[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 184 (Monday, September 27, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53220-53221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20425]


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POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Parts 111, 113 and 211


Treatment of Regulations on Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable 
Mail

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Postal Service amends certain regulations to clarify the 
regulatory treatment of Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and 
Perishable Mail.

DATES: This rule is effective September 27, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale E. Kennedy, Director, Product 
Classification, at 202-268-6592.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Postal Service has long maintained 
regulations on hazardous, restricted, and perishable mail. For many 
years, those regulations were located in Mailing Standards of the 
United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (``DMM''). The DMM 
is a regulation of the Postal Service. 39 CFR 211.2(a)(2). Annual 
editions of the DMM are incorporated by reference into 39 CFR 111.1. As 
explained in Postal Service regulations, interim regulations are 
published in the DMM pending the next volume's incorporation into the 
Code of Federal Regulations, and changes to the DMM are announced in

[[Page 53221]]

the Federal Register. 39 CFR 111.3. As an additional reference, the 
Postal Service developed Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and 
Perishable Mail.
    On July 28, 2014, as part of a continuing initiative to reduce the 
size of the DMM, the Postal Service removed from that publication the 
detailed mailing standards relating to hazardous, restricted, and 
perishable materials. In place of these detailed provisions, revised 
DMM 601.8.0 advised that mailing standards specific to hazardous, 
restricted, and perishable mail would be incorporated into Publication 
52, and could be found on the Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com. 
The Postal Service subsequently promulgated new regulations 
incorporating an edition of Publication 52 by reference into 39 CFR 
113.2. See 83 FR 1189 (2018).
    The Postal Service, in consultation with the Office of the Federal 
Register, has determined that clarification of the status of 
Publication 52 would be helpful, particularly in order to ensure that 
changes to Publication 52 are comprehensively noticed in the Federal 
Register. To that end, the Postal Service hereby makes certain changes 
to its rules.
    First, DMM section 601.8.1 is amended to clarify that the 
substantive mailability rules in Publication 52, as in effect and 
available on the Postal Service's website at any given time, are 
incorporated by reference into that DMM section.
    Second, 39 CFR 211.2(a) will be amended to clarify that Publication 
52 contains regulations of the Postal Service. In connection with this 
change, language in 39 CFR 211.2(a) regarding publication in the 
Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations will be moved to more 
clearly express the intent that any regulations of the Postal Service 
may, where appropriate, be published in those outlets. Moreover, 39 CFR 
211.2(a)(3) is expanded somewhat to clarify that Publications and 
Memoranda of Policy may also qualify as regulations, and that status as 
regulations depends not on the formal designation of a document, but on 
its statement of binding rules of future effect beyond those stated 
elsewhere in Postal Service regulations.
    Third, 39 CFR part 113, which includes the incorporation by 
reference of Publication 52 (39 CFR 113.2), is removed. The temporary 
rules in 39 CFR 113.3 regarding COVID-19 related Category B infectious 
substances are duplicative of rules in Publication 52, and so it is 
unnecessary to maintain such rules in the Code of Federal Regulations. 
Compare 85 FR 23745 with Postal Bulletin 22544 (Apr. 23, 2020), at 6-7 
(amending Publication 52 appendix C, USPS Packaging Instruction 6C).

List of Subjects

39 CFR Part 111

    Administrative practice and procedure, Postal Service.

39 CFR Part 113

    Administrative practice and procedure, Hazardous substances, Postal 
service.

39 CFR Part 211

    Administrative practice and procedure, Postal Service.

    Accordingly, for the reasons stated, the Postal Service amends 39 
CFR parts 111, 113, and 211 as follows:

PART 111--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 111 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 13 U.S.C. 301-307; 18 U.S.C. 1692-
1737; 39 U.S.C. 101, 401-404, 414, 416, 3001-3018, 3201-3220, 3401-
3406, 3621, 3622, 3626, 3629, 3631-3633, 3641, 3681-3685, and 5001.


0
2. Revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, 
Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) as follows:

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail 
Manual (DMM)

* * * * *

600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services

601 Mailability

* * * * *

8.0 Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail

8.1 General

    Effective July 7, 2014, all content applicable to hazardous, 
restricted, or perishable mail was removed and incorporated into 
Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail. The 
contents of Publication 52, as in effect and available on the Postal 
Service website at the relevant time, are incorporated by reference 
into this section.
* * * * *

PART 113--[REMOVED]

0
3. Under the authority of 39 U.S.C. 401(2), remove part 113.

PART 211--APPLICATION OF REGULATIONS

0
4. The authority citation for part 211 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: 39 U.S.C. 201, 202, 205, 401-404, 406, 407, 410, 411, 
413, 414, 416, 1001-1011, 1201-1209, 2008-2010, 2201, 2601-2605, 
2901-2902, 3001-3018, 3201-3220, 3401-3406, 3621-3629, 3631-3633, 
3641, 3654, 3681-3685, 3691, 5001-5007, 5401-5403, 5601-5605; 39 
U.S.C. note.


0
5. Amend Sec.  211.2 by revising the introductory text to paragraph (a) 
and paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) to read as follows:


Sec.  211.2  Regulations of the Postal Service.

    (a) The regulations of the Postal Service consist of the following, 
any of which may, but are not required to, be published in the Federal 
Register and the Code of Federal Regulations:
* * * * *
    (2) The Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, 
Domestic Mail Manual; the Postal Operations Manual; the Administrative 
Support Manual; the Employee and Labor Relations Manual; the Financial 
Management Manual; the International Mail Manual; those portions of 
Chapter 2 of the former Postal Service Manual and chapter 7 of the 
former Postal Manual retained in force; and Publication 52, Hazardous, 
Restricted, and Perishable Mail; and
    (3) Headquarters Circulars, Management Instructions, Regional 
Instructions, Handbooks, Memoranda of Policy, Publications, delegations 
of authority, and other regulatory issuances and directives of the 
Postal Service or the former Post Office Department, to the extent that 
such documents state binding rules of future effect beyond those stated 
in other regulations of the Postal Service then in effect.
* * * * *

Joshua J. Hofer,
Attorney, Ethics & Legal Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2021-20425 Filed 9-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P