[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14826-14828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-7862]


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POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 111


Domestic Mail Manual: Availability and Publication

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule revises and updates references to 
organizational names of Postal Service administrative units in title 
39, Code of Federal Regulations, part 111, that relate to the Domestic 
Mail Manual. The Postal Service publishes its rules and procedures for 
domestic mail preparation, mail classification, postage rates and fees, 
and other mailing requirements in the Domestic Mail Manual, which is 
incorporated by reference in 39 CFR part 111.
    This rule also sets the publishing procedures for announcing all 
changes to the Domestic Mail Manual and identifies the two documents 
used to record those changes, both as interim and final regulations 
published in the Federal Register and as minor changes published in the 
Postal Bulletin outside the rulemaking process. In addition, references 
to subscription and frequency of issuance of the Domestic Mail Manual 
are revised.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 28, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neil Berger, (202) 268-2859.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To make the Domestic Mail Manual more 
accessible and more usable for postal customers, the Postal Service 
redesigned the layout and reorganized the content of the document after 
many months of consultation with postal customers and postal employees. 
The result of this work was Domestic Mail Manual Issue 46, released on 
July 1, 1993. Subsequent issues of the Domestic Mail Manual have 
continued the general design and editorial style of Issue 46, with 
further refinements such as a series of reference guides and a separate 
10-panel rate table identified as Notice 123, Ratefold.
    The current Domestic Mail Manual, now printed in a looseleaf format 
with tab dividers, evolved from a bound document printed and 
distributed quarterly in March, June, September, and December each 
year. Other than changes to postal rates and fees based on filings with 
the Postal Rate Commission, the implementation date for most changes to 
mailing standards was generally the issue date of the quarterly 
publication of that former style of the Domestic Mail Manual. Summaries 
of these changes were announced in the Postal Bulletin describing which 
standards were to be revised before the printing and distribution of 
the Domestic Mail Manual.
    Although this process appeared to give mailers and employees 
adequate time for preparation, training, and implementation of the 
changes, the publication of only summaries and not the complete 
implementing text was inadequate for mailers who used computerized 
methods to sort their mail. Those mailers, as well as software 
developers, needed to review and interpret the complete text and 
incorporate the changes into their software and mailing operations 
before the effective date of the next issue of the Domestic Mail 
Manual. As a consequence, the Postal Service in 1991 began publishing 
the full text to all Domestic Mail Manual changes.
    Many changes in mail preparation standards that began in the mid-
1980s, and have continued to the present time, came from the transition 
from manual and mechanized sorting methods to largely automated methods 
that relied on optical character recognition and other forms of 
computerized technology. As technology for mail processing improved, 
the rate of change to mail preparation standards and the expected 
consequences from those changes eroded the quarterly cycle of 
announcement followed by publication of the Domestic Mail Manual. For 
most mailers, the value and significance of changes for better service 
outweighed maintaining a schedule of changes tied to a rigid 
publication cycle.
    After the major shift to automation rates in 1991, the Postal 
Service began to implement changes at an even faster pace than 
envisioned in the 1980s. Some changes came about to upgrade operational 
networks and match

[[Page 14827]]

processes to machines that were installed. Other changes occurred to 
meet a wider range of mailer requirements for enhanced services and for 
new products.
    Now that mail preparation and mail processing have reached the 
point of near dependence on computer-controlled technology, the Postal 
Service recognizes the need to ensure proper, efficient, and widespread 
announcement of all significant changes to mail preparation standards. 
Part of this process is to establish a central place where all changes 
are published, codified, stored, and made available to the greatest 
number of mailers while allowing flexibility in implementation.
    The Federal Register, as appropriate, issued each workday by the 
Office of the Federal Register, and the Postal Bulletin, issued every 2 
weeks by the Postal Service, will serve as the two official places to 
announce changes to the Domestic Mail Manual.
    As the Postal Service amends or revises rules and procedures in the 
Domestic Mail Manual, it generally publishes notices in the Federal 
Register for public comment on proposed rules for changes to rates, 
classification, and certain significant mailing requirements. These 
proposed rules are then followed by notices of the final rules and 
responses to comments from the public. From time to time, the Postal 
Service publishes final rules in the Federal Register without initially 
soliciting public comment.
    Typographical corrections, nonsubstantive changes, and minor 
amendments to mail preparation standards are officially published and 
recorded in the Postal Bulletin, the biweekly document issued by the 
Postal Service to announce changes to policies and procedures in all 
six of its policy manuals: Administrative Support Manual, Domestic Mail 
Manual, Employee and Labor Relations Manual, Finance Management Manual, 
International Mail Manual, and Postal Operations Manual. As an 
immediate reference for readers and mailers who do not receive or 
subscribe to the Federal Register, the mail preparation standards 
contained in the final rules published in the Federal Register that 
amend the Domestic Mail Manual are also published in the Postal 
Bulletin.
    After an official announcement is published in the Federal Register 
or in the Postal Bulletin to amend or revise the Domestic Mail Manual, 
other printed and electronic means supported by the Postal Service may 
also be used to broadcast these changes and support customer 
requirements between issues of the Domestic Mail Manual. The following 
final rule revising title 39, Code of Federal Regulations, part 111, 
provides the basis for the Postal Service to administer that process.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 111

    Postal Service.

    In consideration of the foregoing, 39 CFR part 111 is amended as 
set forth below:

PART 111--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 111 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C 101, 401, 403, 404, 3001-
3011, 3201-3219, 3403-3406, 3621, 3626, 5001.

    2. Section 111.1 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 111.1  Domestic Mail Manual; incorporated by reference of 
regulations governing domestic mail services.

    Section 552(a) of title 5, U.S.C., relating to the public 
information requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, provides 
in pertinent part that ``* * * matter reasonably available to the class 
of persons affected thereby is deemed published in the Federal Register 
when incorporated by reference therein with the approval of the 
Director of the Federal Register.'' In conformity with that provision, 
and with 39 U.S.C. section 410(b)(1), and as provided in this part, the 
U.S. Postal Service hereby incorporates by reference in this part, the 
Domestic Mail Manual, a looseleaf document published twice each year in 
January and July, unless otherwise determined by the Postal Service.
    3. Section 111.2 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 111.2  Availability of the Domestic Mail Manual.

    (a) Copies of the Domestic Mail Manual, both current and previous 
issues, are available during regular business hours for reference and 
public inspection at the U.S. Postal Service Library, National 
Headquarters in Washington, DC. Copies of only the current issue are 
available during regular business hours for public inspection at area 
and district offices of the Postal Service and at all post offices, 
classified stations, and classified branches.
    (b) A copy of the current Domestic Mail Manual is on file with the 
Director, Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records 
Administration, 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, 
DC.
    (c) A 1-year subscription to the Domestic Mail Manual for two 
consecutive issues can be purchased by the public from the 
Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402-9375.
    4. Section 111.3 is amended by revising paragraphs (a) through (d), 
by redesignating paragraph (e) as paragraph (f) by revising the 
introductory text of newly redesignated paragraph (f) and entries 44 
through 51 in the table in the newly redesignated paragraph (f) and 
adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:


Sec. 111.3  Amendments to the Domestic Mail Manual.

    (a) Except for interim or final regulations published as provided 
in paragraph (b) of this section, only notices rather than complete 
text of changes made to the Domestic Mail Manual are published in the 
Federal Register. These notices are published in the form of one 
summary transmittal letter for each issue of the Domestic Mail Manual. 
A complete issue of the Domestic Mail Manual, including the text of all 
changes published to date, will be filed with the Director, Office of 
the Federal Register. Subscribers to the Domestic Mail Manual receive 
the latest issue of the Domestic Mail Manual from the Government 
Printing Office.
    (b) When the Postal Service invites comments from the public on a 
proposed change to the Domestic Mail Manual, the proposed change and, 
if adopted, the full text of the interim or the final regulation is 
published in the Federal Register.
    (c) The Postal Bulletin contains the full text of all interim and 
final regulations published as provided in paragraph (b) of this 
section, and the full text of all other changes to the Domestic Mail 
Manual that are summarized in the notices published under paragraph (a) 
of this section, except for nonsubstantive changes and corrections of 
typographical errors. The Postal Bulletin is a biweekly document issued 
by the Postal Service to amend and revise policies and procedures. A 1-
year subscription to the Postal Bulletin and certain back copies can be 
purchased by the public from the Superintendent of Documents, 
Washington, DC 20402-9371.
    (d) Interim regulations published in full text or referenced as 
provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, are published, as 
appropriate, in the Domestic Mail Manual in full text or referenced at 
the place where they would appear if they become final regulations.
    (e) Announcements of changes to the Domestic Mail Manual not 
published in the Federal Register as provided in

[[Page 14828]]

paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section and not published in the Postal 
Bulletin as provided in paragraph (c) are not deemed final under the 
provisions of this part 111.
    (f) For references to amendments to the Domestic Mail Manual 
adopted under paragraph (b) of this section after issuance of the most 
recent transmittal letter (termed Summary of Changes in the Domestic 
Mail Manual) listed below, see Sec. 111.3 in the List of CFR Sections 
affected at the end of this volume.
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 Transmittal letter for                              Federal Register   
         issue                    Dated                publication      
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                  *        *        *        *        *                 
44.....................  September 20, 1992....  61 FR 67218            
45.....................  December 20, 1992.....  61 FR 67218            
46.....................  July 1, 1993..........  61 FR 67218            
47.....................  April 10, 1994........  61 FR 67218            
48.....................  January 1, 1995.......  61 FR 67218            
49.....................  September 1, 1995.....  61 FR 67218            
50.....................  July 1, 1996..........  61 FR 60190            
51.....................  January 1, 1997.......  61 FR 64618            
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* * * * *
Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 97-7862 Filed 3-27-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P