[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4335 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4335

 To amend title 39, United States Code, to allow the Postal Regulatory 
  Commission to set aside determinations by the United States Postal 
   Service to close or consolidate postal facilities that would deny 
essential postal services to rural areas, communities, or small towns, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2012

  Mr. Rahall introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 39, United States Code, to allow the Postal Regulatory 
  Commission to set aside determinations by the United States Postal 
   Service to close or consolidate postal facilities that would deny 
essential postal services to rural areas, communities, or small towns, 
                        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 ``Postal Service Accountability Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. CLOSING OR CONSOLIDATION OF POST OFFICES.

    (a) Economic Effects.--Section 404(d)(2)(A)(i) of title 39, United 
States Code, is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting ``, 
including any economic effects;''.
    (b) Increase in Length of Waiting Period.--Section 404(d)(4) of 
title 39, United States Code, is amended by striking ``60'' and 
inserting ``120''.
    (c) Specific Basis To Exercise Authority To Set Aside.--
Subparagraph (C) of section 404(d)(5) of title 39, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows:
            ``(C) unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, 
        including any determination, finding, or conclusion of the 
        Postal Service with respect to clause (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) 
        of paragraph (2)(A) (each of which clauses the Postal Service 
        shall specifically address under paragraph (3) with respect to 
        the post office involved).''.
    (d) PRC Concurrence Required.--Section 404(d) of title 39, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7) If an appeal is filed under paragraph (5) with respect to the 
closure or consolidation of a post office, the Postal Service may not 
proceed with its determination to close or consolidate such post office 
without the written concurrence of at least 3 of the Commissioners.''.
    (e) Review.--Section 404(d) of title 39, United States Code, is 
amended by adding after paragraph (7) (as added by subsection (d)) the 
following:
    ``(8) Within 1 year after the date on which a post office is closed 
or consolidated, the Postal Service shall conduct a review and make 
public its findings and determinations in regard to--
            ``(A) the accuracy of the findings which the Postal Service 
        had made earlier, with respect to the considerations under 
        paragraph (2)(A), in connection with the proposed closing or 
        consolidation of such post office; and
            ``(B) what substitute services are being provided for those 
        previously provided by the post office that was closed or 
        consolidated, and whether those substitute services are meeting 
        community needs.''.

SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN OTHER FACILITIES.

    Section 404 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(f)(1) The Postal Service, prior to making a determination as to 
the necessity for the closing or consolidation of any mail processing 
facility, shall provide adequate notice of its intention to close or 
consolidate such mail processing facility at least 60 days prior to the 
proposed date of such closing or consolidation to the employees at that 
facility and the community in which such facility is located to ensure 
that such persons will have an opportunity to present their views.
    ``(2) The Postal Service, in making a determination whether or not 
to close or consolidate a mail processing facility--
            ``(A) shall consider--
                    ``(i) the effect of such closing or consolidation 
                on the community in which such facility is located, 
                including any economic effects;
                    ``(ii) the effect of such closing or consolidation 
                on employees of the Postal Service employed at such 
                facility;
                    ``(iii) whether such closing or consolidation is 
                consistent with the policy of the Government, as stated 
                in section 101(b), that the Postal Service shall 
                provide a maximum degree of effective and regular 
                postal services to rural areas, communities, and small 
                towns where post offices are not self-sustaining;
                    ``(iv) the economic savings to the Postal Service 
                resulting from such closing or consolidation; and
                    ``(v) such other factors as the Postal Service 
                determines are necessary; and
            ``(B) may not consider compliance with any provision of the 
        Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 
        seq.).
    ``(3) Any determination of the Postal Service to close or 
consolidate a mail processing facility shall be in writing and shall 
include the findings of the Postal Service with respect to the 
considerations required to be made under paragraph (2). Such 
determination and findings shall be made available to employees at the 
facility and the community in which such facility is located.
    ``(4) The Postal Service shall take no action to close or 
consolidate a mail processing facility until 120 days after its written 
determination is made available to employees of that facility and the 
community in which such facility is located.
    ``(5) A determination of the Postal Service to close or consolidate 
any mail processing facility may be appealed to the Postal Regulatory 
Commission, by any employee at such facility or member of the community 
in which such facility is located, within 30 days after such 
determination is made available to such person under paragraph (3). The 
Commission shall review such determination on the basis of the record 
before the Postal Service in the making of such determination. The 
Commission shall make a determination based upon such review no later 
than 120 days after receiving any appeal under this paragraph. The 
Commission shall set aside any determination, findings, and conclusions 
found to be--
            ``(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or 
        otherwise not in accordance with the law;
            ``(B) without observance of procedure required by law; or
            ``(C) unsupported by substantial evidence on the record, 
        including any determination, finding, or conclusion of the 
        Postal Service with respect to clause (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) 
        of paragraph (2)(A) (each of which clauses the Postal Service 
        shall specifically address under paragraph (3) with respect to 
        the facility involved).
The Commission may affirm the determination of the Postal Service or 
order that the entire matter 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. The 
provisions of section 556, section 557, and chapter 7 of title 5 shall 
not apply to any review carried out by the Commission under this 
paragraph.
    ``(6) For purposes of paragraph (5), any appeal received by the 
Commission shall--
            ``(A) if sent to the Commission through the mails, be 
        considered to have been received on the date of the Postal 
        Service postmark on the envelope or other cover in which such 
        appeal is mailed; or
            ``(B) if otherwise lawfully delivered to the Commission, be 
        considered to have been received on the date determined based 
        on any appropriate documentation or other indicia (as 
        determined under regulations of the Commission).
    ``(7) If an appeal is filed under paragraph (5) with respect to the 
closure or consolidation of a mail processing facility, the Postal 
Service may not proceed with its determination to close or consolidate 
such facility without the written concurrence of at least 3 of the 
Commissioners.
    ``(8) Within 1 year after the date on which a mail processing 
facility is closed or consolidated, the Postal Service shall conduct a 
review and make public its findings and determinations in regard to--
            ``(A) the accuracy of the findings which the Postal Service 
        had made earlier, with respect to the considerations under 
        paragraph (2)(A), in connection with the proposed closing or 
        consolidation of such facility; and
            ``(B) what substitute services are being provided for those 
        previously provided by the facility that was closed or 
        consolidated, and whether those substitute services are meeting 
        community needs.
    ``(9) For purposes of this subsection, the term `mail processing 
facility' means a processing and distribution center, processing and 
distribution facility, network distribution center, or other facility 
which is operated by the Postal Service, and the primary function of 
which is to sort and process mail.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
closings and consolidations taking effect on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>