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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 152 / Wednesday, August 11, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Notice. The following is a summary of the revisions. In addition to the changes described below, minor edits are made to i conform to product name changes for USPS Marketing Mail, ii correct a clerical error in the subsection on Destination Entry Periodicals, iii delete expired provisions, and iv refer to common or defined terms in a more consistent manner throughout the rules.
What was previously known as Standard Mail has been rebranded as USPS Marketing Mail, see generally 81 FR 93,606 2017, and therefore Part 121 including section 121.3 and Appendix A has been updated to refer to the current name of this product.

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A. Service Standards Generally Service standards contain two components: 1 A delivery day range within which mail in a given product is expected to be delivered; and 2
business rules that determine, within a products applicable day range, the specific number of delivery days after acceptance of a mail piece by which a customer can expect that piece to be delivered, based on the 3-Digit ZIP Code prefixes associated with the pieces point of entry into the mail stream and its delivery address.
Business rules are based on critical entry times CETs. The CET is the latest time on a particular day that a mail piece can be entered into the postal network and still have its service standard calculated based on that day this day is termed day-zero. In other words, if a piece is entered before the CET, its service standard is calculated from the day of entry, whereas if it is entered after the CET, its service standard is calculated from the following day. If the following day is a Sunday or holiday, then the service standard is calculated from the next Postal Service delivery day. For example, if the applicable CET is 5:00
p.m., and a letter is entered at 4:00 p.m.
on a Tuesday, its service standard will be calculated from Tuesday, whereas if the letter is entered at 6:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, its service standard will be calculated from Wednesday. CETs are not contained in 39 CFR part 121, because they vary based on where mail is entered, the mails level of preparation, and other factors.
B. First-Class Mail The Postal Service is changing some of the service standards applicable to certain First-Class Mail with respect to both of the two components of the standards. First, the Postal Service is promulgating modifications to the delivery day ranges within which mail in a given product is expected to be
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delivered. Second, the Postal Service is promulgating modifications to the business rules, changing the maximum number of hours of drive time that corresponds to the specific number of delivery days after acceptance of a mail piece by which a customer can expect that piece to be delivered within a products applicable delivery day range.
In particular, the changes to service standards include the delivery-day range for certain First-Class Mail.
Currently, a one-day overnight service standard is applied to intra-SCF Presort First-Class Mail pieces properly accepted at the SCF before the day-zero CET. A two-day service standard is applied to intra-SCF single-piece FirstClass Mail properly accepted before the day-zero CET, as well as to inter-SCF
domestic First-Class Mail pieces properly accepted before the day-zero CET if the drive time between the origin P&DC/F and destination SCF is 6 hours or less. A three-day service standard is applied to inter-SCF domestic FirstClass Mail pieces properly accepted before the day-zero CET if the drive time between the origin P&DC/F and destination SCF is more than 6 hours and the origin and the destination are within the contiguous 48 states.
Under the new service standards, the delivery day range for First-Class Mail within the contiguous United States will expand from the current 13 days, to 1
5 days. The overnight service standard does not change. Among the changes detailed below, a two-day service standard will apply to intra-SCF FirstClass Mail where the SCF is also the origin P&DC/F, and to intra-SCF and inter-SCF domestic First-Class Mail where the combined drive time between the origin P&DC/F, destination ADC, and destination SCF is 3 hours or less;
a three-day service standard for interSCF First-Class Mail would apply where the combined drive time between the origin P&DC/F, destination ADC, and destination SCF is 20 hours or less but over 3 hours within the contiguous United States, and the same three-day standard would also apply for intra-SCF
single-piece First-Class Mail if the combined drive time exceeds 3 hours and the SCF is not the origin P&DC/F;
a four-day service standard for inter-SCF
First-Class Mail would apply where the combined drive time between the origin P&DC/F, destination ADC, and destination SCF is 41 hours or less but over 20 hours within the contiguous United States; and combined drive times between the origin P&DC/F, destination ADC, and destination SCF
in excess of 41 hours would result in a service standard of five days.

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Furthermore, the Postal Services regulations pertaining to the current service standards for First-Class Mail do not expressly account for the combined drive time between origin P&DC/Fs, ADCs, and SCFs, though often distribution routes encompass several such facilities. In order to clarify these service standards, the final rule specifies, in the new service standards for First-Class Mail, that the combined drive time encompasses all such P&DC/
Fs, ADCs, and SCFs.
In addition, among the changes detailed below, the Postal Service is promulgating certain changes to the service standards for mail originating from or destined to areas outside of the contiguous United States. The Postal Service will apply a 4-day standard for First-Class Mail originating in the contiguous 48 states destined to the city of Anchorage, Alaska, the 968 3-digit ZIP Code area in Hawaii, or the 006, 007, or 009 3-digit ZIP Code areas in Puerto Rico; for First-Class Mail originating in the 006, 007, or 009 3digit ZIP Code areas in Puerto Rico and destined to the contiguous 48 states; for First-Class Mail originating in Hawaii and destined to Guam, or vice versa; for First-Class Mail originating in Hawaii and destined to American Samoa, or vice versa; and for other First-Class Mail that has both its origin and its destination within Alaska. The Postal Service will apply a 5-day standard for other First-Class Mail originating from and/or destined to the non-contiguous states and territories.
C. Periodicals Certain Periodicals are merged with First-Class Mail, and their service standards are consequently tied to the respective First-Class Mail service standards. In other words, the changes to First-Class Mail service standards will result in similar changes to the corresponding service standards of the merged Periodicals.
The Postal Service is therefore promulgating a related change concerning certain Periodicals. Under current service standards, for end-to-end Periodicals, a three-to-four-day service standard is applied to Periodicals pieces properly accepted before the day-zero CET and merged with First-Class Mail pieces for surface transportation, with the service standard specifically equaling the sum of one day plus the applicable First-Class Mail service standard i.e., either two or three days, depending on whether the drive time is more than 6 hours. Under the new service standard, a three-to-six-day service standard will be applied to Periodicals pieces properly accepted
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