[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 39200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16531]


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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION

39 CFR Part 3050

[Docket No. RM2010-10; Order No. 482]


Periodic Reporting

AGENCY:  Postal Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:  Notice of proposed rulemaking; availability of rulemaking 
petition.

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SUMMARY:  The Commission is establishing a docket to consider a 
proposed change in certain analytical methods used in periodic 
reporting. This action responds to a Postal Service rulemaking 
petition. The proposed change has two parts. One part would reduce the 
sample size of a major ongoing data collection effort. The other part 
would divert a designated percentage of sample tests to a special study 
using an alternative sample frame. Establishing this docket will allow 
the Commission to consider the Postal Service's proposal and comments 
from the public.

DATES:  Comments are due: August 16, 2010.

ADDRESSES:  Submit comments electronically via the Commission's Filing 
Online system at http://www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot submit their 
views electronically should contact the person identified in the For 
Further Information Contact section of this document for advice on 
alternatives to electronic filing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 
at [email protected] or 202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulatory History, 75 FR 7426 (Feb. 19, 
2010).
    On June 25, 2010, the Postal Service filed a petition to initiate 
an informal rulemaking proceeding to consider a change in the 
analytical methods approved for use in periodic reporting.\1\ The 
Postal Service's proposal is in two parts. Proposal Two-A proposes to 
reduce the size of the sample that it uses to collect Origin-
Destination Information System/Revenue Pieces and Weight (ODIS/RPW) 
data by 20 percent. Id. at 3. In effect, Proposal Two-A asks that the 
Commission's decision in Order No. 396\2\ not to approve an identical 
proposal submitted by the Postal Service in June of 2009 be 
reconsidered.
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    \1\ Petition of the United States Postal Service Requesting 
Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider Proposed Changes in Analytic 
Principles (Proposal Two), June 25, 2010 (Petition).
    \2\ Docket No. RM2009-5, Order Concerning Principles for 
Periodic Reporting (Proposal One), January 21, 2010 (Order No. 396).
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    The second part of Proposal Two is presented as Proposal Two-B. It 
proposes to divert 10 percent of the sample tests conducted under the 
current ODIS-RPW sample size to a special study utilizing an 
alternative sample frame. The alternative sample frame that the Postal 
Service proposes to test in Proposal Two-B would define a sample frame 
unit as a ``delivery unit.'' According to the Postal Service, delivery 
units would include ``city and rural carriers, box sections, and 
firms.'' Petition, Attachment Proposal Two-B, at 1.
    Currently, ODIS-RPW sample frame units are Mail Exit Points (MEPs), 
which the Postal Service defines as a letter, flat, or parcel mail 
stream in a post office, station, branch or associate office. When 
sampling MEPs, the data collector samples Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) 
sorted letter trays after they arrive at the delivery unit from the 
processing plant and before they are dispatched to carriers. The Postal 
Service asserts that this interval is becoming too short to provide an 
adequate opportunity for the data collector to take a probabilistic 
sample of trays and record their contents. Another drawback of using 
MEPs as the sample frame unit, according to the Postal Service, is that 
the data collector cannot determine whether a tray is destined for a 
carrier, a firm hold-out, or the box unit. Since its 5-day delivery 
proposal does not envision delivering carrier mail on Saturday, a data 
collector working on Saturdays would need to be able to distinguish 
between trays destined for carriers from those destined for firm hold-
outs and box sections. The Postal Service asserts that defining the 
``delivery unit as the ODIS-RPW frame and sample unit'' would 
ameliorate both problems. Id.
    The Postal Service explains that if the Commission were to approve 
Proposals Two-A and Two-B as a package, current total ODIS-RPW tests 
would be reduced by 10 percent and another 10 percent would be 
reallocated to study the alternative. If the Commission were to approve 
only Proposal Two-B, total tests would not be reduced, but 10 percent 
would be reallocated to studying the alternative. Petition at 1-4. If 
the Commission were to decline to approve either, ODIS-RPW data would 
continue to be collected at the current sample size.
    The attachments to the Postal Service's petition explain its 
proposals in more detail, including their backgrounds, objectives, and 
rationale.
    It is ordered:
    1. The Petition of the United States Postal Service Requesting 
Initiation of a Proceeding to Consider Proposed Changes in Analytic 
Principles (Proposal Two), filed June 25, 2010, is granted.
    2. The Commission establishes Docket No. RM2010-10 to consider the 
matters raised by the Postal Service's Petition.
    3. Interested persons may submit comments on or before August 16, 
2010.
    4. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Diane Monaco is designated to serve 
as the Public Representative to represent the interests of the general 
public in this proceeding.
    5. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.

    By the Commission.
Shoshana M. Grove,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-16531 Filed 7-7-10; 8:45 am]
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