[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 130 (Friday, July 7, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38537-38538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10606]


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POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 111


Temporary Mail Forwarding Policy

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Interim rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the standards in the Domestic Mail Manual 
concerning the duration and submission of temporary change-of-address 
orders.

DATES: Effective August 3, 2006. Comments must be received by August 7, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or delivered to the Office 
of Product Management--Addressing, National Customer Support Center, 
United States Postal Service, 6060 Primacy Pkwy, Ste. 201, Memphis, TN 
38188-0001. Comments may be transmitted via facsimile to 901-821-6206 
or via e-mail to [email protected]. Copies of all written comments 
will be available for inspection and photocopying at USPS Headquarters 
Library, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., 11th Floor N, Washington, DC 20260-
1450 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles B. Hunt, Product Management, 
(901) 681-4651, James Wilson, Address Management, (901) 681-4676.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Postal Service offers temporary and 
permanent change of address services to its customers, and forwards 
mail for generous time periods free of charge, in order to deliver mail 
accurately and efficiently to its intended recipient. A temporary 
change-of-address indicates the customer's intention to return to the 
original address and resume the receipt of mail at that location. 
Temporary mail forwarding may not exceed twelve months duration.
    To better serve its customers, the Postal Service is implementing 
new procedures in the provision of temporary forwarding of mail. These 
new procedures are intended to improve mail deliverability to our 
customers, ensure that mail is delivered to the addressee as quickly as 
possible, and reduce the volume of mail forwarded unnecessarily.
    As background, temporary change-of-address filings typically 
comprise 7-8 percent of the approximate 46 million change-of-address 
orders received by the Postal Service each year. Forwarding of mail 
based on temporary change of address orders is estimated to account for 
11 percent of all forwarded mail volume. Approximately 62 percent of 
all temporary filings have a length of six months or less. The Postal 
Service received more than 509,000 temporary change-of-address orders 
in 2005 that did not specify when the forwarding period should end; 
under current policy, the Postal Service treats these as orders to 
forward mail for a twelve month period after the start date. The Postal 
Service also received more than 90,000 temporary changes of address 
orders where the duration was for a period of 14 days or less. This 
includes more than 14,000 that had a total duration to forward mail of 
only 1 day.
    The Postal Service is adopting two changes to the Domestic Mail 
Manual concerning temporary mail forwarding policies. The changes, and 
the reasons underlying each, are explained below. The changes will be 
effective August 3, 2006.
    Minimum duration will change from one day to two weeks.
    Currently, the Postal Service has no minimum timeframe for 
providing temporary forwarding services. However, the time needed to 
process temporary change of address orders and begin delivery of 
forwarded pieces to a temporary address may approach 14 days. 
Accordingly, short-term forwarding orders may result in mail that is en 
route to the customer's temporary new address not arriving prior to the 
customer's departure from that temporary address. This requires the 
Postal Service to return the mail to the customer's permanent address 
and delays the time the customer receives the mail. Therefore, the 
Postal Service will institute a new minimum duration for temporary 
filings of at least two weeks in length. This will help ensure the 
efficient forwarding of mail, allow customers to receive mail as 
quickly as possible, and reduce Postal Service costs. The Postal 
Service recommends that customers who will be temporarily away from 
their residences less than two weeks submit a request to hold their 
mail. Hold requests can be submitted in person or by mail to their post 
office, electronically through www.usps.com or by telephone through 1-
800-ASK-USPS. Customers can ask that held mail be delivered upon their 
return or request to pick up the mail at their post office.
    Maximum duration for an initial temporary order will change from 
twelve months to six months.
    The Postal Service seeks to avoid the unnecessary or improper 
forwarding of mail. As previously stated, the majority of temporary 
filings last no more than six months. Therefore, the current policy 
that assigns a 12 month duration on temporary change of address orders 
that do not reflect an end date probably overstates the term desired by 
many customers. This would result in the unnecessary forwarding of mail 
and delay the receipt of correspondence by those customers. 
Accordingly, the Postal Service is changing its standards to limit an 
initial temporary change of address order to a maximum of 6 months, or, 
if no time period is specified, will use 6 months as the end date. 
Customers who wish to have their mail forwarded for a longer period may 
submit an additional order to extend the forwarding period up to the 
maximum allowable twelve month period. Prior to the expiration of the 
first six month period, the Postal Service will advise customers that 
they may renew the temporary change-of-address for an additional time 
period up to the maximum temporary forwarding period of twelve months. 
To assist customers to request additional temporary forwarding service, 
the Postal Service will send a letter to the customers at their 
temporary new address to remind them of the expiration date. Where a 
customer has already received temporary forwarding service for a 
continuous twelve month period for any same old and new address 
combination, the Postal Service will not accept additional temporary 
change-of-address orders for that customer for those same old and new 
address combinations.
    By instituting these procedures, the Postal Service seeks to 
improve service and efficiency for its customers. As described above, 
the changes will immediately benefit customers by ensuring they receive 
mail in a timely manner; e.g. by reducing the amount of mail that may 
be delivered at a temporary address after the customer has returned to 
his or her permanent address. Accordingly, the Postal Service believes 
it is in the public interest to adopt this rule, without prior public 
comment, on August 3, 2006. Nevertheless, the Postal Service is 
inviting public comments on the rule. These comments should be 
submitted within 30 days from the date of this notice to the address 
set forth above. At the end of this period, the Postal Service will 
evaluate any comments it receives and consider whether the rule should 
be revised.

[[Page 38538]]

    Although exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b), (c)) regarding 
rulemaking by 39 U.S.C. 410(a), the Postal Service is seeking comments 
to this interim rule. The Postal Service is adopting the following 
interim revisions of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), incorporated by 
reference in the Code of Federal Regulations. See 39 CFR 111.1.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 111

    Administrative practice and procedure.

PART 111--[AMENDED]

0
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, 414, 
416, 3001-3011, 3201-3219, 3403-3406, 3621, 3626, 5001.

0
2. Revise the following section of the Domestic Mail Manual to read as 
set forth below:
* * * * *

507 Mailer Services

* * * * *
2.0 Forwarding
* * * * *
507.2.1.3 Temporary Forwarding
    A customer temporarily moving away may have mail forwarded for a 
specific time, not to exceed twelve months total duration. The Postal 
Service shall provide temporary forwarding services in periods from two 
weeks to six months in duration based upon customer request. Customers 
can request temporary forwarding in excess of six months up to a 
maximum of twelve months by submitting a second temporary change-of-
address order that will commence on the first day of the second six 
month period and expire on the desired date up to and including the 
last day of the second six month period. The customer must show 
beginning and ending dates in the change-of-address order.
* * * * *
    An appropriate amendment to 39 CFR 111.3 will be published to 
reflect these changes.

Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
 [FR Doc. E6-10606 Filed 7-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P