HR 3076 PCS
SEC. 204. RURAL NEWSPAPER SUSTAINABILITY. 
Section 3626(h) of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘10 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 per-
cent’’. 
SEC. 205. FUNDING OF POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 504 of 
title 39, United States Code, is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(d)(1) Not later than September 1 of each fiscal 
year (beginning with fiscal year 2022), the Postal Regu-
latory Commission shall submit to the Postal Service a 
budget of the Commission’s expenses, including expenses 
for facilities, supplies, compensation, and employee bene-
fits, for the following fiscal year. Any such budget shall 
be deemed approved as submitted if the Governors fail to 
adjust the budget in accordance with paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 30 days after receiving a 
budget under paragraph (1), the Governors holding office, 
by unanimous written decision, may adjust the total 
amount of funding requested in such budget. Nothing in 
this subparagraph may be construed to authorize the Gov-
ernors to adjust any activity proposed to be funded by the 
budget. 
‘‘(B) If the Governors adjust the budget under sub-
paragraph (A), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall 
adjust the suballocations within such budget to reflect the 
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total adjustment made by the Governors. The budget shall 
be deemed approved on the date the Commission makes 
any such adjustments. The Commission may make further 
adjustments to the suballocations within such budget as 
necessary. 
‘‘(3) Expenses incurred under any budget approved 
under this subsection shall be paid out of the Postal Serv-
ice Fund established under section 2003.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title 39, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in section 2003(e), by striking ‘‘(B) all ex-
penses of the Postal Regulatory Commission, subject 
to the availability of amounts appropriated under 
section 504(d);’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) all expenses of 
the Postal Regulatory Commission, pursuant to sec-
tion 504(d);’’; and 
(2) in section 2009— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 
and (2)’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, and (3) the Postal Regu-
latory Commission requests to be appropriated, 
out of the Postal Service Fund, under section 
504(d) of this title’’. 
SEC. 206. FLATS OPERATIONS STUDY AND REFORM. 
(a) FLATS OPERATIONS STUDY.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory Com-
mission, in consultation with the Inspector General 
of the United States Postal Service, shall conduct a 
study to— 
(A) comprehensively identify the causes of 
inefficiencies in the collection, sorting, transpor-
tation, and delivery of Flats; and 
(B) quantify the effects of the volume 
trends, investments decisions, excess capacity, 
and operational inefficiencies of the Postal 
Service on the direct and indirect costs of the 
Postal Service that are attributable to Flats. 
(2) POSTAL
SERVICE
ASSISTANCE.—For the 
purposes of carrying out the study under paragraph 
(1), the Postal Service shall, upon request by the 
Postal Regulatory Commission, consult with the 
Postal Regulatory Commission and provide— 
(A) access to Postal Service facilities to 
personnel of the Postal Regulatory Commission; 
and 
(B) information and records necessary to 
conduct such study. 
(3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Postal Regu-
latory Commission shall submit to Congress and the 
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Postmaster General a report on the findings of the 
study conducted under paragraph (1). 
(4) FLATS DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘‘Flats’’ means products that meet the physical 
standards described in the Domestic Mail Manual 
(as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act) for Flats mail for any class of mail. 
(b) FLATS OPERATIONS REFORM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months 
after the date on which the Postal Regulatory Com-
mission submits the report described in subsection 
(a)(3), the Postal Service shall— 
(A) develop and implement a plan to rem-
edy each inefficiency identified in the study con-
ducted under subsection (a)(1) to the extent 
practicable; and 
(B) if the Postal Service determines that 
remedying any such inefficiency is not prac-
ticable, provide to Congress and the Postal Reg-
ulatory Commission an explanation why rem-
edying such inefficiency is not practicable, in-
cluding whether it may become practicable to 
remedy such inefficiency at a later time. 
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(2) IMPLEMENTATION
REQUIREMENTS.—Prior 
to implementing the plan described in paragraph 
(1)— 
(A) the Postal Regulatory Commission 
must approve the plan; and 
(B) the Postal Service shall provide an 
adequate opportunity for public comment on the 
plan. 
(3) COMPLETION
NOTICE.—On the date on 
which the plan described in paragraph (1) is fully 
implemented, as determined by the Postmaster Gen-
eral, the Postmaster General shall submit to Con-
gress and the Postal Regulatory Commission a writ-
ten notice of such implementation. 
(c) SUBSEQUENT RATE ADJUSTMENTS.—During the 
five-year period beginning on the date on which the Postal 
Regulatory Commission submits a report under subsection 
(a)(3), the Postal Service, when making any adjustment 
to the rate of a market-dominant product (as defined in 
section 102 of title 39, United States Code), shall consider 
the findings of such report and, after the plan described 
in subsection (b)(1) is implemented, the plan’s efficacy in 
remedying the inefficiencies identified in the study con-
ducted under subsection (a)(1). 
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