[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20077-20078]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9921]


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POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 501


Authorization To Manufacture and Distribute Postage Meters

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule amends the regulations for postage meter 
inventory control and for the protection and control of internal and 
security components.

DATES: The Postal Service must receive your comments on or before May 
24, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written comments to the Manager, Postage 
Technology Management, 1735 N. Lynn Street, Room 5011, Arlington, VA 
22209-6050. You can view and copy all written comments at the same 
address between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Wilkerson by fax at 703-292-
4050.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Postal Service is seeking 
to improve the secure handling of postage meters and their security 
components by the approved postage meter manufacturers, and to extend 
the regulations to third-party agents and representatives of the 
manufacturers. We are proposing to amend the regulations to address 
these concerns and to align the regulations with changes to the 
Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) regarding postage meters published in the 
Federal Register (66 FR 56432-56447) on November 8, 2001. We will 
review any public comments and will issue a final rule amending these 
sections. We will amend the remaining sections of CFR part 501 in the 
near future so that they all reflect the changes in the postage meter 
population and the changes in the DMM.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501

    Administrative practice and procedure, Postal Service.

Notice and Comment

    Although exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b), (c)) regarding proposed 
rulemaking by 39 U.S.C. 410(a), the

[[Page 20078]]

Postal Service invites public comments on the following proposed 
amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations.
    For the reasons set out in this document, the Postal Service is 
proposing to amend 39 CFR part 501 as follows:

PART 501--AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE POSTAGE 
METERS

    1. The authority citation for part 501 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 401, 403, 404, 410, 
2601, 2605; Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (Public Law 
95-452, as amended), 5 U.S.C. App. 3.

    2. Sections 501.22 and 501.28 are revised to read as follows:


Sec. 501.22  Inventory control.

    (a) An authorized manufacturer must maintain sufficient facilities 
for and records of the distribution, control, storage, maintenance, 
repair, replacement, and destruction or disposal of all meters and 
their components to enable accurate accounting thereof throughout the 
entire life cycle of the meter.
    Recordkeeping is required for all meters including newly produced 
meters; active leased meters; inactive, unleased meters; and lost and 
stolen meters. All such facilities and records are subject to 
inspection by Postal Service representatives.
    (b) If the manufacturer uses a third party to control, distribute, 
maintain, replace, repair, or dispose of meters, the Manager of Postage 
Technology Management, USPS Headquarters, must specifically authorize 
in writing all aspects of the arrangement between the parties relating 
to the custody and control of postage meters.
    (1) The third-party relationship shall not compromise any security 
element of the meter. The functions of the third party with respect to 
meters are subject to the same scrutiny as the equivalent functions of 
the manufacturer.
    (2) Any authorized third party must keep adequate facilities for 
and records of meters and their components in accordance with (a). All 
such facilities and records are subject to inspection by Postal Service 
representatives, in so far as they are used to distribute, control, 
store, maintain, repair, replace, destroy, or dispose of meters.
    (3) The manufacturer must ensure that any party acting in its 
behalf in any of the functions described in subsection (a) maintains 
adequate facilities, records, and procedures for the security of the 
meters. The Postal Service can request termination of the third-party 
arrangement relating to the custody and control of postage meters if it 
finds deficiencies and the deficiencies are not corrected in a timely 
manner.
* * * * *


Sec. 501.28  Protection and control of internal and security 
components.

    Any physical or electronic access to the internal components of a 
meter, as well as any access to software or security parameters, must 
be conducted within an approved factory or meter repair facility under 
the manufacturer's direct control and active supervision. The Postal 
Service must check meters out of service before any component, 
software, or security parameter is accessed or modified in any way or 
internal repairs are undertaken. This does not apply to Postal Service-
approved user, field, or postal access to a specific internal component 
or software. To prevent unauthorized use, the manufacturer or any third 
party acting on its behalf must keep secure any equipment or other 
component that can be used to open or access the internal, electronic, 
or secure components of a meter.
* * * * *
    An appropriate amendment to 30 CFR part 501 to reflect these 
changes will be published if the proposal is adopted.

Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 02-9921 Filed 4-23-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P