[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 227 (Friday, November 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66514-66516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30766]


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POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

[Docket No. MC2000-2; Order No. 1272]


Mailing Online Experimental Classification Proceeding

AGENCY: Postal Rate Commission.

ACTION: Notice of new experimental filing.

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SUMMARY: This document establishes a docket to consider a proposed 
experimental classification and fee schedule for a new Mailing Online 
service. It also addresses related administrative matters, including 
dates for conferences and deadlines for certain filings. Publication of 
this document provides interested persons with information on important 
preliminary steps in the Commission's consideration of the case.

DATES: Key dates include:
    1.  December 2, 1999 (1:30 p.m): technical conference in PRC 
hearing room.
    2.  December 8, 1999 (2 p.m.): deadline for filing notices of 
intervention, statements opposing consideration of the request under 
experimental rules, and answers to Postal Service motion for expedition 
and waiver of certain provisions of rules 161 and 64(h).
    3.  December 13, 1999 (2 p.m.): prehearing conference in PRC 
hearing room.
    4.  December 16, 1999: deadline for filing issue statements and 
answers to Postal Service motion for designation of testimony and 
cross-examination from previous docket [No. MC98-1].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 
Postal Rate Commission, 1333 H Street NW., Washington, DC 20268-0001, 
202-789-6820.

ADDRESSES: Send correspondence regarding this docket to the attention 
of Margaret P. Crenshaw, Secretary, Postal Rate Commission, 1333 H 
Street NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20268-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

    The Commission provided notice of a predecessor case (Docket No. 
MC98-1) in Order No. 1216 (63 FR 39600, July 23, 1998). The preamble 
discusses that case and its subsequent withdrawal pursuant to action of 
the Postal Service's Governors.

Background

    Notice is hereby given that on November 16, 1999, the United States 
Postal Service (Postal Service or USPS) filed a request with the Postal 
Rate Commission (Commission or PRC) pursuant to section 3623 of the 
Postal Reorganization Act, 39 U.S.C. 101 et seq., for a recommended 
decision on adding a proposed Mailing Online service to the Domestic 
Mail Classification Schedule (DMCS) on an experimental basis. The 
request also incorporates a proposal for the establishment of 
associated new fees. The request includes attachments and is supported 
by the testimony of five witnesses. The Postal Service has separately 
filed two library references in support of this request. The request, 
attachments, and library references are on file in the Commission 
docket room and are available for inspection during the Commission's 
regular business hours. For interested persons who have access to the 
internet, the request and related documents are available on the 
Commission's home page at http://www.prc.gov.

Description of Request

    The proposed Mailing Online service would enable individuals and 
organizations with access to a personal computer and an internet 
connection to transmit documents created on their computers to the 
Postal Service in digital form for printing and entry as mail, paying 
online in a single transaction. Users would transmit digital document 
files generated in any of several selected word processing and desktop 
publishing applications, together with recipient information and other 
data, to a designated Postal Service site on the world wide web. The 
Postal Service would offer users a number of choices regarding printing 
and finishing specifications, customization of output by recipient 
variables in the user's database, and scheduling of a specific mailing 
date.
    Users of the proposed Mailing Online service would be charged 
existing postage rates for mailing, plus a fee for production and other 
pre-mailing services. Depending upon the character of the material 
being sent and the user's service preference, mail pieces

[[Page 66515]]

generated by the Mailing Online service would be charged postage at 
either: Express Mail next day service and second day service rates; 
First-Class Mail letters and sealed parcels automation letters basic 
rates; First-Class Mail letters and sealed parcels automation flats 
basic rates; First-Class Mail cards automation basic rates; First-Class 
Mail single-piece Priority mail rates; Standard mail regular automation 
basic letters rates; Standard mail regular automation basic flats 
rates; Standard mail nonprofit automation basic barcoded rates 
(starting on a date to be specified by the Postal Service); Standard 
mail nonprofit automation basic barcoded flats rates (starting on a 
date to be specified by the Postal Service); or single-piece rates for 
either First-Class Mail letters and sealed parcels or First-Class Mail 
cards for non-conforming addresses. Postal Service Request, Attachment 
A, at 4.

Fees

    In lieu of specific unit fees for the Mailing Online special 
service, the Postal Service proposes what might be described as a 
``cost plus'' approach to fee calculation. For the duration of the 
experiment, the Postal Service proposes that fees be 130 percent times 
what the Postal Service is charged by printers to prepare the mail 
piece, plus 0.1 cent per impression to recover other Postal Service 
costs. Postal Service Request, Attachment B.

Relationship to Mailing Online Service, PRC Docket No. MC98-1

    The requested Mailing Online Experiment is substantially similar to 
the Mailing Online Service presented in PRC Docket No. MC98-1 (63 FR 
39600, July 23, 1998). In MC98-1, the Commission recommended and the 
Postal Service implemented a market test of Mailing Online. The market 
test ran from October 30, 1998 through October 29, 1999. The Postal 
Service request for a market test included a request for a Mailing 
Online Service experiment. The Postal Service Board of Governors 
directed the withdrawal of the request for experiment on May 3, 1999, 
because of events that rendered inaccurate the cost foundation 
underlying the request for the initial Mailing Online Service 
experiment.

Differences Between the Two Cases

    The instant Mailing Online Experiment differs from its predecessor 
in duration, internet implementation, options offered, and cost 
structure. The following are highlights of the proposed differences. 
The duration of the experiment is for three years as opposed to the two 
years proposed in MC98-1. The service will be accessed through the 
USPS.com web site rather than through PostOffice Online. Many of the 
service options planned for implementation during the original 
experiment will now be offered at the outset of the Mailing Online 
experiment. The service may be used with more mail subclasses and rate 
categories. The proposed mark-up has increased from 125 percent to 130 
percent.

Expedited Consideration of the Request

    The Postal Service request invokes the operation of sections 67 
through 67d of the Commission's rules of practice and procedure which 
provide for expedited consideration of requests for new services or 
mail classification changes that are experimental in character. See 39 
CFR 67-67d. These rules provide for the adoption of streamlined 
procedures for considering such requests, and require participants to 
identify the genuine issues of material fact raised by the Postal 
Service proposal in order to limit formal hearings to those issues. 39 
CFR 3001.67a. They also provide for establishment of a procedural 
schedule that will allow issuance of a recommended decision within 150 
days from any favorable determination the Commission may make as to the 
propriety of treating the Postal Service proposal as experimental. 39 
CFR 3001.67d.
    The proposed service qualifies for consideration as an experiment, 
the Postal Service submits, in view of its novelty as an electronic 
means of presenting documents for entry into the mail; the modest 
anticipated magnitude of its impact upon postal costs and revenues, and 
the mailing costs and practices of mail users; and the need to gather 
information suitable for supporting a request for a permanent mail 
classification change. Postal Service Request at 4-5.

Motion for Expedition and Waiver of Certain Provisions

    The Postal Service request is accompanied by a pleading captioned 
``Motion of the United States Postal Service for Expedition and for 
Waiver of Certain Provisions of Rule 161 and Certain Provisions of Rule 
64(h).'' (Motion for Expedition.) In this pleading, the Service asks 
the Commission to expedite consideration of its request as provided for 
in the experimental service rules and to issue a decision that would 
allow the Postal Service's preferred objective of implementing the 
Mailing Online experiment as soon as mid-April 2000. Pursuant to rule 
64(h)(3), the Postal Service also asks to be relieved of the obligation 
to produce certain information regarding cost and revenue effects of 
its proposal, on the grounds that its proposal would not change any 
existing rates or fees, or produce a significant impact upon the cost-
revenue relationships of existing postal services. Motion for 
Expedition at 3-5. Specifically, the Service seeks waiver of rules 
54(b)(3) in part, 54(f)(2), 54(f)(3), 54(h), 54(j), and 54(l) in part. 
Motion for Expedition at 5-6.

Motion for Designation of Testimony and Cross-Examination From Previous 
Docket as Evidence

    The Postal Service request also is accompanied by a pleading 
captioned ``Motion for Designation of Testimony and Cross-Examination 
From Previous Docket as Evidence in Commission Docket No. MC2000-2.'' 
In this pleading the Service asks the Commission to admit as record 
evidence in this docket, the direct testimony and cross examination of 
witness Rothschild from PRC Docket No. MC98-1. The referenced direct 
testimony is the direct testimony of Beth B. Rothschild on behalf of 
United States Postal Service, PRC Docket No. MC98-1, USPS-T-4. The 
referenced cross-examination testimony is in the official transcript of 
proceeding, PRC Docket No. MC98-1, Vol. 2, at 428-79.

Notice of Technical Conference

    The Postal Service request is accompanied by a notice captioned 
``Notice of Technical Conference.'' In this notice, the Postal Service 
announces that a technical conference in this proceeding will be held 
on December 2, 1999 at 1:30 p.m. The conference will be held in the 
Postal Rate Commission hearing room located at 1333 H Street NW., Suite 
300, Washington, DC 20268-0001. The Postal Service plans to have all 
witnesses and their counsel present. Persons considering intervention 
are encouraged to attend the technical conference to determine if real 
issues of fact or policy exist.

Further Procedures; Filing Address

    Rules 20 and 20a provide that interested persons may intervene in 
proceedings to consider Postal Service requests by filing a notice of 
intervention no later than the date fixed for such filing in any notice 
or order with respect to the proceeding issued by the Commission or its 
Secretary. Accordingly, anyone wishing to be heard in this matter is 
directed to file a written notice of intervention with Margaret P. 
Crenshaw, Secretary of the

[[Page 66516]]

Commission, 1333 H Street NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20268-0001, on 
or before December 8, 1999. Intended participants should indicate 
whether they request formal intervention or limited participator 
status. See 39 CFR 3001.20 and 3001.20a.
    With regard to the Postal Service request to establish Mailing 
Online service as an experimental mail classification, rule 67(c) 
provides that the Commission will entertain representations by 
participants that the proposal should not be considered as an 
experiment, and should follow the normal mail classification change 
procedures. Any participant intending to make such a representation 
shall do so by pleading no later than December 8, 1999.
    In addition, rule 67a(b) requires parties to proceedings in which 
the Postal Service seeks a classification change it denominates as 
experimental in character to file statements of the issues they 
perceive in the case at the earliest possible time following the filing 
of the Postal Service request, or following a determination that the 
proposed change is experimental in character. In view of the Postal 
Service motion for expeditious consideration of its proposal, 
participants' statements of issues shall also be due no later than 
December 16, 1999.
    A prehearing conference will be held in this proceeding on Monday, 
December 13, 1999, at 2 p.m. in the Commission's hearing room. 
Participants should be prepared to discuss what formal procedures, 
including hearings, may be necessary and appropriate in this docket. In 
addressing the issue of appropriate procedures in this docket, 
participants should also be prepared to address the potentially 
different procedural requirements presented by the Postal Service's 
proposal and its request for establishment of Mailing Online as an 
experimental service. If the Commission determines that formal hearings 
to resolve genuine issues of material fact are required, the presiding 
officer will establish subsequent procedural dates.

Representation of the General Public

    In conformance with 39 U.S.C. 3624(a), the Commission designates 
Ted P. Gerarden, director of the Commission's Office of the Consumer 
Advocate (OCA), to represent the interests of the general public in 
this proceeding. Pursuant to this designation, Mr. Gerarden will direct 
the activities of Commission personnel assigned to assist him and, when 
requested, will supply their names for the record. Neither Mr. Gerarden 
nor any of the assigned personnel will participate in or provide advice 
on any Commission decision in this proceeding. The OCA shall be 
separately served with three copies of all filings, in addition to and 
contemporaneous with, service on the Commission of the 24 copies 
required by rule 10(c). 39 CFR 3001.10(c).

Ordering Paragraphs

    Paragraph no. 1 states that the Commission will sit en banc in this 
proceeding. Paragraph no. 2 directs that notices of intervention shall 
be filed no later than December 8, 1999. Paragraph no. 3 directs that 
statements of issues presented by the Postal Service's request in this 
docket to establish a Mailing Online experimental mail classification 
in conformance with 39 CFR 3001.67a(b) shall be filed no later than 
December 16, 1999. Paragraph no. 4 directs that statements by parties 
asserting that the proposal should not be considered as an experiment 
and should follow the normal mail classification change procedures in 
conformance with 39 CFR 3001.67(c) shall be filed no later than 
December 8, 1999. Paragraph no. 5 directs that answers to the Postal 
Service's motion for expedition and for waiver of certain provisions of 
rule 161 and certain provisions of rule 64(h) are to be submitted no 
later than December 8, 1999. Paragraph no. 6 directs that answers to 
the Postal Service's motion for designation of testimony and cross-
examination from a previous docket (MC98-1) as evidence in Commission 
docket no. MC2000-2 are to be submitted no later than December 16, 
1999. Paragraph no. 7 directs the Postal Service shall provide, within 
10 days, responses to any written discovery requests submitted to it 
before December 13, 1999. Paragraph no. 8 designates Ted P. Gerarden, 
director of the Commission's OCA, to represent the general public. 
Paragraph no. 9 schedules a prehearing conference in this docket on 
December 13, 1999, at 2:00 p.m. in the Commission's hearing room. 
Paragraph no. 10 directs the Secretary to cause this notice and order 
to be published in the Federal Register.

    Authority: 39 U.S.C. 3623.

    Dated: November 19, 1999.
Margaret P. Crenshaw,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-30766 Filed 11-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7715-01-P