[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 556 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 556

To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish guidelines for the 
 relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of post offices, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 1999

  Mr. Baucus (for himself and Mr. Jeffords) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish guidelines for the 
 relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of post offices, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 1999''.

SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR RELOCATION, CLOSING, CONSOLIDATION, OR 
              CONSTRUCTION OF POST OFFICES.

    Section 404 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by striking 
subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b)(1) Before making a determination under subsection (a)(3) as 
to the necessity for the relocation, closing, consolidation, or 
construction of any post office, the Postal Service shall provide 
adequate notice to persons served by that post office of the intention 
of the Postal Service to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct 
that post office not later than 60 days before the final determination 
is made to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct.
    ``(2)(A) The notification under paragraph (1) shall be in writing, 
hand delivered or delivered by mail to persons served by that post 
office, and published in 1 or more newspapers of general circulation 
within the zip codes served by that post office.
    ``(B) The notification under paragraph (1) shall include--
            ``(i) an identification of the relocation, closing, 
        consolidation, or construction of the post office involved;
            ``(ii) a summary of the reasons for the relocation, 
        closing, consolidation, or construction;
            ``(iii) the proposed date for the relocation, closing, 
        consolidation, or construction;
            ``(iv) notice of the opportunity of a hearing, if 
        requested; and
            ``(v) notice of the opportunity for public comment, 
        including suggestions.
    ``(3) Any person served by the post office that is the subject of a 
notification under paragraph (1) may offer an alternative relocation, 
closing, consolidation, or construction proposal during the 60-day 
period beginning on the date on which the notice is provided under 
paragraph (1).
    ``(4)(A) At the end of the period specified in paragraph (3), the 
Postal Service shall make a determination under subsection (a)(3). 
Before making a final determination, the Postal Service shall conduct a 
hearing, if requested by persons served by the post office that is the 
subject of a notice under paragraph (1). If a hearing is held under 
this paragraph, the persons served by such post office may present oral 
or written testimony with respect to the relocation, closing, 
consolidation, or construction of the post office.
    ``(B) In making a determination as to whether or not to relocate, 
close, consolidate, or construct a post office, the Postal Service 
shall consider--
            ``(i) the extent to which the post office is part of a core 
        downtown business area;
            ``(ii) any potential effect of the relocation, closing, 
        consolidation, or construction on the community served by the 
        post office;
            ``(iii) whether the community served by the post office 
        opposes a relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction;
            ``(iv) any potential effect of the relocation, closing, 
        consolidation, or construction on employees of the Postal 
        Service employed at the post office;
            ``(v) whether the relocation, closing, consolidation, or 
        construction of the post office is consistent with the policy 
        of the Government under section 101(b) that requires the Postal 
        Service to provide a maximum degree of effective and regular 
        postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns in 
        which post offices are not self-sustaining;
            ``(vi) the quantified long-term economic saving to the 
        Postal Service resulting from the relocation, closing, 
        consolidation, or construction;
            ``(vii)(I) the adequacy of the existing post office; and
            ``(II) whether all reasonable alternatives to relocation, 
        closing, consolidation, or construction have been explored; and
            ``(viii) any other factor that the Postal Service 
        determines to be necessary for making a determination whether 
        to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct that post office.
    ``(C) In making a determination as to whether or not to relocate, 
close, consolidate, or construct a post office, the Postal Service may 
not consider compliance with any provision of the Occupational Safety 
and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).
    ``(5)(A) Any determination of the Postal Service to relocate, 
close, consolidate, or construct a post office shall be in writing and 
shall include the findings of the Postal Service with respect to the 
considerations required to be made under paragraph (4).
    ``(B) The Postal Service shall respond to all of the alternative 
proposals described in paragraph (3) in a consolidated report that 
includes--
            ``(i) the determination and findings under subparagraph 
        (A); and
            ``(ii) each alternative proposal and a response by the 
        Postal Service.
    ``(C) The Postal Service shall make available to the public a copy 
of the report prepared under subparagraph (B) at the post office that 
is the subject of the report.
    ``(6)(A) The Postal Service shall take no action to relocate, 
close, consolidate, or construct a post office until the applicable 
date described in subparagraph (B).
    ``(B) The applicable date specified in this subparagraph is--
            ``(i) if no appeal is made under paragraph (7), the end of 
        the 30-day period specified in that paragraph; or
            ``(ii) if an appeal is made under paragraph (7), the date 
        on which a determination is made by the Commission under 
        paragraph 7(A), but not later than 120 days after the date on 
        which the appeal is made.
    ``(7)(A) A determination of the Postal Service to relocate, close, 
consolidate, or construct any post office may be appealed by any person 
served by that post office to the Postal Rate Commission during the 30-
day period beginning on the date on which the report is made available 
under paragraph (5). The Commission shall review the determination on 
the basis of the record before the Postal Service in the making of the 
determination. The Commission shall make a determination based on that 
review not later than 120 days after appeal is made under this 
paragraph.
    ``(B) The Commission shall set aside any determination, findings, 
and conclusions of the Postal Service that the Commission finds to be--
            ``(i) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or 
        otherwise not in accordance with the law;
            ``(ii) without observance of procedure required by law; or
            ``(iii) unsupported by substantial evidence on the record.
    ``(C) The Commission may affirm the determination of the Postal 
Service that is the subject of an appeal under subparagraph (A) or 
order that the entire matter that is the subject of that appeal be 
returned for further consideration, but the Commission may not modify 
the determination of the Postal Service. The Commission may suspend the 
effectiveness of the determination of the Postal Service until the 
final disposition of the appeal.
    ``(D) The provisions of sections 556 and 557, and chapter 7 of 
title 5 shall not apply to any review carried out by the Commission 
under this paragraph.
    ``(E) A determination made by the Commission shall not be subject 
to judicial review.
    ``(8) In any case in which a community has in effect procedures to 
address the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of 
buildings in the community, and the public participation requirements 
of those procedures are more stringent than those provided in this 
subsection, the Postal Service shall apply those procedures to the 
relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of a post office in 
that community in lieu of applying the procedures established in this 
subsection.
    ``(9) In making a determination to relocate, close, consolidate, or 
construct any post office, the Postal Service shall comply with any 
applicable zoning, planning, or land use laws (including building codes 
and other related laws of State or local public entities, including any 
zoning authority with jurisdiction over the area in which the post 
office is located).
    ``(10) The relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of 
any post office under this subsection shall be conducted in accordance 
with the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h-2).
    ``(11) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to apply to a 
temporary customer service facility to be used by the Postal Service 
for a period of less than 60 days.
    ``(12)(A) For purposes of this paragraph the term `emergency' means 
any occurrence that forces an immediate relocation from an existing 
facility, including natural disasters, fire, health and safety factors, 
and lease terminations.
    ``(B) If the Postmaster General makes a determination that an 
emergency exists relating to a post office, the Postmaster General may 
suspend the application of the provisions of this subsection for a 
period not to exceed 180 days with respect to such post office.
    ``(C) The Postmaster General may exercise the suspension authority 
under subparagraph (A) once with respect to a single emergency for any 
specific post office.''.
                                 <all>