I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3432
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that the procedures 
relating to the closing or consolidation of a post office be extended 
to the relocation or construction of a post office, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 4, 2003
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 
SIMMONS, Mr. FARR, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. KAN-
JORSKI, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HILL, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. 
ALLEN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. MCCAR-
THY of New York, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. RA-
HALL, Mr. OWENS, Mr. STARK, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, 
Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 
ENGLISH, Mrs. EMERSON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FROST, 
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. BOEHLERT, 
Ms. DELAURO, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. OSBORNE, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, 
Mr. SHAYS, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. COOPER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Re-
form 
A BILL 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that 
the procedures relating to the closing or consolidation 
of a post office be extended to the relocation or construc-
tion of a post office, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Post Office Community 
Partnership Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE PROPOSED CLOS-
ING, CONSOLIDATION, RELOCATION, OR CON-
STRUCTION OF A POST OFFICE. 
(a) APPLICABILITY.—Section 404(b) of title 39, 
United States Code, is amended by redesignating para-
graphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), re-
spectively, by striking ‘‘(b)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’, and 
by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so redesignated) the 
following: 
‘‘(b)(1) This subsection shall apply in the case of any 
proposed closing, consolidation, relocation, or construction 
of a post office.’’. 
(b) ADVANCE NOTICE.—Paragraph (2) of such sec-
tion 404(b) (as so redesignated) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(2)(A) The Postal Service, before making a deter-
mination under subsection (a)(3) as to the necessity for 
a proposed action described in paragraph (1), shall, in 
order to ensure that local government officials and the 
persons who are (or would be) served by the post office
involved will have an opportunity to present their views, 
provide adequate notice of its intention to take such action 
with respect to such post office at least 60 days before—
‘‘(i) in the case of the proposed construction of 
a post office, the date of the determination under 
subsection (a)(3); or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of an action other than the 
proposed construction of a post office, the proposed 
date of such action. 
‘‘(B) The requirements of this paragraph shall not 
be considered met unless the notice—
‘‘(i) has, by the deadline specified in subpara-
graph (A)—
‘‘(I) been hand delivered or delivered by 
mail to local government officials and the other 
persons required under subparagraph (A); and 
‘‘(II) been published once a week for at 
least 4 weeks in 1 or more newspapers regularly 
issued and of general circulation within the zip 
code areas which are (or would be) served by 
the post office involved; and 
‘‘(ii) includes a description of the action pro-
posed to be taken with respect to the post office in-
volved, a summary of the reasons for the proposed 
action, and the date on which such action is pro-
posed to be taken (or, if the construction of a post 
office is involved, the proposed timetable therefor).’’. 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—Paragraph (3) of such sec-
tion 404(b) (as so redesignated) is amended—
(1) in the matter before subparagraph (A), by 
striking ‘‘to close or consolidate’’ and inserting ‘‘to 
take a proposed action with respect to’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘such closing or consolidation’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘such action’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking the 
semicolon and inserting ‘‘, taking into account (I) 
the extent to which the post office is part of a core 
downtown business area (if at all), and (II) the na-
ture and the extent of any opposition within the 
community to the proposed action;’’; 
(4) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘Serv-
ice employed at such office;’’ and inserting ‘‘Serv-
ice;’’; 
(5) in subparagraph (A)(iv), by inserting 
‘‘quantified long-term’’ before ‘‘economic’’; and 
(6) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end of clause (iv), by redesignating clause (v) as 
clause (viii), and by inserting after clause (iv) the 
following:
‘‘(v) any views or concerns expressed by 
any officials or other representatives of local 
government, including whether the proposed ac-
tion is reasonable in light of local population 
projections; 
‘‘(vi) consistency with the size, scale, de-
sign, and general character of the surrounding 
community; 
‘‘(vii) whether all reasonable alternatives to 
such action have been explored; and’’. 
(d) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.—Paragraph (4) of 
such section 404(b) (as so redesignated) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘to close or consolidate’’ and in-
serting ‘‘to take a proposed action (described in 
paragraph (1)) with respect to’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 
‘‘paragraph (3)’’; and 
(3) by striking ‘‘office.’’ and inserting ‘‘office 
(including by posting a copy of such determination 
in the post office or each post office serving the per-
sons who will be affected by such action) and shall 
be transmitted to appropriate local officials.’’. 
(e) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS.—Such section 
404(b) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) If the Postmaster General determines that there 
exists an emergency affecting a particular post office, the 
Postmaster General may suspend the application of this 
subsection, with respect to such post office, for a period 
not to exceed 180 days. 
‘‘(C) The Postmaster General may exercise the sus-
pension authority under this paragraph with respect to a 
post office once for each discrete emergency affecting such 
post office. 
‘‘(11) The relocation, closing, consolidation, or con-
struction of any post office shall be conducted in accord-
ance with applicable provisions of the National Historic 
Preservation Act.’’. 
(f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
Such section 404(b) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated) by 
striking ‘‘take no action to close or consolidate’’ and 
inserting ‘‘take no action described in paragraph (1) 
with respect to’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated)—
(A) by striking ‘‘to close or consolidate’’ 
and inserting ‘‘to take any action described in 
paragraph (1) with respect to’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’.
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