[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 243 (Monday, December 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79140-79141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32099]


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POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

[Docket No. R2000-1; Order No. 1301]


Notice and Order of Request for Reconsideration of Commissions 
Docket No. R2000-1 Opinion and Recommendation Decision

AGENCY: Postal Rate Commission.

ACTION: Notice and order on request for reconsideration of Commission's 
docket no. R2000-1 opinion and recommendation decision.

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SUMMARY: This document informs the public that the Governors of the 
Postal Service have requested reconsideration of the Commission's 
opinion and recommended decision in docket no. R2000-1. It also 
establishes deadlines for comments from the Postal Service and other 
rate case participants on stated issues.

[[Page 79141]]


DATES: Initial Postal Service comments are due January 3, 2001; 
participants' comments are due January 24, 2001; and Postal Service 
reply comments are due January 31, 2000. Alternative deadlines are 
identified in the Supplementary Information section.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the attention of Margaret P. Crenshaw, 
Secretary, 1333 H Street NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20268-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 
at 202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Authority to Reconsider the Decision

    39 U.S.C. 3625(d).

B. Background

    On December 5, 2000 the Governors of the United States Postal 
Service issued two decisions on the Commission's November 13, 2000 
opinion and recommended decision in docket no. R2000-1. The Postal 
Service provided separate notices with these two decisions indicating 
that they had been mailed to the service list in docket no. R2000-1.
    The decision of the Governors of the United States Postal Service 
on the recommended decision of the Postal Rate Commission on postal 
rate and fee changes, docket no. R2000-1 (decision of the Governors), 
states at 1, ``we allow the recommended decision to take effect, under 
protest, and return it to the Commission for reconsideration and a 
further recommended decision as expeditiously as possible.'' By this 
order, the Commission initiates action to reconsider the Postal Service 
request in this docket, consistent with 39 U.S.C. 3624.\1\
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    \1\ A separate decision of the Governors of the United States 
Postal Service on the recommended decisions of the Postal Rate 
Commission on select mail classification matters, docket no. R2000-1 
did not request reconsideration of any issue, and thus is not before 
the Commission except as it impacts on test year after rates 
revenues.
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    Participants in docket no. R2000-1 will be accorded a reasonable 
opportunity to provide their views on each of the issues on which 
reconsideration is sought. These issues include the rates that would be 
recommended should the Commission, on reconsideration, determine that 
it should adjust its findings on the issues identified by the 
Governors.
    The decision of the Governors notes at 2, that the Commission 
directed the Postal Service to provide updated cost information during 
the course of the hearings in this proceeding, and that the information 
provided by the Service ``suggested that the projected test year 
revenue requirement had increased to over $69.8 billion.'' The 
Governors' subsequent finding ``that the revenue requirement is $69.832 
billion[,]'' id. at 12, evidently relies on the updated costs used in 
the Commission's recommended decision of November 13, as does their 
determination of a $1.695 billion contingency amount, versus the $1.680 
billion originally requested. The rates recommended by the Commission 
produce $68.819 billion, a difference of more than one billion dollars.
    The Governors have advised that the test year revenue requirement 
for the Postal Service should be increased by including the $200 
million field reserve, adding $97 million in supervisor costs, and 
increasing the provision for contingencies by $687 million.\2\ The 
Governors also protest that rates should be increased to recover the 
purported cost consequences of increased volumes of heavier First-Class 
Mail, to correct a perceived error in the computation of bound printed 
matter rates, to offset revenues lost if nonprofit standard mail rates 
are reduced to conform better with amended 39 U.S.C. 2626 and, 
possibly, to allow for a reduction in certain parcel post surcharges.
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    \2\ The $687 million is derived by subtracting the $1.012 
[billion] figure allowed in the Commission opinion and recommended 
decision from the $1.695 [billion] figure shown in the decision of 
the Governors at 12.
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    The Commission will review the evidentiary record and the 
applicable legal standards applicable to each of these seven issues. 
The first step in this process will be to call upon the Postal Service 
to provide detailed statements on each of these issues, setting out 
evidentiary and legal support for the outcomes deemed proper by the 
Governors. Other participants, having been fully informed of the 
rationales underlying the decision of the governors, will then have an 
opportunity to provide their views. Finally, the Postal Service will be 
given a last opportunity to respond to arguments presented by other 
participants.
    Throughout the proceeding to this point the Postal Service has 
indicated that it sought ``only the revenue goals embodied in its 
Request.'' Postal Service Brief at 1-13. Consistent with this position, 
it urged the Commission to recommend the rate and fee proposals 
embodied in the Postal Service request of January 12, 2000.\3\ Id. at 
1-14. In its initial submission in response to this order, the Postal 
Service is to present its views on the appropriate portions of total 
revenues that each subclass and service should contribute toward 
collecting sufficient test year revenues in light of the Governors' 
revenue requirement finding. The Service may also suggest specific 
rates that would achieve these subclass and service specific revenue 
goals.
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    \3\ The Postal Service did not support lower rates for 
Periodicals and rates for preferred mail that conform with 39 U.S.C. 
3626.
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    Participants may also comment on how to recognize other matters 
referred to in the decision of the Governors. For example, the 
Governors apparently view their rejection of the proposed Priority Mail 
flat rate envelop classification change and the final FY 2000 deficit 
as altering the perceived test year revenue deficiency.
    The Governors have requested that the reconsideration process be 
conducted as expeditiously as possible. Nonetheless, this process will 
be most effective if all participants have adequate time to prepare 
throughful, carefully reasoned presentations. Therefore, the Commission 
will allow at least three weeks for the submission of views from each 
participant. Recognizing that the year-end holiday season is rapidly 
approaching, the deadline for the submission of initial Postal Service 
comments will be extended further, until January 3, 2001. Other 
participants' comments are to be submitted by January 24, 2001, and the 
final Postal Service response will be due on January 31, 2001.
    It is of course quite possible that the Postal Service already 
prepared much of the analysis needed for the initial Postal Service 
comments during the process of assisting the Governors. If the Postal 
Service provides its initial comments on or before December 20, 2000, 
then the date for participant comments shall be January 12, 2001, and 
the date for the final Postal Service response will be January 19, 
2001.
    It is ordered:
    The Postal Service and other participants shall provide their views 
on the Decision of the Governors requesting reconsideration in 
accordance with the schedule set out in the body of this order.

    Dated: December 12, 2000.
Margaret P. Chenshaw,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-32099 Filed 12-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-M