106 
this subsection or under any other provision of this Act 
shall relieve the Inspector General of the Postal Commu-
nity of responsibility for the administration of the func-
tion. 
(f) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 
(1) LEGAL
DOCUMENTS.—Any order, deter-
mination, rule, regulation, permit, grant, loan, con-
tract, agreement, certificate, license, or privilege that 
has been issued, made, granted, or allowed to be-
come effective that is in effect on the effective date 
of this section shall continue in effect according to 
their terms until modified, terminated, superseded, 
set aside, or revoked in accordance with law. 
(2) PROCEEDINGS.—This section shall not af-
fect any proceeding pending on the effective date of 
this section before an office transferred by either 
such subsection, but such proceeding shall be contin-
ued. Nothing in this paragraph shall be considered 
to prohibit the discontinuance or modification of any 
such proceeding under the same terms and condi-
tions and to the same extent that such proceeding 
could have been discontinued or modified if this sec-
tion had not been enacted. 
(3) SUITS.—This section shall not affect any 
suit commenced before the effective date of this sec-
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tion, and in any such suit, proceeding shall be had, 
appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the same 
manner and with the same effect as if this section 
had not been enacted. 
(4) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other 
Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or 
delegation of authority, or any document relating to 
the Inspector General of the Postal Regulatory Com-
mission, the Inspector General of the United States 
Postal Service, or the office of either such inspector 
general shall be deemed to refer to the Inspector 
General of the Postal Community or the Office of 
the Inspector General of the Postal Community, as 
applicable. 
(g) AVAILABILITY OF EXISTING FUNDS.—Existing 
appropriations and funds available for the performance of 
functions, programs, and activities transferred pursuant 
to this section shall remain available, for the duration of 
their period of availability, for necessary expenses in con-
nection with the Office of the Inspector General of the 
Postal Community and the transfer of such functions, pro-
grams, and activities. 
(h) TITLE 39 AMENDMENTS.—Title 39, United 
States Code, is amended as follows: 
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(1) In section 102(4), by striking ‘‘the Inspec-
tor General appointed under section 202(e) of this 
title’’ and inserting ‘‘the Inspector General of the 
Postal Community as described in section 8O of the 
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’. 
(2) In section 504, by striking subsection (h). 
(3) In section 1003(b), by striking ‘‘the Office 
of Inspector General of the United States Postal 
Service’’ and inserting ‘‘the Office of Inspector Gen-
eral of the Postal Community’’. 
(4) In section 2003(e)(1), by striking ‘‘the Of-
fice of Inspector General, subject to the availability 
of amounts appropriated under section 8G(f) of the 
Inspector General Act of 1978.’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
Office of Inspector General of the Postal Commu-
nity’’. 
(5) In section 2009, by striking ‘‘the Office of 
Inspector General of the United States Postal Serv-
ice requests to be appropriated, out of the Postal 
Service Fund, under section 8G(f) of the Inspector 
General Act of 1978, and’’ and inserting ‘‘the Office 
of Inspector General of the Postal Community re-
quests to be appropriated out of the Postal Service 
Fund’’. 
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(6) In section 2011(h)(2)(D), by striking ‘‘the 
Inspector General of the United States Postal Serv-
ice’’ and inserting ‘‘the Inspector General of the 
Postal Community’’. 
(i) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and 
the amendments made by this section, shall take effect 
upon the date that is 30 days after the date on which 
an individual is confirmed by the Senate as the Inspector 
General of the Postal Community under subsection (b)(3). 
SEC. 303. RIGHT OF APPEAL TO MERIT SYSTEMS PROTEC-
TION BOARD. 
Section 1005(a)(4)(A)(ii)(I) of title 39, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(I) is an employee of the Postal Service 
or the Office of the Inspector General of the 
Postal Community who is not represented by a 
bargaining representative recognized under sec-
tion 1203.’’. 
TITLE IV—POSTAL 
CONTRACTING REFORM 
SEC. 401. CONTRACTING PROVISIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title 39, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 7—CONTRACTING PROVISIONS 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘701. Definitions. 
‘‘702. Delegation of contracting authority. 
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‘‘703. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests for noncompetitive contracts. 
‘‘704. Review of ethical issues. 
‘‘705. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain contracting activity. 
‘‘§ 701. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘contracting officer’ means an 
employee of a covered postal entity who has author-
ity to enter into a postal contract; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered postal entity’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Postal Service; or 
‘‘(B) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘head of a covered postal entity’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of the Postal Service, the 
Postmaster General; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of the Postal Regulatory 
Commission, the Chairman of the Postal Regu-
latory Commission; 
‘‘(4) the term ‘postal contract’ means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of the Postal Service, any 
contract (including any agreement or memo-
randum of understanding) entered into by the 
Postal Service for the procurement of goods or 
services; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of the Postal Regulatory 
Commission, any contract (including any agree-
ment or memorandum of understanding) in an 
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amount exceeding the simplified acquisition 
threshold (as defined in section 134 of title 41) 
entered into by the Postal Regulatory Commis-
sion for the procurement of goods or services; 
and 
‘‘(5) the term ‘senior procurement executive’ 
means the senior procurement executive of a covered 
postal entity. 
‘‘§ 702. Delegation of contracting authority 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) POLICY.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this chapter, the head of each 
covered postal entity shall issue a policy on con-
tracting officer delegations of authority for postal 
contracts for the covered postal entity. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The policy issued under 
paragraph (1) shall require that— 
‘‘(A) notwithstanding any delegation of au-
thority with respect to postal contracts, the ulti-
mate responsibility and accountability for the 
award and administration of postal contracts 
resides with the senior procurement executive; 
and 
‘‘(B) a contracting officer shall maintain 
an awareness of, and engagement in, the activi-
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ties being performed on postal contracts of 
which that officer has cognizance, notwith-
standing any delegation of authority that may 
have been executed. 
‘‘(b) POSTING OF DELEGATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each covered 
postal entity shall make any delegation of authority 
for postal contracts outside the functional con-
tracting unit readily available and accessible on the 
website of the covered postal entity. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph shall 
apply to any delegation of authority made on or 
after the date that is 30 days after the date of en-
actment of this chapter. 
‘‘§ 703. Posting of noncompetitive purchase requests 
for noncompetitive contracts 
‘‘(a) POSTING REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION.—The 
Postal Regulatory Commission shall make the non-
competitive purchase request for any noncompetitive 
award for any contract (including any agreement or 
memorandum of understanding) entered into by the 
Postal Regulatory Commission for the procurement 
of goods and services in an amount of $20,000 or 
more, including the rationale supporting the non-
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competitive award, publicly available on the website 
of the Postal Regulatory Commission— 
‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 
of the award of the noncompetitive contract; or 
‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 
of the award of the noncompetitive contract, if 
the basis for the award was a compelling busi-
ness interest. 
‘‘(2) POSTAL
SERVICE.—The Postal Service 
shall make the noncompetitive purchase request for 
any noncompetitive award of a postal contract in an 
amount of $250,000 or more, including the rationale 
supporting the noncompetitive award, publicly avail-
able on the website of the Postal Service— 
‘‘(A) not later than 14 days after the date 
of the award; or 
‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 
of the award, if the basis for the award was a 
compelling business interest. 
‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POSTING THRESH-
OLD.— 
‘‘(A) REVIEW AND DETERMINATION.—Not 
later than January 31 of each year, the Postal 
Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission 
shall— 
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‘‘(i) review the applicable threshold es-
tablished under paragraph (1) or (2); and 
‘‘(ii) based on any change in the Con-
sumer Price Index for All Urban Con-
sumers of the Department of Labor, deter-
mine whether an adjustment to the thresh-
old shall be made. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENTS.—An ad-
justment under subparagraph (A) shall be made 
in increments of $5,000. If the covered postal 
entity determines that a change in the Con-
sumer Price Index for a year would require an 
adjustment in an amount that is less than 
$5,000, the covered postal entity may not make 
an adjustment to the threshold for the year. 
‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
apply to any noncompetitive contract awarded on or 
after the date that is 90 days after the date of en-
actment of this chapter. 
‘‘(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
the information required to be made publicly avail-
able by a covered postal entity under subsection (a) 
shall be readily accessible on the website of the cov-
ered postal entity. 
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‘‘(2) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA-
TION.—A covered postal entity shall— 
‘‘(A) carefully screen any description of the 
rationale supporting a noncompetitive award re-
quired to be made publicly available under sub-
section (a) to determine whether the description 
includes proprietary data (including any ref-
erence or citation to the proprietary data) or se-
curity-related information; and 
‘‘(B) remove any proprietary data or secu-
rity-related information before making publicly 
available a description of the rationale sup-
porting a noncompetitive award. 
‘‘(c) WAIVERS.— 
‘‘(1) WAIVER PERMITTED.—If the Postal Serv-
ice determines that making a noncompetitive pur-
chase request for a postal contract of the Postal 
Service under subsection (a)(2) publicly available 
would risk placing the Postal Service at a competi-
tive disadvantage relative to a private sector compet-
itor, the senior procurement executive, in consulta-
tion with the advocate for competition of the Postal 
Service, may waive the requirements under sub-
section (a). 
‘‘(2) FORM AND CONTENT OF WAIVER.— 
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‘‘(A) FORM.—A waiver under paragraph 
(1) shall be in the form of a written determina-
tion placed in the file of the contract to which 
the noncompetitive purchase request relates. 
‘‘(B) CONTENT.—A waiver under para-
graph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(i) a description of the risk associ-
ated with making the noncompetitive pur-
chase request publicly available; and 
‘‘(ii) a statement that redaction of 
sensitive information in the noncompetitive 
purchase request would not be sufficient to 
protect the Postal Service from being 
placed at a competitive disadvantage rel-
ative to a private sector competitor. 
‘‘(3) DELEGATION
OF
WAIVER
AUTHORITY.— 
The Postal Service may not delegate the authority to 
approve a waiver under paragraph (1) to any em-
ployee having less authority than the senior procure-
ment executive. 
‘‘§ 704. Review of ethical issues 
‘‘If a contracting officer identifies any ethical issues 
relating to a proposed contract and submits those issues 
and that proposed contract to the designated ethics official 
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for the covered postal entity before the awarding of that 
contract, that ethics official shall— 
‘‘(1) review the proposed contract; and 
‘‘(2) advise the contracting officer on the appro-
priate resolution of ethical issues. 
‘‘§ 705. Ethical restrictions on participation in certain 
contracting activity 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered employee’ means— 
‘‘(A) a contracting officer; or 
‘‘(B) any employee of a covered postal en-
tity whose decisionmaking affects a postal con-
tract as determined by regulations prescribed 
by the head of a covered postal entity; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘final conviction’ means a convic-
tion entered by a court, regardless of whether such 
conviction was entered on a verdict or pursuant to 
a plea (including a plea of nolo contendere), and 
with regard to which no further appeal may be taken 
or is pending; and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘covered relationship’ means a 
covered 
relationship 
described 
in 
section 
2635.502(b)(1) of title 5, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor thereto. 
‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.— 
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‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The head of each covered 
postal entity shall prescribe regulations that— 
‘‘(A) require a covered employee to include 
in the file of any noncompetitive purchase re-
quest for a noncompetitive postal contract a 
written certification that— 
‘‘(i) discloses any covered relationship 
of the covered employee; and 
‘‘(ii) states that the covered employee 
will not take any action with respect to the 
noncompetitive purchase request that af-
fects the financial interests of any person 
with which the covered employee has a cov-
ered relationship, or otherwise gives rise to 
an appearance of the use of public office 
for private gain, as described in section 
2635.702 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu-
lations, or any successor thereto; 
‘‘(B) require a contracting officer to con-
sult with the ethics counsel for the covered 
postal entity regarding any disclosure made by 
a covered employee under subparagraph (A)(i), 
to determine whether participation by the cov-
ered employee in the noncompetitive purchase 
request would give rise to a violation of part 
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2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations 
(commonly referred to as the Standards of Eth-
ical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 
Branch), or any successor thereto; 
‘‘(C) require the ethics counsel for a cov-
ered postal entity to review any disclosure made 
by a contracting officer under subparagraph 
(A)(i) to determine whether participation by the 
contracting officer in the noncompetitive pur-
chase request would give rise to a violation of 
part 2635 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula-
tions (commonly referred to as the Standards of 
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 
Branch), or any successor thereto; 
‘‘(D) under subsections (d) and (e) of sec-
tion 2635.502 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu-
lations, or any successor thereto, require the 
ethics counsel for a covered postal entity to— 
‘‘(i) authorize a covered employee that 
makes a disclosure under subparagraph 
(A)(i) to participate in the noncompetitive 
postal contract; or 
‘‘(ii) disqualify a covered employee 
that makes a disclosure under subpara-
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graph (A)(i) from participating in the non-
competitive postal contract; 
‘‘(E) require a contractor to timely disclose 
to the contracting officer in a bid, solicitation, 
award, or performance of a postal contract any 
conflict of interest with a covered employee; and 
‘‘(F) include authority for the head of the 
covered postal entity to grant a waiver or other-
wise mitigate any organizational or personal 
conflict of interest, if the head of the covered 
postal entity determines that the waiver or miti-
gation is in the best interests of the covered 
postal entity. 
‘‘(2) POSTING OF WAIVERS.—Not later than 30 
days after the head of a covered postal entity grants 
a waiver described in paragraph (1)(F), the head of 
the covered postal entity shall make the waiver pub-
licly available on the website of the covered postal 
entity. 
‘‘(c) CONTRACT VOIDANCE AND RECOVERY.— 
‘‘(1) UNLAWFUL
CONDUCT.—In any case in 
which there is a final conviction for a violation of 
any provision of chapter 11 of title 18 relating to a 
postal contract, the head of a covered postal entity 
may— 
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‘‘(A) void that contract; and 
‘‘(B) recover the amounts expended and 
property transferred by the covered postal enti-
ty under that contract. 
‘‘(2) OBTAINING OR DISCLOSING PROCUREMENT 
INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 
a contractor under a postal contract fails to 
timely disclose a conflict of interest to the ap-
propriate contracting officer as required under 
the regulations promulgated under subsection 
(b)(1)(E), the head of a covered postal entity 
may— 
‘‘(i) void that contract; and 
‘‘(ii) recover the amounts expended 
and property transferred by the covered 
postal entity under that contract. 
‘‘(B) CONVICTION OR ADMINISTRATIVE DE-
TERMINATION.—A case described under sub-
paragraph (A) is any case in which— 
‘‘(i) there is a final conviction for an 
offense punishable under section 2105 of 
title 41; or 
‘‘(ii) the head of a covered postal enti-
ty determines, based upon a preponderance 
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of the evidence, that the contractor or 
someone acting for the contractor has en-
gaged in conduct constituting an offense 
punishable under section 2105 of such 
title.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 
at the beginning of part I is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘7. Contracting Provisions ............................................................
701’’. 
SEC. 402. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION. 
Section 7101(8) of title 41, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (C); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) the United States Postal Service and 
the Postal Regulatory Commission.’’. 
Æ 
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