[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR23.3]

[Page 209-210]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
PART 23--USE OF PENALTY MAIL IN THE LOCATION AND RECOVERY OF MISSING CHILDREN--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 23.3  Plan.

    (a) The Department of Commerce will supplement and expand the 
national effort to assist in the location and recovery of missing 
children through the economical use of missing children information in 
domestic penalty mail directed to the public and Federal employees.
    (b) The Department of Commerce may include, on or inside authorized 
types of penalty mail, pictures and biographical data related to missing 
children, provided such use is determined to be cost effective. The 
authorized types of penalty mail include:
    (1) All envelopes; and
    (2) Self-mailer publications (newsletters, bulletins, etc.) with a 
shelf-life of no more than 90 days.
    (c) The manner in which pictures and biographical data may be used 
includes:
    (1) Printing on envelopes at the time they are initially printed 
with the United States Postal Service (USPS) required postal code 
identification;
    (2) Printed inserts that are placed in envelopes along with other 
mailing material;
    (3) Stickers that are printed and placed on envelopes prior to 
mailing; and
    (4) Printing as part of the content of self-mailers such as bureau 
newsletters, bulletins, etc.

[[Page 210]]

    (d) Missing children information will not be placed on letter-size 
envelopes in the areas described as the ``Penalty Indicia Area,'' ``OCR 
Read Area,'' ``Bar Code Read Area,'' and ``Return Address Area'' per 
Appendix A of the OJJDP guidelines.
    (e) The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (National 
Center) will be the sole source from which the Department of Commerce 
will obtain the camera-ready and other photographic and biographical 
materials for use by organizational units. Photographs which were 
reasonably current as of the time of the child's disappearance shall be 
the only acceptable form of visual media or pictorial likeness used on 
or in penalty mail.
    (f) The Department of Commerce will remove all printed penalty mail 
envelopes and other materials from circulation or other use (i.e., use 
or destroy) within 90 days of notification by the National Center of the 
need to withdraw penalty mail envelopes and other materials related to a 
particular child from circulation. The Department of Commerce will not 
include missing children information on blank pages or covers of items 
such as those to be included in the Superintendent of Documents' Sales 
Program, or to be distributed to Depository Libraries, as such material 
generally could not be withdrawn from use within 90 days of 
notification. The National Center will be responsible for immediately 
notifying the Department Contact Person, in writing, of the need to 
withdraw from circulation penalty mail envelopes and other materials 
related to a particular child.
    (g) The Department of Commerce will give priority:
    (1) To penalty mail that is addressed to the public for receipt in 
the United States, its territories and possessions; and
    (2) To inter- and intra-agency publications and other media that 
will be widely disseminated to and viewed by Federal employees.
    (h) All suggestions and/or recommendations for innovative, cost-
effective techniques should be forwarded to the Department Contact 
Person. The Department Contact Person shall conduct biannual meetings of 
departmental representatives to discuss the current plan and 
recommendations for future plans.
    (i) This shall be the sole regulation implementing this program for 
the Department of Commerce.