[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1854 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1854

  To amend title 39, United States Code, to improve the United States 
                Postal Service, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2015

  Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 39, United States Code, to improve the United States 
                Postal Service, 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 Innovation Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``Postal Service'' means the United States 
Postal Service.

SEC. 3. EXPANDED SERVICES.

    (a) Authorization of New Nonpostal Services.--Section 404(a) of 
title 39, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (8) as 
        paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) on and after the date of enactment of the Postal 
        Innovation Act, to provide other services that are not postal 
        services, including financial services, warehousing, public 
        Internet access, experimental postal products market testing, 
        shipment of beer, wine and spirits, and community support 
        services such as accepting passports through partnerships with 
        State and local governments, if the provision of such 
        services--
                    ``(A) uses the processing, transportation, 
                delivery, retail network, or technology of the Postal 
                Service;
                    ``(B) is consistent with the public interest; and
                    ``(C) has the potential to improve the net 
                financial position of the Postal Service;''.
    (b) Governmental Services.--Section 411 of title 39, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence, by striking ``this section'' 
        and inserting ``this subsection'';
            (2) by striking ``Executive agencies'' and inserting ``(a) 
        Federal Government.--Executive agencies''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) State, Local, and Tribal Governments.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `local government' means--
                            ``(i) a county, municipality, city, town, 
                        township, local public authority, school 
                        district, special district, intrastate 
                        district, council of governments, or regional 
                        or interstate government entity;
                            ``(ii) an agency or instrumentality of an 
                        entity described in clause (i); or
                            ``(iii) a rural community, an 
                        unincorporated town or village, or an 
                        instrumentality of a rural community or an 
                        unincorporated town or village;
                    ``(B) the term `State' includes the District of 
                Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 
                States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
                Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 
                other territory or possession of the United States; and
                    ``(C) the term `tribal government' means the 
                government of an Indian tribe (as defined in section 
                4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 
                450b(e))).
            ``(2) Authority of postal service.--The Postal Service is 
        authorized to furnish property and services to States, local 
        governments, and tribal governments, under such terms and 
        conditions, including the possibility for reimbursement, as the 
        Postal Service and the applicable State, local government, or 
        tribal government shall determine appropriate.''.
    (c) Pilot Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Postal Service may conduct a pilot 
        program to assess the most cost-effective implementation of 
        providing nonpostal services to communities through public-
        private partnerships at post offices in 5 cities, of which--
                    (A) not fewer than 1 post office shall be located 
                in a rural area; and
                    (B) not fewer than 1 post office shall be located 
                in an urban area.
            (2) Services.--The nonpostal services described in 
        paragraph (1)--
                    (A) shall include--
                            (i) municipal broadband Internet service;
                            (ii) public wireless broadband Internet 
                        service; and
                            (iii) Internet voting; and
                    (B) may include--
                            (i) emergency broadband Internet service;
                            (ii) financial services;
                            (iii) passport services; and
                            (iv) shipment of beer, wine, and spirits.

SEC. 4. UPGRADING THE FLEET OF THE POSTAL SERVICE.

    (a) Contracting.--
            (1) In general.--The Postal Service may enter into 
        contracts to upgrade the postal fleet to increase long-term 
        savings by reducing collision, maintenance, fuel, or other 
        costs.
            (2) Review.--In determining whether to enter into contracts 
        under paragraph (1), the Postal Service shall review and 
        identify routes for which the Postal Service provides delivery 
        to determine if motor vehicles used on such routes can be 
        replaced or retrofitted with commercially available 
        technologies that--
                    (A) increase average fuel economy;
                    (B) reduce collisions with other vehicles, 
                pedestrians, bicycle riders, and joggers; or
                    (C) reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
    (b) Guidelines.--
            (1) In general.--The Postal Service shall develop 
        guidelines for contracted vehicles and vehicles purchased or 
        leased for use by the Postal Service, that, at a minimum, 
        require that--
                    (A) light-duty vehicles--
                            (i) with respect to emissions of carbon 
                        dioxide--
                                    (I) comply with applicable 
                                standards developed by the 
                                Administrator of the Environmental 
                                Protection Agency under title II of the 
                                Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.); 
                                and
                                    (II) are not more than, on average, 
                                250 grams per vehicle mile;
                            (ii) are equipped with commercially 
                        available crash avoidance technologies; and
                            (iii) meet applicable average fuel economy 
                        standards of 34.1 miles per gallon; and
                    (B) medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles comply with 
                applicable standards--
                            (i) for emissions of carbon dioxide 
                        developed by the Administrator of the 
                        Environmental Protection Agency under title II 
                        of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.);
                            (ii) for average fuel economy developed by 
                        the Secretary of Transportation under chapter 
                        329 of title 49, United States Code; and
                            (iii) for safety such that the vehicles are 
                        equipped with commercially available crash 
                        avoidance technologies.
            (2) Applicability.--The standards described in paragraph 
        (1) shall apply to contracted vehicles and vehicles purchased 
        or leased for use by the Postal Service after 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Reduction of Consumption of Petroleum Products.--The Postal 
Service shall reduce the total consumption of petroleum products by 
vehicles in the postal fleet by not less than 2 percent annually 
through the end of fiscal year 2025, relative to the baseline 
established for fiscal year 2005.

SEC. 5. INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF THE POSTAL SERVICE.

    (a) Innovation.--The Postal Service may use cost savings from 
section 3 to reinvest in innovation, research and development, and 
operations of the Postal Service.
    (b) Safety.--The Postal Service shall use commercially available 
crash avoidance technologies to improve safety across the postal fleet.

SEC. 6. GAO STUDY.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall conduct a study on the opportunities and 
challenges related to the Postal Service providing access to public 
broadband Internet service and Internet voting that would--
            (1) be based on cost-effective strategies for utilizing the 
        infrastructure, technology, or processing, transportation, 
        delivery, and retail networks of the Postal Service;
            (2) be consistent with the public interest; and
            (3) have the potential to improve the financial position of 
        the Postal Service.
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