[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