81 FR 5085 - Procedures Related to Motions

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 20 (February 1, 2016)

The Commission is proposing rules which standardize the procedure and timeframe by which interested parties file motions with the Commission as they relate to mail preparation changes and their compliance with the price cap rules. The Commission invites public comment on the proposed rules.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5085-5086]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01735]


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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION

39 CFR Part 3001

[Docket No. RM2016-6; Order No. 3048]


Procedures Related to Motions

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Commission is proposing rules which standardize the 
procedure and timeframe by which interested parties file motions with 
the Commission as they relate to mail preparation changes and their 
compliance with the price cap rules. The Commission invites public 
comment on the proposed rules.

DATES: Comments are due: March 2, 2016. Reply comments are due: March 
17, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at 
202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Background
III. Proposed Rule
IV. Comments Requested
V. Ordering Paragraphs

I. Introduction

    The Commission initiates this proposed rulemaking to request 
comments on a procedural rule for motions concerning mail preparation 
changes that require compliance with the price cap rules.
    The primary purpose of the rulemaking is to ensure that the Postal 
Service properly accounts for the rate effects of mail preparation 
changes under Sec.  3010.23(d)(2) of this chapter in accordance with 
the Commission's standard articulated in Order No. 3047.\1\ The 
proposed rule is intended to standardize the procedure and timeframe by 
which interested parties must file a motion with the Commission when 
they contend that a mail preparation change has a rate effect requiring 
compliance with the price cap rules.
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    \1\ Docket No. R2013-10R, Order Resolving Issues on Remand, 
January 22, 2016 (Order No. 3047).
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II. Background

    In Docket No. R2013-10R, the Commission issued Order No. 3047 and 
articulated a clear standard to determine when mail preparation changes 
require compliance with Sec.  3010.23(d)(2). Id. Under Sec.  
3010.23(d)(2), a mail preparation change has a rate effect when the 
change results in the deletion and/or redefinition of a rate cell. Id. 
at 15. The Postal Service is required to comply with Sec.  
3010.23(d)(2) where the mail preparation change results in either the 
deletion of a previously available rate or significantly changes the 
basic characteristic of the mailing so that the rate cell is 
effectively ``redefined.'' Id. at 16. The Commission determined that 
the Postal Service has an affirmative burden to decide whether a mail 
preparation change requires compliance with the price cap rules as set 
forth under the Commission's standard. Id. at 20. Where the Postal 
Service determines that a mail preparation change has a rate effect, it 
must comply with the existing rules and procedures governing rate 
adjustments prior to implementing the change.
    However, despite this affirmative burden, the possibility exists 
that the Postal Service may not recognize or account for all mail 
preparation changes that have rate effects. In that case, the current 
regulations do not provide a specific mechanism or timeframe by which 
interested parties can alert the Commission to mail preparation changes 
that they conclude have rate effects requiring compliance with Sec.  
3010.23(d)(2). Although the Commission's general motion rules would 
provide an avenue for motions concerning mail preparation changes, the 
rules do not set a timeframe by which motions must be made and the 
Commission believes the proposed rule is better suited to handle the 
specific issue at hand. In light of the complexity of administering the 
price cap, the timeframe set forth in the proposed rule is intended to 
promote certainty for the Postal Service and users of the mail when 
making operational changes.
    In Order No. 3047 setting forth the standard, the Commission 
indicated that it would propose procedures whereby interested parties 
could submit motions concerning mail preparation changes that have rate 
effects. As a result, the proposed rule is intended to clarify and 
streamline the process by which mail preparation changes that have rate 
effects may be reviewed by the Commission for compliance with the price 
cap rules.

III. Proposed Rule

    The rule proposed in this notice of proposed rulemaking adds to the 
current Sec.  3001.21. Proposed Sec.  3001.21(d) requires interested 
parties to file a motion with the Commission upon actual or 
constructive notice of a mail preparation change that has a rate effect 
requiring compliance with Sec.  3010.23(d)(2). This proposed section 
establishes a 30-day timeframe within which interested parties may file 
a motion concerning a mail preparation change, after which the 
Commission will either institute a proceeding or consider the motion 
within an ongoing matter.
    The Commission proposes permitting interested parties to file a 
motion concerning a mail preparation change if the parties, in good 
faith, demonstrate that the change has a rate effect and requires 
compliance with the price cap rules. The proposed procedure is 
triggered by actual or constructive notice of the mail preparation 
change. Actual or constructive notice will occur when an interested 
party becomes aware of or should have reasonably become aware of the 
mail preparation change. The Commission intends for actual or 
constructive notice to occur when the Postal Service publishes written 
notice of the implementation of the mail preparation change. For 
example, the Postal Service commonly publishes notice of mail 
preparation changes in the Federal Register, Postal Bulletin, and on 
the RIBBS Web site.
    The proposed procedure also ties notice to the ``implementation 
date of the change.'' The Commission intends this provision to cover 
changes where the Postal Service either immediately implements a mail 
preparation change or provides published notice that it intends to 
implement a mail preparation change on a date certain. For example,

[[Page 5086]]

the Postal Service routinely implements mail preparation changes at the 
same time notice of the change is provided to the mailer. It is at this 
time the 30-day clock to file a motion with the Commission would be 
triggered. Alternatively, when the Postal Service publishes notice of a 
mail preparation change that it intends to implement on a date certain 
in the future, the 30-day clock would be triggered upon notice of the 
implementation date, not from the actual date of implementation.
    The Full Service IMb change serves as an example of how the 
proposed 30-day timeframe would work. The Full Service IMb change was 
published as a revision to the Postal Service's Domestic Mail Manual 
and set forth in a Federal Register notice on April 18, 2013.\2\ In the 
Notice, the Postal Service indicated it planned to implement this 
change to the IMb requirements beginning on January 26, 2014. Id. 
Accordingly, under the Commission's proposed rule, mailers would be 
required to file a motion with the Commission within 30 days of the 
Notice (by May 20, 2013, allowing for a Monday filing), not within 30 
days of the January 26, 2014 implementation date.
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    \2\ 78 FR 23137 (April18, 2013) (Notice).
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    The proposed procedure is intended to provide a reasonable but 
definite timeframe by which interested parties may challenge a mail 
preparation change where the Postal Service has failed to indicate that 
it would be subject to the price cap rules. The Commission intends for 
the proposed rule to encourage the Postal Service to affirmatively 
designate only those changes that require compliance with Sec.  
3010.23(d)(2). For example, in a Federal Register notice implementing a 
mail preparation change that implicated the price cap, the Postal 
Service would confirm that the change would be subject to the price 
cap. For a change that does not implicate the price cap, the Federal 
Register notice would be silent and the absence of such a designation 
will inform mailers that the Postal Service does not recognize this 
change as requiring price cap compliance.
    The procedure is also intended to allow the Postal Service to 
implement mail preparation changes with limited disruption. The 
proposed rule is not intended to stay implementation of any mail 
preparation change required by the Postal Service, rather it is 
intended to set forth a reasonable timeframe by which users of the mail 
may file a motion with the Commission where such mail preparation 
changes may have rate effects. The proposed rule does not change the 
Postal Service's burden to first determine whether the mail preparation 
change has a rate effect under the Commission's standard articulated in 
Order No. 3047. The proposed rule also does not change the Postal 
Service's obligation to comply with the rules regarding the price cap, 
which require the Postal Service to adjust for the effects of mail 
preparation changes that result in the introduction, deletion, or 
redefinition of a rate cell. Rather, the proposed rule provides an 
avenue for interested parties to raise the possibility that the Postal 
Service may have erred by failing to account for the price cap impact 
of a mail preparation change.

IV. Comments Requested

    Interested persons are invited to provide written comments 
concerning the proposed rule. Comments are due no later than 30 days 
after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
All comments and suggestions received will be available for review on 
the Commission's Web site, http://www.prc.gov.
    Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Kenneth E. Richardson is appointed to 
serve as an officer of the Commission (Public Representative) to 
represent the interests of the general public in the above-captioned 
docket.

IV. Ordering Paragraphs

    It is ordered:
    1. Docket No. RM2016-6 is established for the purpose of receiving 
comments on the proposed change to part 3001, as discussed in this 
Order.
    2. Interested persons may submit comments no later than 30 days 
from the date of the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.
    3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Kenneth E. Richardson is appointed to 
serve as the Public Representative in this proceeding.
    4. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this Order in the 
Federal Register.

    By the Commission.
Stacy L. Ruble,
Secretary.

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 3001

    Administrative practice and procedure, Postal Service.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Commission proposes 
to amend chapter III of title 39 of the Code of Federal Regulations as 
follows:

PART 3001--RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
1. The authority citation of part 3001 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  39 U.S.C. 404(d); 503; 504; 3661.

0
2. Amend Sec.  3001.21 by adding paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  3001.21  Motions

* * * * *
    (d) Motions concerning mail preparation changes. Motions regarding 
mail preparation changes are challenges to instances where an announced 
mail preparation change does not contain a Postal Service indication 
that the change has a rate effect requiring compliance with Sec.  
3010.23(d)(2) of this chapter. Motions may be filed by any interested 
party and shall set forth with particularity the mail preparation 
change at issue and the grounds by which the mail preparation change 
must comply with Sec.  3010.23(d)(2) of this chapter. Motions 
concerning mail preparation changes must be filed at least 30 days 
after a party has actual or constructive notice of the implementation 
date of the change.

[FR Doc. 2016-01735 Filed 1-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7710-FW-P