[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 897 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 897

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 16 (legislative day, May 15), 2001

 Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Allard, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. 
Levin) 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 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.

    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 2001''.

SEC. 2. PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE PROPOSED CLOSING, CONSOLIDATION, 
              RELOCATION, OR CONSTRUCTION OF A POST OFFICE.

    (a) Applicability.--Section 404(b) of title 39, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as 
        paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``(b)(1)'' and inserting ``(2)''; and
            (3) 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 section 404(b) (as so 
redesignated) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(2)(A) The Postal Service, before making a determination under 
subsection (a)(3) as to the necessity for a proposed action described 
in paragraph (1), shall, in order to ensure that the persons, including 
local government officials, 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 subparagraph (A)--
                    ``(I) been hand delivered or delivered by mail to 
                the 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 proposed to be 
        taken with respect to the post office involved, a summary of 
        the reasons for the proposed action, and the date on which such 
        action is proposed to be taken (or, if the construction of a 
        post office is involved, the proposed timetable therefor).''.
    (c) Considerations.--Paragraph (3) of such section 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 nature and the extent of any opposition 
        within the community to the proposed action;'';
            (4) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``Service employed 
        at such office;'' and inserting ``Service;'';
            (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 action is reasonable in 
                light of local population projections;
                    ``(vi) consistency with the size, scale, design, 
                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 inserting 
        ``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 persons 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:
    ``(7) In any case in which a community has promulgated any 
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.
    ``(8) 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 design 
guidelines, building codes, and all other provisions of law) to the 
same extent and in the same manner as if the Postal Service were not an 
establishment of the Government of the United States.
    ``(9) 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.
    ``(10)(A) In 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 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 of not to exceed 180 days.
    ``(C) The Postmaster General may exercise the suspension 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 construction of 
any post office shall be conducted in accordance with applicable 
provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et 
seq.).''.
    (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 inserting 
                ``paragraph (4)''.
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