Sec. 203. Post office closings, consolidations, and restructuring
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During the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Postal Service may not— close or consolidate any post office; or reduce the hours of operation of or reclassify downward any post office that, as of the date of enactment of this Act, was classified at or below level 18. Section 404(d) of title 39, United States Code, is amended— by striking
(6)For purposes of paragraph
(5)and inserting the following: For purposes of paragraph
(6); by striking
(5)A determination and inserting the following: A determination ; by striking (d)(1) The Postal Service and all that follows through the end of paragraph
(4)and inserting the following: In this subsection— the term discontinuance has the meaning given the term in section 241.3 of title 39, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on November 1, 2013; the term local government means— a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, special district, intrastate district, council of government, or regional or interstate government entity; an agency or instrumentality of an entity described in clause (i); or a rural community, an unincorporated town or village, or an instrumentality of a rural community or an unincorporated town or village; and the term post office means a post office, post office branch, post office classified station, or other facility that is operated by the Postal Service, the primary function of which is to provide retail postal services. The Postal Service, prior to making a determination under subsection (a)(3) of this section as to the necessity for the discontinuance of any post office, shall— consider whether— to discontinue the post office and combine it with another post office located within a reasonable distance; instead of discontinuing the post office— to reduce the number of hours a day that the post office operates; or to continue operating the post office for the same number of hours a day; to procure a contract providing full, or less than full, retail postal services in the community served by the post office; or to provide postal services to the community served by the post office— through a letter carrier utilizing mobile technologies, as feasible; by colocating postal services at a commercial or government entity; or by implementing an alternative proposal made by a local government under subparagraph (B)(iii); provide— relevant information on financial costs associated with the operations of the post office to postal customers and local governments served by the post office; postal customers served by the post office an opportunity to present their views, which may be by nonbinding survey conducted by mail; and local governments served by the post office an opportunity to present alternative proposals for providing postal services to the community, including the furnishing of property or services to the Postal Service to maintain the same level of postal services in the community; and if the Postal Service determines to discontinue the post office, provide adequate public notice of its intention to discontinue the post office at least 60 days prior to the proposed date of the discontinuance to persons and local governments served by the post office. The Postal Service, in making a determination whether or not to discontinue a post office— shall consider— the effect of the discontinuance on the community served by the post office; the effect of the discontinuance on businesses, including small businesses, in the area; the effect of the discontinuance on employees of the Postal Service employed at the post office; whether the discontinuance would have a significant adverse effect on regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining; the extent to which the community served by the post office lacks access to Internet, broadband, or cellular telephone service; the extent to which postal customers served by the post office would continue after the discontinuance to receive substantially similar access to essential items, such as prescription drugs and time-sensitive communications; the proximity and accessibility of other post offices; whether substantial economic savings to the Postal Service would result from the discontinuance; and any other factors that the Postal Service determines are necessary; may not consider compliance with any provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. ); and may not make a determination to discontinue a post office unless the Postal Service— determines that postal customers served by the post office would continue after the discontinuance to receive substantially similar access to essential items, such as prescription medications and time-sensitive communications, that are sent through the mails; or takes action to substantially ameliorate any projected reduction in access to essential items described in clause (i); and determines that— there is unlikely to be substantial economic loss to the community served by the post office as a result of the discontinuance; and the area served by the post office has adequate access to broadband Internet service, as identified on the National Broadband Map of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Any determination of the Postal Service to discontinue a post office shall— be in writing; and include the findings of the Postal Service with respect to the considerations required to be made under paragraph (3). The Postal Service shall make available, to persons served by a post office that the Postal Service determines to discontinue, any determination and findings under subparagraph
(A)with respect to that post office. The Postal Service may not take any action to discontinue a post office until 60 days after the date on which the Postal Service makes available, to persons served by the post office, the written determination and findings with respect to the post office as required under subparagraph (B). The Postal Service, prior to making a determination under paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(I) to reduce the number of hours per day that a post office operates, shall consider— the impact of the proposed reduction in hours on local businesses; the effect of the proposed reduction in hours on the community served by the post office; the ability of the Postal Service to hire qualified employees to operate the post office during the reduced hours; the proximity and accessibility of other post offices within 15 miles of the post office, and the hours those post offices are open; the impact of the proposed reduction in hours on the elderly and other vulnerable populations; and the impact of alternative schedules on the community served by the post office, including consideration of which schedules would most effectively mitigate any negative impacts identified under clauses
(i)through (v). If the Postal Service determines, after considering the factors under subparagraph (A), to reduce the number of hours per day that a post office operates, the Postal Service shall make available to persons served by the post office— a summary of the findings of the Postal Service under subparagraph (A); the hours during which the post office will be open; and an explanation of the change in hours referred to in clause (ii). ; in paragraph (6), as so designated— by striking close or consolidate and inserting discontinue ; by striking under paragraph
(3)and inserting under paragraph
(4); by moving subparagraphs (A), (B), and
(C)2 ems to the right; and by moving the flush text following subparagraph
(C)2 ems to the right; in paragraph (7), as so designated, by moving subparagraphs
(A)and
(B)2 ems to the right; and by adding at the end the following: The Postal Service shall establish minimum standards for retail postal services. . In this subsection, the term moratorium means the 5-year period described in subsection (a). Not later than 6 years after the expiration of the moratorium, the Inspector General of the Postal Service shall submit to each recipient described in paragraph
(3)a consolidated report that describes, for each post office that was discontinued under section 404 of title 39, United States Code (as amended by subsection (b)), during the 5-year period beginning on the day after the expiration of the moratorium— the actual cost savings resulting from the discontinuance; and a comparison between the findings described in subparagraph
(A)and the cost savings that the Postal Service predicted would result from the discontinuance. The recipients described in this paragraph are— the Postal Regulatory Commission; the Board of Governors; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives; the Member of the House of Representatives in whose district the post office was located; and the Senators in whose State the post office was located.
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Sec. 203
Post office closings, consolidations, and restructuring
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