[Federal Register: February 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 37)]
[Notices]
[Page 9613-9614]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe06-122]
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POSTAL RATE COMMISSION
[Docket No. N2006-1; Order No. 1453]
Postal Service Network Realignment
AGENCY: Postal Rate Commission.
ACTION: Order.
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SUMMARY: This order informs the public that the Postal Service has
filed a case with the Commission on the proposed realignment of the
Nation's mail processing and transportation network. The realignment is
expected to have an impact on delivery service standards. The order,
among other things, addresses initial steps in the case, identifies key
dates, and directs interested parties to the Commission's Web site for
pertinent documents.
DATES: 1. March 17, 2006: Deadline for filing notices of intervention,
answers to a combined motion on scheduling and special rules of
practice, and requests for a hearing.
2. March 24, 2006: Prehearing conference (9:30 a.m.)
ADDRESSES: Submit documents electronically via the Commission's Filing
Online system at http://www.prc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, general counsel,
at 202-789-6818.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that on February 14,
2006, the United States Postal Service filed a request with the Postal
Rate Commission pursuant to section 3661 of the Postal Reorganization
Act, 39 U.S.C. 101 et seq., for an advisory opinion on anticipated
changes in the application of current service standards to numerous 3-
digit ZIP Code service area origin-destination pairs for different
classes of mail.\1\ The Postal Service states that these changes ``are
expected to result from a system-wide review and realignment of the
Postal Service's mail processing and transportation networks.'' \2\
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\1\ Request of the United States Postal Service for an Advisory
Opinion on Changes in Postal Services, February 14, 2006.
\2\ Id. at 1. (Footnote omitted.)
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The Postal Service's request states that it has determined to adopt
a process for conducting an in-depth examination and reconfiguration of
its mail processing and transportation networks during the next several
years. As part of a centrally directed program, the Service anticipates
that numerous mail processing and transportation changes will be
proposed at the local level and submitted to Postal Service
headquarters for approval. Because current service standards for mail
delivery are based on logistical considerations, the Service expects
that its planned network and transportation changes will result in
determinations to adjust some of the service standards that now apply
to numerous 3-digit ZIP Code area origin-destination pairs for various
classes of mail. However, the Postal Service does not propose to change
the ranges of days to delivery incorporated in current service
standards for any class or subclass of mail.
The Postal Service's request is accompanied and supported by two
pieces of testimony and eight library references. The request and all
supporting materials are on file in the Commission's docket room for
inspection during regular business hours, and are available on the
Commission's Web site at http://www.prc.gov.
Proposed procedural schedule and special rules of practice. Also
accompanying the Postal Service request is a motion for adoption of an
expedited procedural schedule and of special rules of practice that
would shorten procedural deadlines for interrogatory response,
objections to interrogatories, and replies to motions.\3\ The Service
proposes a sequence of expedited deadlines for discovery, hearings,
responsive testimony, and briefs in order to enable the Commission to
issue an advisory opinion on its request no later than May 5, 2006. The
earliest deadline in the proposed schedule would require a much shorter
deadline for interventions that the norm in Commission proceedings. The
Postal Service states that it proposes this procedural timetable
because it ``presently intends to implement the service changes
resulting from the initial wave of operational changes produced by its
network realignment review program'' on or about May 15, 2006.\4\
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\3\ Motion of the United States Postal Service for the Adoption
of Proposed Procedural Schedule and Special Rules of Practice,
February 14, 2006.
\4\ Id. at 2.
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Further procedures. Section 3661(c) of title 39 requires that the
Commission afford an opportunity for a formal, on-the-record hearing on
the Postal Service's request under the terms specified in sections 556
and 557 of title 5 of the United States Code before issuing its
advisory opinion. All interested parties are hereby notified that
notices of intervention in this proceedings shall be due on March 17,
2006. Any participant requesting a hearing in this matter shall so
state in conformance with 39 CFR 3001.20(b).
At this time, the Commission cannot anticipate the duration, or
even the exact form, appropriate for proceedings on this matter.
Participants who wish to offer their views on these issues may do so in
their interventions. Additionally, responses to the Postal Service's
motion for adoption of its proposed procedural schedule and special
rules of practice shall be due on March 17, 2006. The Commission will
hold a prehearing conference in this docket on March 24, 2006.
Public participation. Section 3661(c) of title 39 requires the
participation of an ``officer of the Commission who shall be required
to represent the interest of the general public'' in these proceedings.
The Commission will designate an individual to perform this function in
a separate order to be issued in the near future.
Ordering Paragraphs
It is ordered:
1. The Commission establishes Docket No. N2006-1 to consider the
Postal Service request referred to in the body of this order.
2. The Commission will act en banc in this proceeding.
3. Notices of interventions shall be filed no later than March 17,
2006.
4. Answers to the Postal Service's Motion for the Adoption of
Proposed Procedural Schedule and Special Rules of Practice are due on
March 17, 2006.
5. A prehearing conference is scheduled for March 24, 2006, at 9:30
a.m., in the Commission's hearing room.
6. Participants who wish to request a hearing on the Postal
Service's request in this docket shall submit such a request, together
with statements in conformance with 39 CFR 3001.20(b), on or before
March 17, 2006.
7. The Secretary shall cause this notice and order to be published
in the Federal Register.
By the Commission.
[[Page 9614]]
Issued: February 17, 2006.
Steven W. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 06-1706 Filed 2-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-M