An Act to amend title 39 of the United States Code with respect to the transportation of mail by highway post office service, and for other purposes
PL 87-491 (H.R.6695), enacted 06/19/1962

106 
PUBLIC LAW .87-491-JUNE 19, 1962 
[76 STAT. 
Public Law 87-491 
June 19, 1962 
[H. R. 6695] 
Postal Service. 
Highway post 
office contracts. 
74 Stat. 695. 
AN ACT 
Alteration or 
renewal. 
74 Stat. 701. 
Cancellation. 
To amend title 39 of the United States Code with respect to the transportation 
of mail by highway jyost oflSce service, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Seimte and House of Representatives 
of the 
United /States of America in Congress assenibled, That subsections 
(b) and (c) of section 6352 of title 39, United States Code, are amended 
to read as follows: 
"(b) The Postmaster General in contracts for highway post office 
service may provide for— 
"(1) increasing or decreasing the mileage; 
"(2) the addition of new route segments if the original route 
and the new segment to be so added have at least one common 
terminus point; 
"(3) increasing or decreasing the hours of service required; 
"(4) other service changes; 
"(6) the readjustment and compensation either upward or 
downward to reflect the service changes and increased or decreased 
costs attributable to changed conditions occurring during the 
contract term over which the Postmaster General or the con-
tractor have no control and which could not reasonably have been 
foreseen at the time the original bid w^as made or the proposal 
for renewal filed; 
"(6) the imposition or remission of fines and penalties by the 
Postmaster General for delinquencies in the performance of the 
contracts; and 
" (7) other matters deemed appropriate by him. 
''(c) If the Postmaster General determines highway post office 
s>ervice is no longer required on a route already under contract, the 
Postmaster General may, in his discretion, and with the consent of 
the highway post office contractor, alter the existing highway post 
office contract to permit the substitution of star route service m lieu 
of highw^ay post office service for the remainder of the contract period 
at a rate which shall be determined by negotiation, taking into consid-
eration the nature and extent of the star route service and other 
pertinent factors, but which shall not be in excess of the rate being 
paid under such existing highway post office contract. 
The Post-
master (xeneral is authorized to extend or renew said contracts for 
substituted star route service for successive periods of not more than 
four years at the rate of compensation prevailing at the end of the 
preceding conti^ct term. 
The provisions of section 6420 of this title 
shall not apply to the contracts altered or renewed pursuant to the 
authority conferred by this subsection. 
"(d) if the Postmaster General shall cancel any contract for high-
way post office service, he shall make the following indemnities on 
account of such cancellation: 
"(1) not in excess of one-twelfth of the compensation which 
would have been earned in one year if the service discontinued 
had been performed; and 
"(2) an equitable allowance on account of any vehicle made 
surplus resulting from such discontinuance of the service. 
The 
equitable allowance shall be equal to one-half of the difference 
between the depreciated value which the vehicle made surplus had 
as of the time it was first used to perform the contract and the sum 
of (A) depreciation which occurs during the performance of the 
contract and (B) the proceeds realized by the sale or disposal of 
the vehicle made surplus by discontinuation of the service. 
For 
76 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-492-JUNE 25, 1962 
107 
tlie purposes of deteiniining depreciated value as of the time that 
the vehicle was first used in the performance of the contract and 
the depreciation which occurs during the performance of the 
contract, such vehicle will be deemed to have a service life of 
seventy-two months and such vehicle will be deemed to uniformly 
depreciate one seventy-second of its original sales price for each 
month. 
"(e) If a contract is altered pursuant to subsection (c), the con-
tractor shall not be entitled to either the indemnity or to the equitable 
allowance provided either in subsection (d) or by terms of his 
contract." 
Approved June 19, 1962. 
Public Law 87-492 
AN ACT 
June 25, 1962 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to permit certain property to be used 
[H. R. 9736] 
for State forestry work, and for other purposes. 
Be it BThacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Congress 
Agriculture, 
recognizes that for many years the United States and certain States eryfaciiities,""'^' 
have cooperated in the production of tree planting stock for use in the transfer to st'ates. 
reforestation of the public and private lands of the Nation; that the 
program of production of tree planting stock which was initiated 
and pursued under the Soil Bank Act (7 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) was 
7
0 stat. iss. 
carried on under written agreements which provided for (a) coopera-
tion between the Forest Service, on behalf of the United States, and 
the States which participated in the program, (b) payments to said 
States for costs and expenses incurred in the development of nursery 
facilities, (c) the holding of such funds by the States in trust for the 
purpose of carrying out the provisions of said agreements, and (d) 
restoration to the trust fund of an amount equal to the residual value 
of any supplies, materials, equipment, or improvements acquired or 
constructed with trust funds and transferred to State forestry work 
other than the soil bank program; that such program under said Soil 
Bank Act has been discontinued, but the need for the trees continues 
to be great; that the States and Federal Government are cooperating 
in the procurement, production, and distribution of forest-tree seeds 
and plants under section 4 of the Clarke-McNary Act of June 7, 1924 
(16 I7.S.C. 567), and in the reforestation of lands under title IV of 
63 stat. 909. 
the Agricultural Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 568e-^); and that said par- 
70 stat. 207. 
ticipating States need the said supplies, materials, equipment, or im-
provements for use in connection with their respective forestry pro-
grams, and it is in the public interest to permit these States to use 
said property without the requirement that payment be made for the 
residual value thereof. 
SEC.. 2. For the purpose of assisting those States which participated 
in the program carried on under the Soil Bank Act in continuing the 
production of needed tree planting stock and in other forestry pro-
grams, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to permit any sup-
•plies, materials, equipment, or improvements acquired or constructed 
with trust funds under the agreements referred to in section 1 to be 
used in such State forestry work as may further the objectives of 
related Federal programs, as he may approve, without the require-
ment that any payment be made by the State into the trust funds. 
Approved June 25, 1962.