[Federal Register: March 28, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 60)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 14826-14828] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28mr97_dat-17] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 111 Domestic Mail Manual: Availability and Publication AGENCY: Postal Service. ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This final rule revises and updates references to organizational names of Postal Service administrative units in title 39, Code of Federal Regulations, part 111, that relate to the Domestic Mail Manual. The Postal Service publishes its rules and procedures for domestic mail preparation, mail classification, postage rates and fees, and other mailing requirements in the Domestic Mail Manual, which is incorporated by reference in 39 CFR part 111. This rule also sets the publishing procedures for announcing all changes to the Domestic Mail Manual and identifies the two documents used to record those changes, both as interim and final regulations published in the Federal Register and as minor changes published in the Postal Bulletin outside the rulemaking process. In addition, references to subscription and frequency of issuance of the Domestic Mail Manual are revised. EFFECTIVE DATE: March 28, 1997. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neil Berger, (202) 268-2859. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To make the Domestic Mail Manual more accessible and more usable for postal customers, the Postal Service redesigned the layout and reorganized the content of the document after many months of consultation with postal customers and postal employees. The result of this work was Domestic Mail Manual Issue 46, released on July 1, 1993. Subsequent issues of the Domestic Mail Manual have continued the general design and editorial style of Issue 46, with further refinements such as a series of reference guides and a separate 10-panel rate table identified as Notice 123, Ratefold. The current Domestic Mail Manual, now printed in a looseleaf format with tab dividers, evolved from a bound document printed and distributed quarterly in March, June, September, and December each year. Other than changes to postal rates and fees based on filings with the Postal Rate Commission, the implementation date for most changes to mailing standards was generally the issue date of the quarterly publication of that former style of the Domestic Mail Manual. Summaries of these changes were announced in the Postal Bulletin describing which standards were to be revised before the printing and distribution of the Domestic Mail Manual. Although this process appeared to give mailers and employees adequate time for preparation, training, and implementation of the changes, the publication of only summaries and not the complete implementing text was inadequate for mailers who used computerized methods to sort their mail. Those mailers, as well as software developers, needed to review and interpret the complete text and incorporate the changes into their software and mailing operations before the effective date of the next issue of the Domestic Mail Manual. As a consequence, the Postal Service in 1991 began publishing the full text to all Domestic Mail Manual changes. Many changes in mail preparation standards that began in the mid- 1980s, and have continued to the present time, came from the transition from manual and mechanized sorting methods to largely automated methods that relied on optical character recognition and other forms of computerized technology. As technology for mail processing improved, the rate of change to mail preparation standards and the expected consequences from those changes eroded the quarterly cycle of announcement followed by publication of the Domestic Mail Manual. For most mailers, the value and significance of changes for better service outweighed maintaining a schedule of changes tied to a rigid publication cycle. After the major shift to automation rates in 1991, the Postal Service began to implement changes at an even faster pace than envisioned in the 1980s. Some changes came about to upgrade operational networks and match [[Page 14827]] processes to machines that were installed. Other changes occurred to meet a wider range of mailer requirements for enhanced services and for new products. Now that mail preparation and mail processing have reached the point of near dependence on computer-controlled technology, the Postal Service recognizes the need to ensure proper, efficient, and widespread announcement of all significant changes to mail preparation standards. Part of this process is to establish a central place where all changes are published, codified, stored, and made available to the greatest number of mailers while allowing flexibility in implementation. The Federal Register, as appropriate, issued each workday by the Office of the Federal Register, and the Postal Bulletin, issued every 2 weeks by the Postal Service, will serve as the two official places to announce changes to the Domestic Mail Manual. As the Postal Service amends or revises rules and procedures in the Domestic Mail Manual, it generally publishes notices in the Federal Register for public comment on proposed rules for changes to rates, classification, and certain significant mailing requirements. These proposed rules are then followed by notices of the final rules and responses to comments from the public. From time to time, the Postal Service publishes final rules in the Federal Register without initially soliciting public comment. Typographical corrections, nonsubstantive changes, and minor amendments to mail preparation standards are officially published and recorded in the Postal Bulletin, the biweekly document issued by the Postal Service to announce changes to policies and procedures in all six of its policy manuals: Administrative Support Manual, Domestic Mail Manual, Employee and Labor Relations Manual, Finance Management Manual, International Mail Manual, and Postal Operations Manual. As an immediate reference for readers and mailers who do not receive or subscribe to the Federal Register, the mail preparation standards contained in the final rules published in the Federal Register that amend the Domestic Mail Manual are also published in the Postal Bulletin. After an official announcement is published in the Federal Register or in the Postal Bulletin to amend or revise the Domestic Mail Manual, other printed and electronic means supported by the Postal Service may also be used to broadcast these changes and support customer requirements between issues of the Domestic Mail Manual. The following final rule revising title 39, Code of Federal Regulations, part 111, provides the basis for the Postal Service to administer that process. List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 111 Postal Service. In consideration of the foregoing, 39 CFR part 111 is amended as set forth below: PART 111--[AMENDED] 1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 111 continues to read as follows: Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C 101, 401, 403, 404, 3001- 3011, 3201-3219, 3403-3406, 3621, 3626, 5001. 2. Section 111.1 is revised to read as follows: Sec. 111.1 Domestic Mail Manual; incorporated by reference of regulations governing domestic mail services. Section 552(a) of title 5, U.S.C., relating to the public information requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, provides in pertinent part that ``* * * matter reasonably available to the class of persons affected thereby is deemed published in the Federal Register when incorporated by reference therein with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register.'' In conformity with that provision, and with 39 U.S.C. section 410(b)(1), and as provided in this part, the U.S. Postal Service hereby incorporates by reference in this part, the Domestic Mail Manual, a looseleaf document published twice each year in January and July, unless otherwise determined by the Postal Service. 3. Section 111.2 is revised to read as follows: Sec. 111.2 Availability of the Domestic Mail Manual. (a) Copies of the Domestic Mail Manual, both current and previous issues, are available during regular business hours for reference and public inspection at the U.S. Postal Service Library, National Headquarters in Washington, DC. Copies of only the current issue are available during regular business hours for public inspection at area and district offices of the Postal Service and at all post offices, classified stations, and classified branches. (b) A copy of the current Domestic Mail Manual is on file with the Director, Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC. (c) A 1-year subscription to the Domestic Mail Manual for two consecutive issues can be purchased by the public from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402-9375. 4. Section 111.3 is amended by revising paragraphs (a) through (d), by redesignating paragraph (e) as paragraph (f) by revising the introductory text of newly redesignated paragraph (f) and entries 44 through 51 in the table in the newly redesignated paragraph (f) and adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows: Sec. 111.3 Amendments to the Domestic Mail Manual. (a) Except for interim or final regulations published as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, only notices rather than complete text of changes made to the Domestic Mail Manual are published in the Federal Register. These notices are published in the form of one summary transmittal letter for each issue of the Domestic Mail Manual. A complete issue of the Domestic Mail Manual, including the text of all changes published to date, will be filed with the Director, Office of the Federal Register. Subscribers to the Domestic Mail Manual receive the latest issue of the Domestic Mail Manual from the Government Printing Office. (b) When the Postal Service invites comments from the public on a proposed change to the Domestic Mail Manual, the proposed change and, if adopted, the full text of the interim or the final regulation is published in the Federal Register. (c) The Postal Bulletin contains the full text of all interim and final regulations published as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, and the full text of all other changes to the Domestic Mail Manual that are summarized in the notices published under paragraph (a) of this section, except for nonsubstantive changes and corrections of typographical errors. The Postal Bulletin is a biweekly document issued by the Postal Service to amend and revise policies and procedures. A 1- year subscription to the Postal Bulletin and certain back copies can be purchased by the public from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402-9371. (d) Interim regulations published in full text or referenced as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, are published, as appropriate, in the Domestic Mail Manual in full text or referenced at the place where they would appear if they become final regulations. (e) Announcements of changes to the Domestic Mail Manual not published in the Federal Register as provided in [[Page 14828]] paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section and not published in the Postal Bulletin as provided in paragraph (c) are not deemed final under the provisions of this part 111. (f) For references to amendments to the Domestic Mail Manual adopted under paragraph (b) of this section after issuance of the most recent transmittal letter (termed Summary of Changes in the Domestic Mail Manual) listed below, see Sec. 111.3 in the List of CFR Sections affected at the end of this volume. * * * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transmittal letter for Federal Register issue Dated publication ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * * * 44..................... September 20, 1992.... 61 FR 67218 45..................... December 20, 1992..... 61 FR 67218 46..................... July 1, 1993.......... 61 FR 67218 47..................... April 10, 1994........ 61 FR 67218 48..................... January 1, 1995....... 61 FR 67218 49..................... September 1, 1995..... 61 FR 67218 50..................... July 1, 1996.......... 61 FR 60190 51..................... January 1, 1997....... 61 FR 64618 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * * * Stanley F. Mires, Chief Counsel, Legislative. [FR Doc. 97-7862 Filed 3-27-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7710-12-P