[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 93 (Friday, May 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27375-27377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11512]
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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. MC2010-24; Order No. 457]
Review of Nonpostal Services Language
AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Commission is establishing a docket to consider the
Postal Service's proposed nonpostal services Mail Classification
Schedule language. It solicits comments to assist in this task.
DATES: Comments are due: June 4, 2010. Reply comments are due: June
18, 2010.
[[Page 27376]]
ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically via the Commission's Filing
Online system at http://www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot submit their
views electronically should contact the person identified in the For
Further Information Contact section by telephone for advice on
alternatives to electronic filing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel,
202-789-6820 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Postal Service Filings
III. Notice of Filings
IV. Ordering Paragraphs
I. Introduction
Pursuant to section 404(e) of title 39, the Commission in Order No.
154 authorized 14 activities of the Postal Service to continue as
``nonpostal services.''\1\ By this notice, the Commission initiates
Docket No. MC2010-24 to consider the Postal Service's proposed Mail
Classification Schedule (MCS) language for its authorized nonpostal
services.
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\1\ Docket No. MC2008-1, Review of Nonpostal Services Under the
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, December 19, 2008 (Order
No. 154); see also Errata Notice, January 9, 2009 (Errata), petition
denied, United States Postal Service v. Postal Regulatory
Commission, 2010 WL 1189617 No. 09-1032 (CADC, March 30, 2010).
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II. Postal Service Filings
While the proceedings resulting in Order No. 154 were ongoing, the
Postal Service filed proposed MCS language for six activities which the
Postal Service identified as nonpostal services.\2\ Of the six
activities, Order No. 154 provisionally accepted language for four
nonpostal services for insertion into the MCS.\3\
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\2\ The proposed language included the following six activities:
Officially Licensed Retail Products (OLRP), Passport Photo Service,
Photocopying Service, Electronic Postmark (EPM), Notary Public
Services, and Stored Value Cards. Docket No. MC2008-1, United States
Postal Service Notice of Filing of Proposed Mail Classification
Schedule Language for Six Nonpostal Services Pursuant to Order No.
120, November 7, 2008. For the convenience of interested persons,
the Mail Classification Schedule language proposed by the Postal
Service in this filing and two other filings, dated March 10, 2009
and April 26, 2010 and discussed further below, is attached to this
order for illustrative purposes and will not be published in the
Federal Register. The language is available on the Commission's Web
site (http://www.prc.gov).
\3\ Notary Public Services and Stored Value Cards were not
authorized as nonpostal services. Order No. 154 at 40, 89.
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Further, Order No. 154 required the Postal Service to file proposed
MCS language for the 10 other nonpostal services that it authorized.
Id. at 90.\4\ In response to Order No. 154, the Postal Service filed a
notice of proposed MCS language for those nonpostal services.\5\ One
service, the Warranty Repair Program, had been temporarily allowed
subject to review in Phase II of that proceeding. At the conclusion of
Phase II, the Warranty Repair Program was ordered terminated.
Therefore, consideration of the proposed language for that product is
moot.\6\ The Postal Service's Notice proposes to realign and combine
these authorized nonpostal services into eight products.
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\4\ Of the 10 authorized nonpostal services, Philatelic Sales
and MoverSource were classified as market dominant. The remaining
eight authorized nonpostal services classified as competitive were
Affiliates for Website, Affiliates--Other (Linking Only), FedEx Drop
Boxes, Licensing Programs Other Than Officially Licensed Retail
Products, Meter Manufacturers Marketing Program, Non-Sale Lease
Agreements (Non-Government), Training Facilities, and Warranty
Repair Program (in part, subject to review in Phase II). See Errata
at Appendix I, Part B.
\5\ United States Postal Service Notice of Filing of Proposed
Mail Classification Schedule Language for Nonpostal Activities in
Response to Order No. 154, March 10, 2009 (Notice).
\6\ The Warranty Repair Program failed to meet the grandfather
requirement for a nonpostal service under section 404(e) of title 39
insofar as it relates to the provision of service to others. Docket
No. MC2008-1(Phase II), Phase II Review of Nonpostal Services Under
the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, January 14, 2010, at
31, 39 (Order No. 392); appeals docketed, Le Page's 2000 Inc. and Le
Page's Products, Inc. v. Postal Regulatory Commission, No. 10-1031
(CADC, February 12, 2010) consolidated with United States Postal
Service v. Postal Regulatory Commission, No. 10-1033 (CADC, February
12, 2010). The decision in Phase II regarding the Warranty Repair
Program was not appealed and is final.
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The eight renamed nonpostal services are classified as follows:
Market Dominant--Alliances with the Private Sector to Defray Cost of
Key Postal Functions, and Philatelic Sales; Competitive--Rental,
Leasing, Licensing or Other Non-Sale Disposition of Tangible Property;
Advertising; Mail Services Promotion; Training Facilities and Related
Services; Licensing of Intellectual Property Other than OLRP; and
Equipment Repair Service.
For the two market dominant nonpostal products, the Postal Service
does not propose to realign Philatelic Sales. The Postal Service
proposes to align the other market dominant service, MoverSource, an
alliance with a private sector company to provide change-of-address
assistance, with another alliance, WhitePages. For each of these latter
activities, costs are defrayed through advertising solicited by the
private sector entity. The Postal Service proposes to entitle this
product ``Alliances with the Private Sector to Defray Cost of Key
Postal Functions.'' Id. at 7.
With respect to Philatelic Sales, the Postal Service filed a notice
of amendment to its proposed MCS language to incorporate into the
nonpostal Philatelic Sales product its current shipping charges for
philatelic order fulfillment.\7\ The amendment reflects the Postal
Service's proposed method for reflecting shipping fees in the MCS
pursuant to Commission Order No. 391.\8\
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\7\ Notice of the United States Postal Service of Amendment to
Mail Classification Schedule Language for Nonpostal Activities
Required to be Filed by Order No. 154, April 26, 2010.
\8\ Docket No. MC2009-19, Order Approving Addition of Postal
Service to the Mail Classification Schedule Product Lists, January
13, 2010, at 12-15 (Order No. 391).
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Web-based linking agreements are divided into three separate
categories. Agreements providing links to merchants' Web sites are
styled ``Advertising.''\9\ Agreements to list a vendor on usps.com and
to promote a vendor's mailing services or product are entitled ``Mail
Services Promotion.'' Id. at 8. The third category of web-based
alliances is the aforementioned market dominant MoverSource-WhitePages
alignment.
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\9\ The Postal Service cites as current agreements Maponics,
Label Universe, and Mail Service Provider agreements. Id. at 8.
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The Postal Service proposes to maintain the alignment of services
described in Order No. 154 for Training Facility and Licensing of
Intellectual Property Other Than OLRP.\10\ Id. at 6. The Postal Service
restyles ``Training Facility'' as ``Training Facilities and Related
Services.'' Id. at Appendix A.
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\10\ In Order No. 392, the Commission limited the scope of its
licensing authorization by denying authorization for Postal Service
branding of mailing and shipping products related to Postal Service
operations for general retail distribution. Order No. 392 at 39;
appeals docketed, see note 6, infra. The Postal Service has not
filed to amend its proposed language for ``Licensing of Intellectual
Property Other Than OLRP'' to conform to Order No. 392.
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The Postal Service proposes to rename some competitive nonpostal
services to reflect more accurately the nature of the activities within
each service. Id. at 3. The Postal Service asserts that to reduce
potential confusion, some nonpostal activities are realigned to be
independent of the names of current vendors or programs, or the
location of the activity. This permits the Postal Service to enter into
a similar agreement with others, or to accept advertising for other
products in other venues. Id. at 4. Some similar services are grouped
together such as certain web-based agreements within the broader
category of Advertising. Id. at 4-5. Additionally, the Postal Service
[[Page 27377]]
requests that web-based linking agreements providing links to merchant
websites be treated as price categories rather than separate products
pending review in a rulemaking on the form and content of rules for
nonpostal services. Id. at 5. The Postal Service asserts that
designating the linking agreements as price categories pending further
review removes uncertainty as to whether a section 3642 proceeding to
add new products to the MCS would be required for any new web-based
linking agreements. Id.
The nonpostal service described in Order No. 154 as Non-Sale Lease
Agreements (Non-Government) includes leasing of parking facilities,
office space, antenna towers, advertising, storage, and retail lobby
space. Order No. 154 at 66. Non-sale dispositions of real property are
sometimes structured as a ``license'' of real property. Notice at 9-10.
The FedEx Drop Boxes arrangement identified in Order No. 154 as a
separate nonpostal service also involves the licensing or rental of
real property. Id. at 10.
The Postal Service notes that the Commission did not specifically
address the rental of personal property in Order No. 154 and proposes
to include the rental of equipment such as forklifts within this group.
The Postal Service further notes that for years it has rented personal
property such as exercise and audio visual equipment as part of its
training facilities operations, but charges are accounted for as part
of the training operations, and the Postal Service does not recommend
including them in this description. Id. The Postal Service proposes to
retitle this group of activities ``Leasing, Licensing and Other Non-
Sale Disposal of Tangible Property.'' Id.
III. Notice of Filings
The Commission establishes Docket No. MC2010-24 for consideration
of the Postal Service's proposed language for nonpostal products
attached to this order to be included in the MCS.
As noted above, the MCS language recognized by the Postal Service
is attached to this order. Part 3020 of the Commission's rules provides
for establishing product lists. Subpart A of the current MCS rules
includes provisions for nonpostal products. 39 CFR 3020.13(a)(6) and
(b)(5). Subpart B provides for changes to the product lists initiated
by the Postal Service. The Commission will treat the Postal Service's
filings as a unified request to modify the product lists.\11\
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\11\ Because the Postal Service's filings are pursuant to
Commission orders, the filing requirements of subpart B shall, to
the extent necessary, be waived.
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Under section 3020.34 of the rules, upon review of these Postal
Service filings together with comments of interested parties, the
Commission may approve the requests, institute further proceedings,
permit the Postal Service an opportunity to modify its request, or take
other appropriate action. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 404(e)(5) and 39 CFR
3020.33, the Commission provides interested persons an opportunity to
express views and offer comments on the planned modifications and
whether they are consistent with the policies of 39 U.S.C. 3642.
Comments on the proposed nonpostal services MCS language filed by
the Postal Service are due no later than June 4, 2010. Reply comments,
if any, are due June 18, 2010.
Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Emmett Rand Costich is appointed to
serve as 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. MC2010-24 is established to consider the Postal
Service's proposed nonpostal product Mail Classification Schedule
language filed with its notices of March 10, 2009 and April 26, 2010,
together with the nonpostal service Mail Classification Schedule
language for four nonpostal services filed November 7, 2008 referred to
in the body of this order.
2. Docket No. MC2009-20 is closed.
3. Comments are due no later than June 4, 2010.
4. Reply comments are due no later than June 18, 2010.
5. The Commission appoints Emmett Rand Costich as Public
Representative to represent the interests of the general public in this
proceeding.
6. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this order in the
Federal Register.
By the Commission.
Shoshana M. Grove,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-11512 Filed 5-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-S