119-hr765

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 765 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 765

 To improve communication between the United States Postal Service and 
 local communities relating to the relocation and establishment of 
 Postal Service retail service facilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 28, 2025

 Mr. Fulcher (for himself and Mr. Simpson) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 
 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To improve communication between the United States Postal Service and 
 local communities relating to the relocation and establishment of 
 Postal Service retail service facilities, 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 ``Mandating Advisable and Informed 
Locations and Solutions Act'' or the ``MAILS Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Post office.--The term ``post office''--
        (A) means a facility that--
            (i) is owned or leased by the Postal 
 Service;
            (ii) is managed by a Postmaster;
            (iii) has responsibility for--
            (I) customer services;
            (II) local delivery; and
            (III) receipt and dispatch of all 
 classes of mail; and
            (iv) may have responsibility for processing 
 and distribution of mail for other such 
 facilities in the surrounding geographic area; 
 and
        (B) includes a remotely managed post office, a 
 part-time post office, and an administrative post 
 office.

    (2) Postal service.--The term ``Postal Service'' means the 
 United States Postal Service.

    (3) Temporary relocation.--The term ``temporary 
 relocation'' means a temporary relocation of retail services 
 from a post office to support Postal Service business for a 
 holiday, special event, or overflow business, as described in 
 paragraph

    (a)

    (2)
            (i) of 

section 241.4 of title 39, Code of 
 Federal Regulations.

SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR NEW POST OFFICES.

 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Postal Service shall establish by regulation a formal process for a 
local government official to request a new post office within the 
locality.

SEC. 4. COMMUNICATION RELATING TO POST OFFICE RELOCATION.

 The Postal Service shall amend 

section 241.4 of title 39, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to provide the following:

    (1) Community input.--The Postal Service may not implement 
 a temporary relocation, including for a commemorative event, 
 for a period longer than 2 days without collecting and 
 considering community input under paragraph
            (c) of that 
 section.

    (2) Notification.--
        (A) Elected officials.--Not later than 30 days 
 before the date of a temporary relocation, the Postal 
 Service shall--
            (i) submit to 1 or more local elected 
 officials in the area in which the affected 
 post office is located a written outline of the 
 proposal; and
            (ii) offer to discuss the proposal with the 
 elected official under paragraph
            (c) of that 
 section.
        (B) Public presentation.--The Postal Service 
 shall--
            (i) not later than 15 days before the date 
 of a temporary relocation, provide public 
 notice of the temporary relocation in the area 
 in which the affected post office is located; 
 and
            (ii) not later than 15 days after providing 
 notice to local elected officials under 
 subparagraph
        (A)
            (i) , hold a public presentation 
 under paragraph
            (c) of that section.

    (3) Periodic updates.--Not later than 60 days after the end 
 of the initial 30-day comment period under paragraph
            (c) of 
 that section, and every 60 days thereafter until the date that 
 is 60 days after the last day of a temporary relocation, the 
 Postal Service shall submit to relevant local government 
 officials updates on the status of the temporary relocation.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    (a) Report Required.--With respect to any temporary relocation for 
a period that is longer than 180 days (whether due to the originally 
projected length of the relocation or due to an extension), not later 
than 30 days after the first day of the temporary relocation (or of the 
extension that caused the length of the relocation to exceed 180 days, 
if applicable), the Postal Service shall submit a report relating to 
the temporary relocation or extension to--

    (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
 Affairs of the Senate;

    (2) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 
 House of Representatives; and

    (3) the members of Congress who represent the congressional 
 district or State in which the affected post office is located.

    (b) Contents of Report.--Each report described in subsection

    (a) shall include a discussion of--

    (1) whether the communication requirements were met within 
 the required timelines, and if not, an explanation for the 
 failure to comply with the requirements; and

    (2) whether the period of the temporary relocation is being 
 extended, and if so, an explanation for the extension.
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