Rule2023-11896
Relocating Retail Services; Adding New Retail Service Facilities
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
June 6, 2023
Effective
June 6, 2023
Issuing agencies
Postal Service
Abstract
This interim rule revises regulations concerning public notification and solicitation of comments regarding the relocation or addition of retail service facilities. It establishes written notice as the standard method for notifying the public of plans to add or relocate a retail service facility, rather than in-person meetings. In addition, the interim rule revises the scope of relocations subject to public notice and solicitation of community comments to exclude relocations within a single development of buildings that share access points from a public right of way. The interim rule also removes a duplicative requirement to inform the community of potential construction when adding a retail service facility and makes minor technical changes.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36960-36962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11896]
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POSTAL SERVICE
39 CFR Part 241
Relocating Retail Services; Adding New Retail Service Facilities
AGENCY: Postal Service<SUP>TM</SUP>
ACTION: Interim final rule.
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SUMMARY: This interim rule revises regulations concerning public
notification and solicitation of comments regarding the relocation or
addition of retail service facilities. It establishes written notice as
the standard method for notifying the public of plans to add or
relocate a retail service facility, rather than in-person meetings. In
addition, the interim rule revises the scope of relocations subject to
public notice and solicitation of community comments to exclude
relocations within a single development of buildings that share access
points from a public right of way. The interim rule also removes a
duplicative requirement to inform the community of potential
construction when adding a retail service facility and makes minor
technical changes.
DATES: Effective June 6, 2023. Comments must be received by August 7,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#98cdcbc8cbded9dbd8edebe8ebb6fff7ee"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="97c2c4c7c4d1d6d4d7e2e4e7e4b9f0f8e1">[email protected]</span></a>,
with the subject heading ``241.4 Rulemaking,'' or by mail to Joseph B.
Fray, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 6127,
Washington, DC 20260-1127.
All submitted comments and attachments are part of the public
record and subject to disclosure. Do not enclose any material in your
comments that you consider to be confidential or inappropriate for
public disclosure. You may inspect and photocopy all written comments,
by appointment only, at USPS[supreg] Headquarters Library, 475 L'Enfant
Plaza SW, 11th Floor North, Washington, DC 20260. These records are
available for review on Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., by
calling 202-268-2906.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David P. Rouse, Director of Real
Estate & Assets, United States Postal Service, at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d591b4a3bcb1fb85fb87baa0a6b095a0a6a5a6fbb2baa3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5115302738357f017f033e24223411242221227f363e27">[email protected]</span></a>, (202) 210-3559.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When the Postal Service makes a tentative
decision to relocate all retail services from a retail service facility
to a separate physical building, or to add a new retail service
facility for a community, it provides advance notification to the
community and solicits community comments. 39 CFR 241.4(a)(1). The
Postal Service considers community comments before reaching a final
decision to proceed with, modify, or cancel the proposed relocation or
addition. Id. 241.4(c)(4). Exceptions to the general notification
requirement apply to certain temporary or emergency relocations. 39 CFR
241.4(a)(2). The purpose of the regulation is to notify members of the
community and their elected officials of retail service facility
relocations and additions, and to provide them the opportunity to
comment on why the Postal Service's tentative decision and proposal may
not be the optimal solution for the Postal Service's identified need.
39 CFR 241.4(c)(4). To obtain this community input, prior to the
exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Postal Service
notified the community through a news release and a public
presentation, either as part of the agenda at a regularly scheduled
public meeting of local officials or at a separately scheduled Postal
Service public meeting addressing the proposal. 39 CFR 241.4(c)(2). The
regulation presently allows for an alternate method of notifying the
community under exceptional circumstances that would prevent a Postal
Service representative from attending or conducting a public meeting .
. . the Postal Service, in lieu of a public meeting, will mail written
notification of the tentative decision and the proposal to customers
within the community . . . seeking their written input on the proposal
and providing an address to which the community and local officials may
send written appeals of the tentative decision and comments on the
proposal. 39 CFR 241.4(c)(3).
During the effectiveness of the Secretary of Health and Human
Services' Determination of a Public Health Emergency related to COVID-
19, the Postal Service has mailed postcards to communities affected by
relocations and additions of retail service facilities to provide
notice and solicit comments, rather than holding public meetings. This
written notification proved to be a more effective means of
communicating and provided community members with a more accessible
method of providing comments. Because written notification and
solicitation of comments more effectively and accessibly engages
[[Page 36961]]
members of affected communities than do public meetings, the Postal
Service, through this interim rule, establishes written notification as
the standard method of soliciting community comments for all subject
relocations and additions, rather than just under the exceptional
circumstances set forth in 39 CFR 241.4(c)(3).
In addition, the interim rule clarifies the scope of relocations
subject to the notification requirement in a manner that excludes a
move within a single development, such as among storefronts within a
single shopping center, because such relocations have a de minimis
effect on the availability of retail services in a community. Paragraph
(c)(3)(ii)(A)(4) required that, as part of this process, the Postal
Service inform the community of any construction that may be necessary
when a retail service facility is added. Because the Postal Service is
already required to inform the community of any decisions to undertake
construction pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 409(f), this requirement was also
deleted to avoid duplicating efforts. Finally, minor technical
amendments were made to the language of the regulation.
The interim rule will benefit the Postal Service and the public in
general. It will reduce burdens on the Postal Service and the public by
recognizing that relocations of retail service facilities within a
single development are not relocations that would materially affect
communities. In addition, where relocation decisions would benefit from
community input, the modified regulation will provide improved notice
to the public and an easier and more accessible means of receiving
community input.
This interim rule reflects the procedures in place since 2020 for
notifying communities of retail service facility relocations and
additions, and imposes no burden on members of the public; therefore,
it is effective immediately.
Although exempted by 39 U.S.C. 410(a) from the advance notice
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act regarding proposed
rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 553), the Postal Service invites public comment at
the above address and will consider any comments received before
issuing a final rule.
List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 241
Organization and functions (Government agencies).
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Postal Service amends
39 CFR part 241 as set forth below:
PART 241--ESTABLISHMENT CLASSIFICATION, AND DISCTONUANCE
0
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 241 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 39 U.S.C. 101, 401, 403, 404, 410, 1001.
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2. Amend Sec. 241.4 by:
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a. Revising paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2) introductory text, and (a)(2)(i);
0
b. Adding paragraphs (a)(2)(iv) and (v);
0
c. Revising the first sentence of paragraph (a)(3);
0
d. Revising paragraphs (b), (c)(2), (c)(3) introductory text,
(c)(3)(ii)(A)(2) and (3), and (c)(3)(ii)(B);
0
e. Removing paragraph (c)(3)(ii)(A)(4);
0
f. Revising the heading and first sentence of paragraph (c)(4); and
0
g. Revising paragraph (c)(5).
The revisions and additions read as follows:
Sec. 241.4 Relocating retail services; adding new retail service
facilities.
(a) * * *
(1) Except as otherwise provided, this section applies when the
Postal Service makes a tentative decision to relocate all retail
services from a retail service facility to a separate physical
building, or to add a new retail service facility for a community. As
used in this section, ``retail services'' means the single-piece mail
services offered to individual members of the public on a walk-in
basis, and a ``retail service facility'' is a physical building where
Postal Service employees provide such retail services.
(2) This paragraph (a)(2) applies to temporary additions of retail
service or relocations of retail service facilities, emergency
relocations of retail services, provisional relocations of retail
services, and relocations of retail services within the same
development or following redevelopment of a site.
(i) The Postal Service may implement temporary additions of retail
service or relocations of retail service facilities without undertaking
the process in paragraph (c) of this section when necessary to support
Postal Service business for holidays, special events, or overflow
business. Temporary additions of retail service and relocations of
retail service facilities normally will be limited to 180 days in
duration. Any additional incremental time periods of up to 180 days
each must be approved by the Vice President, Facilities or his
designee.
* * * * *
(iv) The Postal Service may implement relocations without
undertaking the process in paragraph (c) of this section when the new
retail service facility is within the same development as the relocated
retail service facility. As used in this section, ``development'' means
one or more commercial or mixed-use buildings that share an access
point or points from a public right-of-way.
(v) The Postal Service may implement relocations without
undertaking the process in paragraph (c) of this section when the
relocated retail service facility is within the same site following the
redevelopment of the building or development in which the relocated
retail service facility was located.
(3) This section applies to tentative decisions described in
paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section made on or after June 6,
2023. * * *
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide
opportunities for community members and their elected local officials
to comment on Postal Service tentative decisions described in
paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section and to give input on
proposals for implementing those decisions (each a ``proposal''), and
to require the Postal Service to consider any input in arriving at
final decisions to proceed with, modify, or cancel proposals.
(c) * * *
(2) Notify the community. The Postal Service will send an initial
news release outlining the proposal to one or more news media serving
the community and, if the community has a retail service facility, then
the Postal Service also will post a copy of the information given to
local officials or the news release in the public lobby of that retail
service facility. If the proposal concerns relocating retail services
from a leased facility, then, using the most current notice address
information in the Postal Service's file for the site, the Postal
Service will deliver to the lessor a copy of the information given to
local officials, provided, however, that no such notice will be
required when the lessor has terminated the Postal Service's lease or
has declined to renew the Postal Service lease on terms acceptable to
the Postal Service.
(3) Solicit comments from the community. The Postal Service will
mail written notification of the tentative decision and the proposal to
customers within the community and post a notice of the proposal in the
retail service facility that would be affected by the proposal, seeking
their written input on the proposal and providing an address to which
the community and local officials may send written comments on the
proposal during the 45 days
[[Page 36962]]
following the mailing of that notification.
* * * * *
(ii)(A) * * *
(2) Identify the site or area, or both, to which the Postal Service
anticipates adding the retail service facility; and
(3) Describe the anticipated size of the added retail service
facility, and the anticipated services to be offered.
* * * * *
(B) The Postal Service may identify more than one potential site
and/or area, for example, when the Postal Service has not selected yet
among competing sites.
(4) Consider comments. After the 45-day comment period, the Postal
Service will consider the comments received that identify reasons why
the Postal Service's tentative decision and proposal (e.g., to relocate
to the selected site, or to add a new retail service facility) is, or
is not, the optimal solution for the identified need. * * *
(5) Identify any new site or area. After the written notification
under paragraph (c)(3) of this section, if the Postal Service decides
to use a site or area that it did not identify in the written
notification, and this section applies with respect to that new site or
area, then the Postal Service will undertake the steps in paragraphs
(c)(2) through (4) of this section with regard to the new site or area.
* * * * *
Tram T. Pham,
Attorney, Ethics and Legal Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2023-11896 Filed 6-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 6, 2023.
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