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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 129 / Friday, July 9, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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regulations purported to establish administrative suspensions of the PES
39 CFR 310.1a7 n.1, 320 2005, including suspensions for certain data processing materials or for extremely urgent letters. See 39 CFR 320.2, 320.6
2005.
These regulations were originally promulgated by the Postal Service in 1974 and were amended several times prior to enactment of the PAEA.4 In 2003, the Presidents Commission on the United States Postal Service recommended that the scope of the letter monopoly should be clarified and periodically reviewed by a Postal Regulatory Board.5 In 2006, Congress passed the PAEA, which, inter alia, added new price and weight limits to the postal monopoly, repealed the Postal Services purported authority to adopt administrative suspension of the monopoly, and repealed the Postal Services authority to implement provisions of the criminal code defining the scope of the monopoly.6
In addition to adding price and weight limits as exceptions Sections 601b1, b2, Congress also added a grandfather clause in Section 601b3 to authorize the continuation of private activities that the Postal Service had purportedly permitted by regulations to be carried out of the mail.
The House Report on the PAEA explains that this paragraph protects mailers and private carriers who had relied upon the regulations adopted as of the date of the bill. See H.R. Rep. No. 10966 at 58.
Congress also eliminated the Postal Services authority to adopt any regulations creating exceptions or defining the scope of the postal monopoly. See 39 U.S.C. 4012, 404a1, 601. Congress instead gave the Commission the authority to promulgate any regulations necessary to carry out this section 601. 7 To date, the 4 See Comprehensive Standards for Permissible Private Carriage, 39 FR 33211 Sept. 16, 1974.
5 Report of the Presidents Commission on the United States Postal Service, Embracing the Future:
Making the Tough Choices to Preserve Universal Mail Service, July 31, 2003, at 71 Presidents Commission. The Presidents Commission recommended transforming the narrowly focused Postal Rate Commission into an independent Postal Regulatory Board. Id. at XIII.
6 See H.R. Rep. No. 10966 at 57. Congress stated that the bill clarifies the scope of the statutory monopoly that historically has been defined solely by the Postal Service. Id. at 58.
7 39 U.S.C. 601c. See Docket Nos. MC201214
and R20128, Order Approving Addition of Valassis Direct Mail, Inc. Negotiated Service Agreement to the Market Dominant Product List, August 23, 2012, at 67 Order No. 1448 citing Section 601c and stating that the Postal Service no longer has authority to issue regulations interpreting or defining the postal monopoly; see also Docket No. MC201213, Order Conditionally Granting Request to Transfer Parcel Post to the
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Commission has not promulgated any regulations pursuant to Section 601c.
In Docket No. RM20204, the Commission issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to seek input from the public about what regulations promulgated by the Commission may be necessary to carry out the requirements of 39 U.S.C. 601.8 In particular, the Commission sought comments on fourteen issues, such as whether the statutory requirements of Section 601
are clear and concise, whether any terms in the statute required further definition, and whether consumers and competitors can easily determine when a mailpiece is subject to monopoly protections. Order No. 5422 at 78.
Prior to the comment deadline, the Commission issued two Chairmans Information Requests, regarding certain Postal Service regulations.9 In its response, the Postal Service explained that it had not issued regulations or other administrative directives in connection with Sections 601b1 and 2 since the effective date of amended Section 601b.10 The Postal Service also provided information regarding alternative payment agreements pursuant to 39 CFR 310.2b.11 In addition, the Postal Service provided information regarding advisory opinions pursuant to 39 CFR 310.6. Docket No.
RM20204, Response to CHIR No. 1, question 2.
Comments were received from The Berkshire Company; Taxpayers Protection Alliance; American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research; United Parcel Service, Inc.;
FedEx Corporation; Netflix, Inc.; Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council;
the National Postal Policy Council and the National Association of Presort Mailers; the Association for Postal Competitive Product List, July 20, 2012, at 67
Order No. 1411 As a result of the PAEA, the Postal Service no longer has authority to issue regulations interpreting or defining the postal monopoly. The Commission now has the authority to promulgate such regulations.. Order No. 1411
at 7 n.13.
8 See Docket No. RM20204, Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Consider Regulations to Carry Out the Statutory Requirements of 39 U.S.C.
601, February 7, 2020 Order No. 5422.
9 Docket No. RM20204, Chairmans Information Request No. 1, March 4, 2020 Docket No. RM2020
4, CHIR No. 1; Docket No. RM20204, Chairmans Information Request No. 2, April 1, 2020 Docket No. RM20204, CHIR No. 2.
10 Docket No. RM20204, Responses of the United States Postal Service to Questions 13 of Chairmans Information Request No. 1, March 11, 2020, question 1 Docket No. RM20204, Response to CHIR No. 1.
11 Docket No. RM20204, Response to CHIR No.
1, question 3; see also Response of the United States Postal Service to Chairmans Information Request No. 2, April 3, 2020, question 1 Docket No.
RM20204, Response to CHIR No. 2.

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Commerce; the Postal Service; and the Public Representative.12 Based on the comments received, the Commission found it necessary to gather more information from the public before promulgating regulations under Section 601 and therefore, that proceeding is held in abeyance until the conclusion of this inquiry.13
III. Discussion In this proceeding, the Commission seeks to focus its inquiry on the statutory exemptions in Sections 601a and b, and what regulations under Section 601c, if any, are needed to carry out those exemptions. In particular, the Commission limits this inquiry to two issues: 1 Whether Postal Service regulations administering current Sections 601a, 601b1, and 601b2 should be adopted by the Commission; and 2 what private carrier services are within the scope of Section 601b3.
First, the Commission is interested in identifying Postal Service regulations that administer Sections 601a, 601b1, and 601b2 and if the Commission should adopt them. Section 601a provides for the private carriage of letters when, among other things, the letter is in an envelope that is properly addressed, the proper amount of postage is affixed to the envelope, and the postage is canceled in ink by the sender.
39 U.S.C. 601a. Sections 601b1 and b2 further provide that a letter must meet price and weight requirements in order to be carried out of the mail. 39
U.S.C. 601b1, 601b2.
Prior to the PAEA, the Postal Service issued regulations concerning the restrictions on the private carriage of 12 Docket No. RM20204, Comments of The Berkshire Company in Response to Order No. 5442, April 6, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Comments of Taxpayers Protection Alliance, April 6, 2020;
Docket No. RM20204, Comments of American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research Regarding Docket No. RM20204 Submitted to the United States Postal Regulatory Commission, April 6, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Comments of United Parcel Service, Inc. on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Consider Regulations to Carry Out the Statutory Requirements of 39 U.S.C.
601, April 7, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Comments of FedEx Corporation, April 7, 2020;
Docket No. RM20204, Comments of Netflix, Inc., April 7, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Comments of Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, April 7, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Comments of the National Postal Policy Council and the National Association of Presort Mailers, April 7, 2020;
Docket No. RM20204, Comments of the Association for Postal Commerce, April 7, 2020;
Docket No. RM20204, Comments of the United States Postal Service in Response to Order No.
5422, April 7, 2020; Docket No. RM20204, Public Representative Comments, April 7, 2020.
13 Docket No. RM20204, Order Holding Rulemaking in Abeyance, July 2, 2021 Order No.
5929.

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