39 U.S.C. § 501 — Establishment

Page 32 TITLE 39—POSTAL SERVICE § 501 Congress on operations of the program established under this section, with the final report to include a de- tailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the GAO and any appropriate recommendations, was re- pealed by Pub. L. 112–234, § 2(e)(1), Dec. 28, 2012, 126 Stat. 1624. CHAPTER 5—POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION Sec. 501. Establishment. 502. Commissioners. 503. Rules; regulations; procedures. 504. Administration. 505. Officer of the Postal Regulatory Commission representing the general public. § 501. Establishment The Postal Regulatory Commission is an inde- pendent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. (Added Pub. L. 109–435, title VI, § 601(a)(1), Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3238.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2006 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 109–435, title VI, § 601(b), Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3239, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by sub- section (a)(1) [enacting this section and section 502 of this title] shall not affect the appointment or tenure of any person serving as a Commissioner on the Postal Regulatory Commission (as so redesignated by section 604 [see Tables for classification]) under an appoint- ment made before the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2006] or any nomination made before that date, but, when any such office becomes vacant, the appoint- ment of any person to fill that office shall be made in accordance with such amendment.’’ FLATS OPERATIONS STUDY AND REFORM Pub. L. 117–108, title II, § 206, Apr. 6, 2022, 136 Stat. 1148, provided that: ‘‘(a) FLATS OPERATIONS STUDY.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory Commis- sion, in consultation with the Inspector General of the United States Postal Service, shall conduct a study to— ‘‘(A) comprehensively identify the causes of inef- ficiencies in the collection, sorting, transportation, and delivery of Flats; and ‘‘(B) quantify the effects of the volume trends, in- vestments decisions, excess capacity, and oper- ational 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 Reg- ulatory Commission, consult with the Postal Regu- latory Commission and provide— ‘‘(A) access to Postal Service facilities to per- sonnel of the Postal Regulatory Commission; and ‘‘(B) information and records necessary to con- duct such study. ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Apr. 6, 2022], the Postal Regulatory Commission shall submit to Con- gress and the 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 stand- ards described in the Domestic Mail Manual (as in ef- fect 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 Commission submits the report described in subsection (a)(3), the Postal Service shall— ‘‘(A) develop and implement a plan to remedy each inefficiency identified in the study conducted under subsection (a)(1) to the extent practicable; and ‘‘(B) if the Postal Service determines that rem- edying any such inefficiency is not practicable, pro- vide to Congress and the Postal Regulatory Com- mission an explanation why remedying such ineffi- ciency is not practicable, including whether it may become practicable to remedy such inefficiency at a later time. ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.—Prior to im- plementing the plan described in paragraph (1)— ‘‘(A) the Postal Regulatory Commission must ap- prove 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 General, the Post- master General shall submit to Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission a written 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 imple- mented, the plan’s efficacy in remedying the inefficien- cies identified in the study conducted under subsection (a)(1).’’ [For definitions of ‘‘market-dominant product’’ and ‘‘Postal Service’’ as used in section 206 of Pub. L. 117–108, set out above, see section 102 of this title as made applicable by section 2(b) of Pub. L. 117–108, which is set out as a note below.] ASSESSMENTS OF RATEMAKING, CLASSIFICATION, AND OTHER PROVISIONS Pub. L. 109–435, title VII, § 701, Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3242, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory Commis- sion shall, at least every 5 years, submit a report to the President and Congress concerning— ‘‘(1) the operation of the amendments made by this Act [see Tables for classification]; and ‘‘(2) recommendations for any legislation or other measures necessary to improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the postal laws of the United States. ‘‘(b) POSTAL SERVICE VIEWS.—A report under this sec- tion shall be submitted only after reasonable oppor- tunity has been afforded to the Postal Service to re- view the report and to submit written comments on the report. Any comments timely received from the Postal Service under the preceding sentence shall be attached to the report submitted under subsection (a).’’ REPORT ON UNIVERSAL POSTAL SERVICE AND THE POSTAL MONOPOLY Pub. L. 109–435, title VII, § 702, Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3243, provided that: ‘‘(a) REPORT BY THE POSTAL REGULATORY COMMIS- SION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2006], the Postal Regulatory Commission shall submit a report to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States (in this section referred to as ‘universal service and the postal monopoly’), including the monopoly on the delivery of mail and on access to mailboxes. ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report under this subsection shall include— Page 33 TITLE 39—POSTAL SERVICE § 502 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive review of the history and development of universal service and the postal mo- nopoly, including how the scope and standards of universal service and the postal monopoly have evolved over time for the Nation and its urban and rural areas; ‘‘(B) the scope and standards of universal service and the postal monopoly provided under current law (including sections 101 and 403 of title 39, United States Code), and current rules, regulations, policy statements, and practices of the Postal Serv- ice; ‘‘(C) a description of any geographic areas, popu- lations, communities (including both urban and rural communities), organizations, or other groups or entities not currently covered by universal serv- ice or that are covered but that are receiving serv- ices deficient in scope or quality or both; and ‘‘(D) the scope and standards of universal service and the postal monopoly likely to be required in the future in order to meet the needs and expecta- tions of the United States public, including all types of mail users, based on discussion of such as- sumptions, alternative sets of assumptions, and analyses as the Postal Service considers plausible. ‘‘(b) RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO UNIVERSAL SERVICE AND THE MONOPOLY.—The Postal Regulatory Commis- sion shall include in the report under subsection (a), and in all reports submitted under section 701 of this Act [set out as a note above]— ‘‘(1) any recommended changes to universal service and the postal monopoly as the Commission considers appropriate, including changes that the Commission may implement under current law and changes that would require changes to current law, with estimated effects of the recommendations on the service, finan- cial condition, rates, and security of mail provided by the Postal Service; ‘‘(2) with respect to each recommended change de- scribed under paragraph (1)— ‘‘(A) an estimate of the costs of the Postal Serv- ice attributable to the obligation to provide uni- versal service under current law; and ‘‘(B) an analysis of the likely benefit of the cur- rent postal monopoly to the ability of the Postal Service to sustain the current scope and standards of universal service, including estimates of the fi- nancial benefit of the postal monopoly to the ex- tent practicable, under current law; and ‘‘(3) such additional topics and recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate, with esti- mated effects of the recommendations on the service, financial condition, rates, and the security of mail provided by the Postal Service. ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report required by this section, the Postal Regulatory Commission— ‘‘(1) shall solicit written comments from the Postal Service and consult with the Postal Service and other Federal agencies, users of the mails, enterprises in the private sector engaged in the delivery of the mail, and the general public; and ‘‘(2) shall address in the report any written com- ments received under this section. ‘‘(d) CLARIFYING PROVISION.—Nothing in this section shall be considered to relate to any services that are not postal services within the meaning of section 102 of title 39, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of this Act.’’ PROVISIONS RELATING TO COOPERATIVE MAILINGS Pub. L. 109–435, title VII, § 711, Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3248, provided that: ‘‘(a) STUDY.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Postal Regulatory Commis- sion shall examine section E670.5.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual to determine whether it contains ade- quate safeguards to protect against— ‘‘(A) abuses of rates for nonprofit mail; and ‘‘(B) deception of consumers. ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Commission shall report the re- sults of its examination to the Postal Service, along with any recommendations that the Commission de- termines appropriate. ‘‘(b) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Postal Service fails to act on the recommendations of the Commission, the Commission may take such action as it determines necessary to prevent abuse of rates or deception of con- sumers.’’ DEFINITIONS Pub. L. 117–108, § 2, Apr. 6, 2022, 136 Stat. 1127, provided that: ‘‘(a) COMMISSION.—In this Act [see Tables for classi- fication], the term ‘Commission’ means the Postal Reg- ulatory Commission. ‘‘(b) TERMS DEFINED IN TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE.—In this Act, the terms ‘competitive product’, ‘market-dominant product’, and ‘Postal Service’ have the meanings given those terms in section 102 of title 39, United States Code.’’ § 502. Commissioners (a) The Postal Regulatory Commission is com- posed of 5 Commissioners, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commissioners shall be chosen solely on the basis of their technical qualifica- tions, professional standing, and demonstrated expertise in economics, accounting, law, or pub- lic administration, and may be removed by the President only for cause. Each individual ap- pointed to the Commission shall have the quali- fications and expertise necessary to carry out the enhanced responsibilities accorded Commis- sioners under the Postal Accountability and En- hancement Act. Not more than 3 of the Commis- sioners may be adherents of the same political party. (b) No Commissioner shall be financially inter- ested in any enterprise in the private sector of the economy engaged in the delivery of mail matter. (c) A Commissioner may continue to serve after the expiration of his term until his suc- cessor has qualified, except that a Commissioner may not so continue to serve for more than 1 year after the date upon which his term other- wise would expire under subsection (f). (d) One of the Commissioners shall be des- ignated as Chairman by, and shall serve in the position of Chairman at the pleasure of, the President. (e) The Commissioners shall by majority vote designate a Vice Chairman of the Commission. The Vice Chairman shall act as Chairman of the Commission in the absence of the Chairman. (f) The Commissioners shall serve for terms of 6 years. (Added Pub. L. 109–435, title VI, § 601(a)(1), Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3238.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, re- ferred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 109–435, Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3198. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 2006 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section not to affect the appointment or tenure of any person serving as a Commissioner on the Postal