[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9685 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9685
To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish procedures for post
offices that suspend operations due to an emergency, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 19, 2024
Mr. Bost (for himself, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr.
LaMalfa, and Mrs. Harshbarger) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 39, United States Code, to establish procedures for post
offices that suspend operations due to an emergency, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Upending Secret Postal Shutdowns
Act'' or the ``USPS Act''.
SEC. 2. POST OFFICE EMERGENCY CLOSURE PROCEDURES.
Section 404 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(f)(1) If any post office temporarily suspends operations due to
an emergency--
``(A) on the first day of such suspension, the Postal
Service shall place a sign or other physical notice of the
suspension at the post office and publish a notice of the
suspension on the Postal Service public website; and
``(B) not later than 5 days after the first date of such
suspension, the Postal Service shall notify relevant public
officials.
``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)--
``(A) the notice required under such paragraph shall
include the reasons for the suspension, the interim solution
for mail delivery, and expected end date of the suspension; and
``(B) the term `relevant public officials' means, with
respect to a post office--
``(i) each Member of the House of Representatives
(including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to
Congress) representing a congressional district which
includes all or part of the geographic area served by
such post office;
``(ii) each Senator representing a State which
includes all or part of the geographic area served by
such post office; and
``(iii) the head of each unit of local government
with jurisdiction over all or part of the geographic
area served by such post office.
``(3)(A) If a suspension of operations due to an emergency lasts
for 30 days, the Postal Service shall open a 30-day public review
period under which individuals served by the post office and or
relevant public officials may provide comments to the Postal Service.
``(B) If a suspension of operations due to an emergency lasts for
60 days--
``(i) the Postal Regulatory Commission shall conduct a
review of the suspension; and
``(ii) the Postal Service shall begin the process to
relocate the operations of the suspended post office,
consistent with the procedures for post office relocation under
this title.
``(C) In carrying out any relocation under subparagraph (A)(ii),
the Postal Service shall--
``(i) solicit input from the head of each unit local
government with jurisdiction over all or part of the geographic
area served by such post office; and
``(ii) open a 30-day public comment review period for a new
proposed location.
``(4) In consultation with the Postmaster General, the postmaster
for each post office shall promulgate and establish an action plan in
the case of an emergency suspension of post office operations.
``(5) Not later than January 1 of each calendar year beginning with
calendar year 2025 the Postal Service shall submit a report to Congress
on emergency suspensions of operations of post offices during the most
recently ended calendar year. Such report shall include, for each
instance of an emergency suspension of operations of a post office, the
location of the post office, the duration of the emergency suspension,
and the reason for the emergency suspension.
``(6) In this subsection, the term `emergency' means a natural
disaster, termination of a lease or rental agreement, lack of qualified
personnel to operate the office, irreparable damage when no suitable
alternate quarters are available in the community, severe damage to, or
destruction of a post office, health and safety concerns, mold,
challenges to the sanctity of the mail, or the lack of adequate
measures to safeguard the post office or its revenue.''.
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