[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 870-872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-172]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Part 102-192
[FMR Amendment 200X-XXX; FMR Case 2008-102-4; Docket 2008-0001;
Sequence 1]
RIN 3090-AI79
Federal Management Regulation; FMR Case 2008-102-4, Mail
Management; Financial Requirements for All Agencies
AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration is amending the mail
management section of the Federal Management Regulation (FMR). The
proposed changes will help agencies show accountability for their costs
regardless of whether they choose to use commercial payment processes.
DATES: Interested parties should submit comments in writing on or
before March 10, 2009 to be considered in the formulation of a final
rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by FMR case 2008-102-4 by any of
the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Search for any document by first selecting the proper document types
and selecting ``General Services Administration'' as the agency of
choice. At the ``Keyword'' prompt, type in the FMR case number (for
example, FMR Case 2008-102-4) and click on the ``Submit'' button. You
may also search for any document by clicking on the ``Advanced search/
document search'' tab at the top of the screen, selecting from the
agency field ``General Services Administration'', and typing the FMR
case number in the keyword field. Select the ``Submit'' button.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
[[Page 871]]
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (VPR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers,
Washington, DC 20405. Instructions: Please submit comments only and
cite FMR case 2008-102-4 in all correspondence related to this case.
All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact
Mr. Henry Maury, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Office of Travel,
Transportation, and Asset Management (MT), (202) 208-7928 or e-mail at
[email protected]. For information pertaining to status or
publication schedules contact the Regulatory Secretariat, 1800 F
Street, NW., Room 4041, Washington, DC, 20405, (202) 501-4755; please
cite FMR case 2008-102-4, Amendment XXXX.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
On June 6, 2002, the General Services Administration (GSA)
published an interim rule for mail management in the Federal Register
(67 FR 38896) that required agencies to stop using the U.S. Postal
Service's Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) and start using
commercial payment for postage no later than October 31, 2003. A final
rule published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2003 (68 FR
56112) extended the date for conversion to December 31, 2003. If
agencies did not convert by that date, they were required to submit a
deviation request that included a detailed plan of how they were going
to make the conversion in order to be granted the deviation. Deviation
requests could be for no longer than a period of two years. On August
25, 2008, GSA published a final rule (73 FR 49955) that completely
replaced Federal Management Regulation 102-192, Mail Management; that
final rule clarified the requirement to stop using OMAS.
The primary goal behind converting to commercial payment was to
show accountability for postage, both in terms of who was spending
money on postage within agencies as well as ensuring that agencies pay
for postage costs up front like other individuals and private
businesses, therefore encouraging better planning of resources.
Reducing costs was also a key goal of the initiative. When commercial
payment was introduced at the Department of Defense, dramatic
reductions in postage costs were realized.
Rule's Unintended Effects Lead to New Solutions
Since the final rule was published in 2003, many agencies have
successfully converted to commercial payment. However, some agencies
have found it challenging to fully convert to commercial payment, and
have submitted multiple requests for deviations as they worked toward a
solution. Therefore, for these agencies, the interim rule has created
the unintended effect of a cycle of deviation requests and paperwork
between agencies and GSA, which was not the intent of the initiative
and is not an efficient use of government resources.
As it became clear the deviation cycle was not going to end anytime
soon, GSA needed to devise alternative strategies to ensure agencies
could meet the primary goal of accountability and still achieve cost
savings even if the agencies did not implement commercial payment
processes. The impetus to make the change came from agencies that
stated they can meet the intent of the initiative, either by continuing
to use OMAS or through other means.
GSA issued a bulletin on April 11, 2008 that gave an automatic
additional one-year deviation to all of the agencies with outstanding
deviation requests as GSA developed additional options for meeting the
intent of the initiative. (An announcement of this bulletin was
published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2008 (73 FR 27540).) Upon
implementation of this proposed rule, no further deviations will be
granted for this subpart.
New Options Also Show Accountability
Before the final rule was implemented in 2003, many agencies did
not use OMAS or any other process to track their costs. Especially in
larger agencies, mail managers had no way to determine who was using
postage or if there were any ways they could be saving money.
Even when the commercial payment process idea was first introduced,
it was recognized that implementing it alone did not completely show
accountability; implementing other measures also helps round out an
agency's accountability picture. Therefore, this proposed rule allows
agencies a choice of measures to best show their accountability
portrait. The options, outlined more fully in the proposed rule,
include:
1. Convert to commercial payment processes (unchanged).
2. Show quantified dollar savings in mail costs that result from
management action, with a clear explanation of how the savings were
achieved.
3. Provide a detailed breakdown of all agency mail costs.
4. Provide names, responsibility areas, and mail costs for program
officials who are accountable for 75 percent (or more) of the agency's
postage.
5. Provide cost-per-piece data for at least 75 percent of all
outgoing mail.
If an agency can implement at least two of five of these options,
GSA believes the agency will have shown accountability for its
operations. GSA will use the annual reporting process to collect
information about how the large agencies are meeting the requirements
of this rule.
The additional strategies presented in this proposed rule do not
imply that an agency now must choose two options other than commercial
payment; if commercial payment has already been successfully
implemented or will be implemented soon in an agency that spends less
than $1 million per year on postage, then commercial payment by itself
will be deemed as meeting the accountability requirement.
B. Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is excepted from the definition of
``regulation'' or ``rule'' under Section 3(d)(3) of Executive Order
12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993 and,
therefore, was not subject to review under Section 6(b) of that
Executive Order.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule is not required to be published in the Federal
Register for notice and comment as per the exemption specified in 5
U.S.C. 553 (a)(2); therefore, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.
601, et seq., does not apply.
D. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the proposed
changes to the FMR do not impose information collection requirements
that require the approval of the Office of Management and Budget under
44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
E. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This proposed rule is exempt from Congressional review under 5
U.S.C. 801 since it relates solely to agency management and personnel.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 102-192
Government contracts, Mail, Performance measurement, Records
management, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security.
[[Page 872]]
Dated: November 18, 2008.
Gary Klein,
Associate Administrator.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, GSA proposes to amend 41
CFR part 102-192 as set forth below:
PART 102-192--MAIL MANAGEMENT
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR part 102-192 continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2904; 40 U.S.C. 121(c).
2. Revise Subpart B of 41 CFR part 102-192 to read as follows:
Subpart B--Financial Requirements for All Agencies
Sec. 102-192.50 What payment processes are we required to use?
All payments to all service providers must be made through a
process that ensures accountability to the program level, as defined in
Sec. 102-192.55.
Sec. 102-192.55 What options are available to show accountability?
(a) Your agency must show accountability by using at least two of
the following methods:
(1) Implement or continue using commercial payment processes.
(2) Show quantified dollar savings in mail costs that result from
management action, with a clear explanation of how the savings were
achieved. Dollar savings must be recent, defined as occurring within
the last five fiscal years. That is, after five fiscal years,
additional information about how the agency has achieved recent savings
and/or will continue to achieve dollar savings will be required in the
annual mail management report.
(3) Provide a detailed breakdown of all agency mail costs.
(4) Provide names, responsibility areas, and mail costs for program
officials who are accountable for 75 percent (or more) of the agency's
postage.
(5) Provide cost-per-piece data for at least 75 percent of all
outgoing mail.
(b) Agencies that spend more than $1 million per year on postage
must describe how they are showing accountability by responding fully,
beginning with the Fiscal Year 2009 report, to the questions on
accountability in the annual report format. Agencies that do not
respond fully or whose responses do not, in the judgment of the GSA
Office of Governmentwide Policy, meet the standard established in this
paragraph, will be considered out of compliance with this regulation.
Sec. 102-192.60 If my agency spends less than $1 million per year on
postage and has already converted to commercial payment processes, are
we responsible for selecting one of the additional options?
Any agency that spends less than $1 million on postage per year and
has already successfully converted to commercial payment is in
compliance with this regulation and does not need to select any
additional options presented in Sec. 102-192.55.
Sec. 102-192.65 If my agency still wants to implement the commercial
payment process, how do we do so?
Guidance on implementing a compliant payment process is in the GSA
Policy Advisory, Guidelines for Federal Agencies on Converting to
Commercial Payment Systems for Postage, which can be found at http://www.gsa.gov/mailpolicy.
3. Amend Sec. 102-192.90 by revising paragraph (f) read as
follows:
Sec. 102-192.90 What must we include in our annual mail management
report to GSA?
* * * * *
(f) Describe how your agency is ensuring accountability for postage
by identifying which two of the five methods (see Sec. 102-192.55) you
use to meet this objective and explaining in detail how these two apply
to your agency.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E9-172 Filed 1-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-14-P