipostal stamp

price. These include, but are not limited

to, the following:

(1) Costs for stamp design (including

market research);

(2) Costs for stamp production and

printing;

(3) Costs of stamp shipping and

distribution;

(4) Estimated training costs for field

staff, except for special training

associated with semipostal stamps;

(5) Costs of stamp sales (including

employee salaries and benefits);

(6) Costs associated with the

withdrawal of the stamp issue from sale;

(7) Costs associated with the

destruction of unsold stamps; and

(8) Costs associated with the

incorporation of semipostal stamp

images into advertising for the Postal

Service as an entity.

Stanley F. Mires,

Chief Counsel, Legislative.

[FR Doc. 01–3845 Filed 2–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–6927–1]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.