The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions
About Post Office Closures
Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government
June 13, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41950
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
Summary
In recent years, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced initiatives to close up to 4,380
USPS retail facilities in rural, suburban, and urban areas. In May 2012, the agency may have
changed course. The USPS issued a plan to “preserve” rural post offices, in great part by reducing
their operating hours. In the same instance, the agency noted it was reviewing the status of 13,000
rural post offices, some of which might be closed. Thus, how many post offices may be closed
remains unclear.
More than a dozen bills in the 112th Congress carry provisions that address post offices and the
public’s access to retail postal services, including H.R. 2309, H.R. 2692, S. 1668, and S. 1789.
This report addresses common questions about the closure of post offices. Questions answered
include (1) What is a post office? (2) How many post offices are there? (3) How many post
offices might the USPS close? (4) What authority does the USPS have to close post offices? (5)
What is the current post office closure process? (6) What is the role of the Postal Regulatory
Commission in post office closures? (7) When might the post office closure process begin? (8)
How many USPS employees may lose their jobs? and (9) What current legislation carries
provisions related to post offices?
Colloquially, the term “post office” often is employed to refer to any place where stamps are sold
and postal services are provided by USPS employees. However, the USPS differentiates among
several categories of postal facilities, including post offices, post office branches and stations,
community post offices, and contract postal units. At the end of FY2011, the USPS had 35,119
retail postal facilities.
Congress has given the USPS considerable discretion to decide how many post offices to erect
and where to place them. Congress also requires the USPS to provide the public with access to
retail postal services (e.g., sales of postage, parcel acceptance, etc.).
Both federal law and the USPS’s rules prescribe a post office closure process, which takes at least
120 days. The USPS must notify the affected public and hold a 60-day comment period prior to
closing a post office. Should the USPS decide to close a post office, the public has 30 days to
appeal the decision to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Sixty days after it has made a closure
decision, the USPS may shut down a post office.
H.R. 2309, H.R. 2692, S. 1668, and S. 1789 are very different from one another. Among their
other provisions, H.R. 2309 would reduce the number of post offices; H.R. 2692 would alter the
post office closure process; S. 1668 would forbid any closure that would create more than 10
miles’ distance between any two post offices; and S. 1789 would alter the post office closure
process and greatly reduce the USPS’s authority to close post offices.
This report will be updated to reflect significant developments.
Congressional Research Service
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
Contents
What Is a Post Office? ..................................................................................................................... 1
How Many Post Offices Are There?................................................................................................ 2
How Many Post Offices Might the USPS Close?............................................................................ 3
What Authority Does the USPS Have to Close Post Offices?......................................................... 5
What Is the Post Office Closure Process?........................................................................................ 6
What Is the Role of the Postal Regulatory Commission in Post Office Closures?.......................... 7
When Might the Post Office Closure Process Begin? ..................................................................... 8
How Many USPS Employees May Lose Their Jobs?...................................................................... 8
What Current Legislation Carries Provisions Related to Post Offices?........................................... 9
H.R. 2309................................................................................................................................... 9
H.R. 2692................................................................................................................................. 10
S. 1668..................................................................................................................................... 10
S. 1789..................................................................................................................................... 11
Figures
Figure 1. The Number of USPS Retail Postal Facilities, FY1971-FY2011..................................... 2
Tables
Table 1. The Number of USPS Retail Postal Facilities, FY1971 vs. FY2011 ................................. 3
Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 12
Congressional Research Service
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
What Is a Post Office?
Colloquially, the term “post office” often is employed to refer to any place where stamps are sold
and postal services are provided by USPS employees. Post offices, branches, stations, and
community post offices all offer to the public a range of postal services. They are where many
individuals go to buy stamps and ship packages.1
The USPS, however, administratively differentiates the types of retail postal facilities that
conduct these same activities:
• main post office—The basic organizational unit of the USPS. Generally, each
post office has primary responsibility for collection, delivery, and retail
operations in a specific geographic area. [Also called “post office.”]
• post office branch—A unit of a main post office that is outside the corporate
limits of the city or town of the main post office. [Also called “classified
branch.”]
• post office station—A unit of a main post office that is within the corporate limits
of the city or town of the main post office. [Also called “classified station.”]2
Each post office is managed by a postmaster; post office branches and stations are not. Branches
and stations instead have managers who are under the direction of postmasters.
The USPS also provides postal services to customers through privately operated facilities:
• contract postal unit—A postal unit that is a subordinate unit within the service
area of a main post office. It is usually located in a store or place of business and
is operated by a contractor who accepts mail from the public, sells postage and
supplies, and provides selected special services (for example, postal money order
or registered mail).
• community post office—A contract postal unit that provides service in a
community where an independent post office has been discontinued. [It] bears its
community’s name and ZIP Code as part of a recognized address.3
Herein, the term “USPS retail postal facilities” will encompass all five of the aforementioned
postal facilities—post offices, post office branches, post office stations, community post offices,
and contract postal units.
1 Retail postal facilities may be contrasted with non-retail postal facilities, which do not directly serve the public. Mail
processing plants and area offices are examples of non-retail postal facilities. See Government Accountability Office,
U.S. Postal Service, Mail Processing Network Exceeds What Is Needed for Declining Mail Volume, GAO-12-470,
April 2012; and Government Accountability Office, U.S. Postal Service: Field Offices’ Role in Cost-Reduction and
Revenue-Generation Efforts, GAO-12-506, April 2012.
2 U.S. Postal Service, Publication 32: Glossary of Postal Terms (Washington: USPS, April 2011), p. 176, at
http://about.usps.com/publications/pub32.pdf.
3 Ibid., pp. 49, 45.
Congressional Research Service
1
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
How Many Post Offices Are There?
The USPS’s annual reports contain tabulations of the number of USPS retail postal facilities in
existence at the end of each fiscal year. Figure 1 presents data on the number of facilities from
FY1971 through FY2011. Over time, the USPS has altered the terms used to refer to some of
these facilities. Additionally, the USPS has disaggregated post office branches from post office
stations only since FY2004. Hence, Figure 1 and Table 1 present the retail postal facilities data
as compiled into three categories: post offices (POs), post office branches and stations (POBs and
POSs), and community post offices and contract postal units (CPOs and CPUs).
Figure 1. The Number of USPS Retail Postal Facilities, FY1971-FY2011
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
POs
POBs and POSs
CPOs and CPUs
Source: U.S. Postal Service, Annual Reports, 1971-2011.
Figure 1 and Table 1 indicate that the total number of USPS retail postal facilities has declined
steadily.4 In FY1971, the USPS had 42,287 retail facilities; in FY2011 it had 35,119—17.0%
fewer. The number of POs has dropped 15.7%, and the number of CPUs and CPOs has declined
43.9%. Meanwhile, the number of POBs and POSs has increased 17.3%.
4 These data should not be interpreted to mean that customer access to postal services has declined. Customer access to
postal services depends on many variables. For example, these data exclude non-USPS retail outlets that provide postal
services, such as grocery stores that sell postage stamps.
Congressional Research Service
2
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
Table 1. The Number of USPS Retail Postal Facilities, FY1971 vs. FY2011
Retail Postal Facility Type
1971
2011
% Change
Post
Offices
31,947 26,927 -15.7%
Post Office Branches and Post
3,906 4,582 17.3%
Office Stations
Community Post Offices and
6,434 3,610 -43.9%
Contract Postal Units
Total
42,287 35,119 -17.0%
Source: U.S. Postal Service, Annual Reports, 1971-2011.
How Many Post Offices Might the USPS Close?
It is unclear how many retail postal facilities the USPS may close. This uncertainty is the product
of shifting USPS plans in recent years.
(1) In May 2009, the USPS announced it planned to shutter up to 3,105 retail facilities.5 How
many of these post office stations and branches ultimately were closed is unknown. As of mid-
2011, reportedly 280 of these facilities had been closed.6 According to the data in Figure 1, the
number of post office branches and stations has decreased by 269, from 4,851 to 4,582 between
FY2008 and FY2011.
(2) In July 2011, the USPS declared that it might close 3,652 post offices, which would have
amounted to approximately 10.2% of its then 35,633 retail facilities. 7 The agency reported that
that these included:
• 2,825 post offices, each of which earned less than $27,500 in revenue annually;
• 384 post office stations and branches, each of which earned FY2010 revenue of
less than $600,000;
• 178 “retail annexes,” each of which earned FY2010 revenues of less than
$1,000,000; and
• 265 post offices, stations, and branches that were undergoing discontinuance
review already.8
5 On the USPS’s May 2009 post office closure proposal, see CRS Report R40719, Post Office and Retail Postal
Facility Closures: Overview and Issues for Congress, by Kevin R. Kosar. The USPS’s list of the 728 retail facilities
being considered for closure under the 2009 closure proposal is at http://www.prc.gov/Docs/74/74156/USPS.LR.3.xls.
6 Lisa Rein, “Postal Service Names 3,700 Post Offices That Could Be Closed,” Washington Post, July 27, 2011, at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-names-3700-post-offices-that-could-be-closed/2011/07/26/
gIQARk3tbI_story.html?hpid=z4.
7 U.S. Postal Service, “Postal Service Takes Next Step in Optimizing Retail Network,” press release, July 26, 2011, at
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_089.htm.
8 U.S. Postal Service, “Request of the U.S. Postal Service for an Advisory Opinion On Changes In the Nature of Postal
Services,” Postal Regulatory Commission, Docket N2011-1, July 27, 2011, pp. 5-6, at http://www.prc.gov/Docs/74/
74124/Request.FINAL.pdf. The USPS’s July 2011 list of 3,652 post offices that will be considered for closure is at
http://www.prc.gov/Docs/74/74155/USPS.LR.2.xls. The Washington Post has produced a map indicating the locations
(continued...)
Congressional Research Service
3
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
The USPS claimed that closing all these facilities could save more than $200 million per year.9
However, in December 2011 the USPS reported that it had suspended its post office closures until
May 15, 2012 “in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators.”10
(3) In May 2012, the USPS announced that it would attempt to preserve small rural post offices
by reducing the hours they are kept open and shrinking the cohort of postmasters.11 The agency
released a 260-page preliminary list of post offices that may have their operating hours reduced.12
The USPS has requested an advisory opinion from the PRC on this latest initiative.13
However, the USPS’s communications on this rural post office initiative do not clarify the status
of the 2009 and 2011 retail closure initiatives.14 Nor did the agency state which of the postal
facilities on the 2009 and 2011 lists have been shuttered or might be shut down. Additionally, the
USPS reports it has begun “a review process for approximately 13,000 [rural] post offices.”15
Some of these rural retail facilities could be closed or replaced by “village post offices.”16 A
village post office is a term recently coined by the USPS to refer to an arrangement substantially
similar to a contract postal unit. 17 Staffed by a non-USPS employee and located within a private
retail outlet, a village post office would provide the following services: mail collection boxes,
post offices boxes, stamp sales, and prepaid Priority Mail flat rate boxes and envelope sales and
receipt. A village post office would not provide other services, such as passport registration,
money orders, and non-uniform parcel shipping.18 The provision of USPS products and services
by private vendors is not unusual. Currently, the USPS has more than 70,000 third-party postal
retail locations.19 The USPS views village post offices and other contractual arrangements as less
expensive than operating a post office.20
(...continued)
of the 3,652 possible closures by state at http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-code-closed/2011/07/26/
gIQAkuagbI_graphic.html.
9 Sean Reilly, “USPS Weighs Closure of Up to 3,600 Post Offices,” Federal Times, July 26, 2011, at
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20110726/DEPARTMENTS02/107260303/1001.
10 U.S. Postal Service, “Statement on Delay of Closing or Consolidation of Post Offices and Mail Processing
Facilities,” December 13, 2011, at http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_1213closings.htm.
11 U.S. Postal Service, “New Strategy to Preserve the Nation’s Smallest Post Offices,” press release, May 9, 2012, at
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_054.htm.
12 U.S. Postal Service, “Affected Post Offices,” May 9, 2012, at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-
future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-affected-post-offices-120509.pdf.
13 Postal Regulatory Commission, “PRC to Review U.S. Postal Service’s Second Proposal to Cut Post Office Costs and
Operations,” press release, June 4, 2012, at http://www.prc.gov/prc-docs/home/whatsnew/
PRC%20release%20June%204%202012%20N2012-2_2693.pdf.
14 See the communications at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm.
15 U.S. Postal Service, “Our Plan to Preserve Rural Post Offices,” May 9, 2012, p. 12, at http://about.usps.com/news/
electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-presentation-120509.pdf.
16 Ibid., pp. 8-9.
17 U.S. Postal Service, “Village Post Offices,” fact sheet, July 2011, at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/
expandedaccess/assets/pdf/vpo-fact-sheet-110726.pdf.
18 A non-uniform parcel refers to package or large envelope that is anything other than a Priority Mail box or envelope.
19 U.S. Postal Service, “New Strategy Preserves Post Offices in Rural America,” fact sheet, May 9, 2012, at
http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-fact-sheet-120509.pdf.
20 A post office requires the USPS to own or rent a facility, and bear the cost of compensating USPS employees. This is
not the case with a contract or village post office.
Congressional Research Service
4
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
What Authority Does the USPS Have to Close
Post Offices?
The USPS was established in 1971 by the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA; P.L. 91-375; 84 Stat.
725). Previously, postal services had been provided by the U.S. Post Office Department
(USPOD), a government agency that received annual appropriations from Congress. Members
were involved in many aspects of the USPOD’s operations, including the selection of managers
(e.g., postmasters) and the pricing of postal services. Under this configuration, the Post Office
had operational difficulties and developed a reputation for incompetence and corruption.21
The PRA abolished USPOD and replaced it with the U.S. Postal Service, an “independent
establishment of the executive branch” (39 U.S.C. 201). The USPS is a marketized government
agency that has far greater freedom to run its operations than the former Post Office
Department.22 It does not rely on appropriations for its operating revenue.23
Congress assigned the USPS the “general duty” to “maintain an efficient system of collection,
sorting, and delivery of the mail nationwide” (39 U.S.C. 403(b)). In order to carry out this
obligation, the law gives the USPS the “specific powers” to
• “provide for the collection, handling, transportation, delivery, forwarding,
returning, and holding of mail, and for the disposition of undeliverable mail” (39
U.S.C. 404(a)(1)); and
• “determine the need for post offices, postal and training facilities and equipment,
and ... provide such offices, facilities, and equipment as it determines are needed”
(39 U.S.C. 404(a)(13)).24
While Congress designed the USPS to be a self-supporting entity, the nation’s legislature also
requires the USPS to serve the public as a whole. This “public service obligation,” as it often is
termed, is located in the PRA’s chapters on “postal policy” (39 U.S.C. 101) and the USPS’s
“general authority” (39 U.S.C. 403):
• “The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental
service provided to the people by the Government of the United States,
authorized by the Constitution, created by [an] Act of Congress, and supported by
the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to
provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal,
21 The view of USPOD as an agency riddled with patronage and scandal began long ago. For example, Joseph L.
Bristow, who served as an assistant postmaster general from 1897 to 1905, provides accounts in his book, Fraud and
Politics at the Turn of the Century (New York: Exposition Press, 1952).
22 The term “marketization” refers to the redesign of a government agency in order to make it provide goods and
services in the manner of a private firm. On marketization as an alternative to privatization, see CRS Report RL33777,
Privatization and the Federal Government: An Introduction, by Kevin R. Kosar.
23 Congress does provide an annual appropriation to the USPS to compensate it for the revenue it forgoes in providing,
at congressional direction, free mailing privileges to the blind and overseas voters. For further information on the USPS
and the appropriations process, see CRS Report R42008, Financial Services and General Government: FY2012
Appropriations, coordinated by Garrett Hatch, pp. 78-80.
24 Similarly, Congress requires the USPS in “selecting modes of transportation, the Postal Service shall give highest
consideration to the prompt and economical delivery of all mail” (39 U.S.C. 101(f)).
Congressional Research Service
5
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide
prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render
postal services to all communities” (39 U.S.C. 101(a)); and
• “The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular
postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices
are not self-sustaining. No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at
a deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that effective postal services
be insured to residents of both urban and rural communities” (39 U.S.C. 101(b)).
Congress also assigned the USPS the general duties to
• “receive, transmit, and deliver throughout the United States, its territories and
possessions ... written and printed matter, parcels, and like materials and provide
such other services incidental thereto as it finds appropriate to its functions and in
the public interest... (39 U.S.C. 403(a))”; and
• “establish and maintain postal facilities of such character and in such locations,
that postal patrons throughout the Nation will, consistent with reasonable
economies of postal operations, have ready access to essential postal services”
(39 U.S.C. 403(b)).
Additionally, Congress has underscored the USPS’s duty to serve less densely populated areas by
including a provision in annual appropriation laws that reads, “none of the funds provided in this
Act shall be used to consolidate or close small rural and other small post offices in [this] fiscal
year.”25
What Is the Post Office Closure Process?
Federal postal law sets forth the basic rules by which the USPS may proceed to close a post
office. The USPS must “provide adequate notice of its intention to close or consolidate such post
office at least 60 days prior to the proposed date of such closing or consolidation to persons
served by such post office to ensure that such persons will have an opportunity to present their
views” (39 U.S.C. 404(d)(1)).26
In deciding whether to close a post office, the USPS must consider
(i) the effect of such closing or consolidation on the community served by such post office;
(ii) the effect of such closing or consolidation on employees of the Postal Service employed
at such office;
(iii) whether such closing or consolidation is consistent with the policy of the Government ...
that the Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal
25 For example, see P.L. 110-161; 121 Stat. 2013.
26 The USPS released new retail postal facility closure rules in July 2011. Readers seeking additional details of the
USPS’s closure rules and rationales for its rules may consult 39 C.F.R. 241, “Post Office Organization and
Administration: Establishment, Classification, and Discontinuance,” at 76 F.R. 41413-41424, July 14, 2011.
Congressional Research Service
6
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-
sustaining;
(iv) the economic savings to the Postal Service resulting from such closing or consolidation;
and
(v) such other factors as the Postal Service determines are necessary (39 U.S.C.
404(d)(2)(A)).
If the USPS decides to move forward with the closure, it must notify the persons served by the
post office of its decision and the findings used to arrive at this decision. The USPS must wait at
least 60 more days before proceeding with the closure, and any person served by the post office
slated for closure may appeal the closure to the PRC, which has up to 120 days to consider the
appeal. The USPS is not required to wait for the PRC to issue its opinion. It may close a retail
facility 60 days after it makes its closure announcement.
The PRC may fault the USPS’s decision to close a post office only if the PRC finds the decision
to be “(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the
law; (B) without observance of procedure required by law; or (C) unsupported by substantial
evidence on the record” (39 U.S.C. 404(d)(5)). The PRC may require the USPS to reconsider its
decision, but the ultimate authority to close a post office rests with the USPS.
The USPS long has had a separate “emergency suspension” process that it may employ to
immediately cease service at a retail facility without following the aforementioned closure
process. 27 The USPS has been criticized for using it in situations that were foreseeable and
perhaps not emergencies, and for failing to re-open these facilities.28 Under the most recently
adopted post office closure rules, the USPS may close a post office immediately “due to
cancellation of a lease or rental agreement when no suitable alternate quarters are available in the
community, a fire or natural disaster, irreparable damage when no suitable alternate quarters are
available in the community, challenge to the sanctity of the mail, or similar reasons.”29
What Is the Role of the Postal Regulatory
Commission in Post Office Closures?
As noted in the previous section of this report, a member of the public may appeal a post office
closure to the PRC. The current USPS’s post office closure regulations continue the USPS’s long-
standing position that it will participate in appeals only if the facility closed is a post office (as
opposed to a post office branch or station).30 The PRC may fault the USPS’s decision to close a
27 U.S. Postal Service, Post Office Discontinuance Guide, Handbook PO-101 (Washington: USPS, July 2011), pp. 7,
39-42, at http://www.prc.gov/Docs/74/74154/USPS%20Handbook%20PO-101%20USPS-LR-N2011-1-1.pdf.
28 Postal Regulatory Commission, “Order On Appeal of Hacker Valley, West Virginia Post Office Closing,” Docket
A2009-1, October 19, 2009, at http://prc.gov/Docs/65/65247/Order%20319.pdf; and Jennifer Levitz, “Ruling on
Shuttered Post Offices Expected Soon,” Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2011, at http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748703555804576102121012318918.html.
29 U.S. Postal Service, “Post Office Organization and Administration: Establishment, Classification, and
Discontinuance,” 76 Federal Register 41421, July 14, 2011.
30 Ibid., at 76 Federal Register 41413-41424.
Congressional Research Service
7
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
post office only if the PRC finds the decision to be “(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of
discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law; (B) without observance of procedure
required by law; or (C) unsupported by substantial evidence on the record” (39 U.S.C. 404(d)(5)).
The PRC may require the USPS to reconsider its decision, but the ultimate authority to close a
post office rests with the USPS.
Federal statute also provides another instance in which the PRC may play a role in the closure
process. 39 U.S.C. 3661(b) requires the USPS to obtain an advisory opinion from the PRC when
the USPS “determines that there should be a change in the nature of postal services which will
generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis.” Thus, in the case of
the proposed closure of large numbers of retail postal facilities, the PRC is to be consulted.
On July 27, 2011, the USPS submitted its post office closure proposal (“Retail Access
Optimization Initiative”) to the PRC, which issued its opinion on December 23, 2011.31 The PRC
faulted the USPS’s approach to identifying facilities for possible closure, and for failing to ensure
that sufficient retail access is maintained in the event of a post office closure. It also suggested
alterations the USPS might employ to improve its approach to identifying post offices for
possible closure and measuring the results of closures.
The USPS is not bound by the PRC’s opinion. By law and regulation, the USPS was permitted to
commence closing retail facilities 90 days (October 25, 2011) after it submitted its proposal to the
PRC.32
When Might the Post Office Closure Process Begin?
It is unclear whether the USPS’s mass facilities closing processes are continuing. As noted above,
USPS’s May 2012 communications regarding its rural post office initiative did not address the
status of the 2009 and 2011 closure initiatives.
How Many USPS Employees May Lose Their Jobs?
In making its various post office closure announcements, the USPS did not indicate whether any
employees would lose their positions. One 2011 media report quoted the USPS as saying 4,500
employees would be affected by the closures, but did not clarify how many would lose their
positions.33 Most postal clerks, those who work at post office counters, and letter carriers are
protected from layoffs through collective bargaining agreements.34 However, postmasters and
other managers are not covered by collective bargaining agreements.
31 U.S. Postal Service, “Request of the U.S. Postal Service for an Advisory Opinion On Changes In the Nature of Postal
Services.” The PRC docket, which holds the USPS’s request and other documents related to the PRC’s consideration of
the closures, is located at http://www.prc.gov/prc-pages/library/dockets.aspx?activeview=DocketView&docketType=
Single&docketid=N2011-1; and Postal Regulatory Commission, “Advisory Opinion on Retail Optimization Initiative,”
Docket No. N2011-1, December 23, 2011, at http://www.prc.gov/Docs/78/78971/N2011-1_AdvisoryOP.pdf.
32 39 U.S.C. 3661(b) requires the USPS to submit its request for an opinion “within a reasonable time prior to the
effective date of such proposal.” The PRC has defined “a reasonable time” to mean 90 days. 39 C.F.R. 3001.72.
33 Rein, “Postal Service Names 3,700 Post Offices That Could Be Closed,” Washington Post.
34 For example, see Collective Bargaining Agreement Between American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, and U.S.
(continued...)
Congressional Research Service
8
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
The USPS’s May 2012 announcement concerning its rural post office preservation effort provided
no estimate of the number of possible job eliminations. Approximately 21,000 postmasters may
be offered retirement and early retirement incentives, although it is unclear how many will accept
the USPS’s offer.35
What Current Legislation Carries Provisions Related
to Post Offices?
In the 112th Congress, more than two dozen bills carry provisions related to the USPS’s post
offices and retail service to the public. The bills vary in their approaches to altering the post office
closure, and H.R. 2309, H.R. 2692, S. 1668, and S. 1789 illustrate this diversity.
H.R. 2309
Representative Darrell Issa introduced H.R. 2309, the Postal Reform Act of 2011, on June 23,
2011. H.R. 2309 was amended and reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform (which Representative Issa chairs) and the Committee on Rules on and January 17, 2012,
and March 29, 2012, respectively.
H.R. 2309 would
• amend 39 U.S.C. to establish a Commission on Postal Reorganization (CPR), an
entity similar to the base realignment commissions (BRAC) that have been used
to reduce the number of military bases. With the assistance of the USPS and
USPS Inspector General, the CPR would prepare recommendations to reduce
both the USPS’s networks of post offices and non-retail facilities so as to save $2
billion within two years of the adoption of said recommendations. Congress may
pass a joint resolution of disapproval to prevent the closure recommendations
from being executed. H.R. 2309 would cap the number of small rural post offices
that may be closed at 10% of the total number of post offices closed;36
• strike language from 39 U.S.C. 101(b) to increase the USPS’s authority to close
post offices: “The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective
and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where
post offices are not self-sustaining”; and “No small post office shall be closed
solely for operating at a deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that
effective postal services be insured to residents of both urban and rural
communities.”; 37
(...continued)
Postal Service, November 21, 2010-November 20, 2015 (Washington: APWU, 2011), pp. 5-11, at
http://www.apwu.org/dept/ind-rel/sc/APWU%20Contract%202010-2015.pdf.
35 National League of Postmasters, “Voluntary Retirement Incentive,” May 9, 2012, at http://www.postmasters.org/
news/Postplan/.
36 H.R. 2309, Sections 103-108.
37 H.R. 2309, Section 112.
Congressional Research Service
9
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d), which sets forth the process for the USPS to follow
when it closes post offices, to conform to the amendment of 39 U.S.C. 101(b);38
and
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d) to disallow the public to appeal a post office closure if a
contract post office is located within two miles of the post office closed.39
H.R. 2692
Representative Albio Sires introduced H.R. 2692, the Access to Postal Services Act, on July 28,
2011. H.R. 2692 was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
H.R. 2692 would
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404 to define the term “post office” to include main post
offices, post office branches, post office stations, and other USPS-operated retail
outlets;40
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d)(1) to require the USPS to notify affected members of
the public of a proposed post office closure through mail and newspaper
notices;41
• strike language at 39 U.S.C. 404(d)(2)(a)(4)-(5) permitting the USPS to consider
the cost savings in its consideration of the possible closure of a post office;42
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d) to include a new provision that would forbid the USPS
from avoiding the closure process prescribed by 39 U.S.C. 404(d) by declaring
an emergency closure in the event of a “termination or cancellation of the lease
by a party other than the Postal Service”; and
• amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d) to include a new provision that would require the USPS
Inspector General not later than two years after a post office closure to assess the
actual savings achieved as compared to those estimated by the USPS prior to the
closure.43
S. 1668
Senator Jeff Merkley introduced S. 1668, the Protecting Rural Post Offices Act of 2011, on
October 6, 2011. S. 1668 was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 H.R. 2692, Section 4. The effect of this provision would be to compel the USPS to recognize a public right to appeal
the closure of any USPS-operated retail postal facilities to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Currently, the USPS
denies the public’s right to appeal the closure of post office branches and stations. See “Post Office Organization and
Administration: Establishment, Classification, and Discontinuance,” at 76 F.R. 41414-41415, and 41421.
41 H.R. 2692, Section 2.
42 Ibid.
43 H.R. 2692, Section 3.
Congressional Research Service
10
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
The bill would amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d) to prohibit the USPS from closing a post office should it
result “in more than 10 miles distance (as measured on roads with year-round access) between
any 2 post offices.”44 The bill does not define the term “post office.” So it is unclear if it is
intended to apply to post office branches, stations, and other retail facilities.
S. 1789
Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012, on
November 2, 2011. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs amended
and reported S. 1789 on January 31, 2012, and the Senate further amended and passed S. 1789 on
April 25, 2012.
S. 1789 would amend 39 U.S.C. 404(d) to require the USPS to
• examine additional factors in the course of rendering a post office closure
decision, including “the effect of such closing or consolidation on the community
served by such post office”;45
• consider additional options other than closure when considering closing a post
office, including operating the post office for reduced hours;46
• notify “the chief executive of each State whose residents are served by such post
office,” who shall appoint a “citizens service protection advocate” to “represent
the interests of postal customers affected by the closing or consolidation”;47 and
• notify the state board of elections, and the local board of elections.48
S. 1789 also would
• forbid the USPS from closing any post office should it produce a reduction of
retail service beneath the retail service standards; and prohibit any post office
closures until the USPS establishes “retail service standards”; 49
• prohibit any rural post office closures during the 12 months following enactment
of S. 1789;50
• prohibit any post office closures prior to November 13, 2012, in any state “that
conducts all elections by mail or permits no-excuse absentee voting”;51 and
• forbid the USPS from closing a rural post office should the closure have negative
effects on the community, such as “substantial financial losses” to any business in
the community, or a reduction in access to “essential items, such as prescription
44 S. 1668, Section 2.
45 S. 1789, Section 205(a).
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid. and S. 1789, Section 213.
48 S. 1789, Section 205(a).
49 S. 1789, Section 205(b) and Section 203.
50 S. 1789, Section 205(b).
51 S. 1789, Section 205(c).
Congressional Research Service
11
The U.S. Postal Service: Common Questions About Post Office Closures
medications and time-sensitive communications, that are sent through the
mail.”52
Author Contact Information
Kevin R. Kosar
Analyst in American National Government
kkosar@crs.loc.gov, 7-3968
52 S. 1789, Section 205(a).
Congressional Research Service
12