Notice2022-22890
Market Dominant Product List
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 20, 2022
Issuing agencies
Postal Regulatory Commission
Abstract
The Commission is recognizing a recent Postal Service filing requesting to add USPS Connect Local Mail as a new, permanent product to the Mail Classification Schedule and the request's dismissal.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 202 (Thursday, October 20, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 202 (Thursday, October 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63827-63828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22890]
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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. MC2023-12; Order No. 6301]
Market Dominant Product List
AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Commission is recognizing a recent Postal Service filing
requesting to add USPS Connect Local Mail as a new, permanent product
to the Mail Classification Schedule and the request's dismissal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at
202-789-6820.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction and Overview
II. Commission Analysis
III. Ordering Paragraphs
I. Introduction and Overview
On October 11, 2022, the Postal Service filed a request with the
Commission pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 39 CFR 3045.18 to add USPS
Connect Local Mail, currently an experimental product, as a new,
permanent product offering under the Mail Classification Schedule (MCS)
section 1115 (Market Dominant Products: First-Class Mail: First-Class
Mail Flats).\1\ The USPS Connect Local Mail market test was initially
authorized by the Commission on January 4, 2022.\2\ It is currently set
to expire on January 8, 2024. Order No. 6080 at 20. USPS Connect Local
Mail is a derivative of First-Class Mail that functions as an
alternative to long-distance, end-to-end mailing for use by business
mailers who wish to send mail locally with regular frequency. Order No.
6080 at 2.
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\1\ United States Postal Service Request to Convert USPS Connect
Local Mail to a Permanent Offering, October 11, 2022, at 1-2
(Request).
\2\ Docket No. MT2022-1, Order Authorizing Market Test of
Experimental Product--USPS Connect Local Mail, January 4, 2022
(Order No. 6080).
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In order for the Commission to convert an experimental product
offering into a permanent product offering, the Postal Service must
first file a request that complies with, among other rules, 39 U.S.C.
3642, 39 CFR 3040.131, 39 CFR 3040.132, and 39 CFR 3045.18. Because the
Request does not contain the information required by these statutes and
regulations, the Commission dismisses the Request. This dismissal is
without prejudice to allow the Postal Service to refile a compliant
request to convert USPS Connect Local Mail into a permanent product
offering, should it see fit.
II. Commission Analysis
As the Postal Service correctly identifies, a request to add a non-
experimental product to the Market Dominant product list based on an
experimental product is governed by 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 39 CFR 3045.18.
Request at 1. The regulation sets out numerous requirements, including
that the request be filed ``pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and part 3040,
subpart B of this chapter.'' 39 CFR 3045.18(a). Part 3040, subpart B,
in turn, contains the requirements that the Postal Service must follow
to modify the product lists generally. Among these requirements is the
mandate that the Postal Service ``[p]rovide all supporting
justification'' upon which it proposes to rely on making the request.
39 CFR 3040.131(e).
The supporting justification is the crux of the request to modify
the product list. Section 3040.132 sets out in detail the contents of
the supporting justification. See 39 CFR 3040.132.
Such information is not only required by law but necessary in
practice. As the Commission has previously explained in the analogous
context of changes to the MCS, a full and complete request is important
to ensure that the Commission has ``sufficient information to make the
necessary determination as to whether a[ ] MCS change is appropriate''
and to avoiding the issuance of large numbers of Chairman's Information
Requests during proceedings, which leads ``to the expenditure of
additional resources by the Commission, the Postal Service, and other
interested persons'' and ``complicate[s] the Commission's review.'' \3\
An insufficient initial ``explanation of and justification for proposed
classification changes also undermines the Commission's objective that
changes [ ] are made in an accurate and transparent manner, such that
it is clear to participants in Commission proceedings, users of the
mail, and the Commission the precise changes the Postal Service is
proposing, the likely effects, and the Postal Service's rationale for
proposing such changes.'' \4\
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\3\ Docket No. RM2015-6, notice of proposed rulemaking, Changes
and Corrections to the Mail Classification Schedule, November 14,
2014, at 2 (79 FR 69781 (November 24, 2014)) (Order No. 2250).
\4\ Docket Nos. CP2022-22 and CP2022-62, Order Granting in Part
the United States Postal Service's Motions for Clarification of
Order Nos. 6071 and 6195, August 15, 2022, at 9-10 (Order No. 6249).
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The previous proceedings related to USPS Connect Local Mail provide
a good example of the importance of the required information. In
approving the market test, the Commission emphasized that safeguards in
the market test process--specifically, limited duration and revenue and
the reevaluation of the product should the Postal Service wish to
extend the test or offer the product permanently--weighed in favor of
allowing the market test to proceed. Order No. 6080 at 15. The
Commission explained that, going forward:
[I]f the Postal Service submits a request to convert USPS
Connect Local Mail into a non-experimental offering (such as a
permanent product, permanent price category, or a negotiated service
agreement), the Postal Service must comply with 39 CFR 3045.18 and
39 CFR part 3040, subpart B. See 39 CFR 3045.18(a). The Commission
expects that such a request would include, among other things, the
information and supporting justification that would enable correct
categorization of the proposed offering. See 39 CFR 3040.131,
3040.132.
Order No. 6080 at 15-16.
However, the Request fails to include the information required by
39 U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR 3040.131, 39 CFR
[[Page 63828]]
3040.132, 39 CFR 3045.18, and contemplated by the Commission in Order
No. 6080. Among other deficiencies, the Request does not include a
supporting justification that provides information sufficient to
perform a market power analysis, explain why USPS Connect Local Mail is
or is not covered by the postal monopoly, provide a description of the
private businesses engaged in the delivery of the product or of the
likely impact on small businesses, or give the views of users of the
product. See 39 CFR 3040.132. In short, the Request fails to ``include
such information and data, and such statements of reasons and bases, as
are necessary and appropriate to fully inform the Commission of the
nature, scope, significance, and impact of the proposed modification.''
Id., (i).
Further, by rule the Postal Service is required to file its request
at least 60 days before it wishes for the Commission to make its
determination. See 39 CFR 3045.18(d)(2)(ii). This date is predicated on
the Postal Service providing complete information to facilitate comment
by interested parties and a fulsome review by the Commission itself. In
the absence of such information, a complete analysis and decision
within 60 days is not possible.\5\
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\5\ It should also be noted that the current market test's
expiration date of January 8, 2024, appears to allow the Postal
Service the opportunity to both provide services without
interruption to customers and time to collect more complete volume,
revenue, and cost test data.
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Because the Request does not contain the information required by
law and necessary for the Commission to determine the appropriateness
of converting USPS Connect Local Mail to a permanent product offering,
the Commission shall dismiss the Request without prejudice to the
Postal Service to file a compliant request.
III. Ordering Paragraphs
It is ordered:
1. The United States Postal Service Request to Convert USPS Connect
Local Mail to a Permanent Offering, filed October 11, 2022, does not
meet the statutory and regulatory requirements of a request to convert
the experimental product to a permanent product offering.
2. The Commission cannot approve the USPS Connect Local Mail
product as a permanent product offering based upon the record before
it.
3. The Commission hereby dismisses, without prejudice, the United
States Postal Service Request to Convert USPS Connect Local Mail to a
Permanent Offering, filed October 11, 2022.
4. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this Order in the
Federal Register.
By the Commission.
Erica A. Barker,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-22890 Filed 10-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 20, 2022.
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