§3204 — Title 39 Postal Service | U.S. Code

Summary

Federal officers, departments, and independent agencies must not send things as penalty mail (mail sent without charging postage) unless the agency already got a request to send it or some law says the mailing must happen. The rule still allows penalty mail for eight kinds of official material, such as items tied to official letters, U.S. Census releases, government securities information, agency forms and rules, agricultural bulletins, lists of public documents for sale, announcements about maps or reports for sale, and items sent to schools, public libraries, or public authorities.

Title 39, §3204

Postal Service — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section or section 3220(a) of this title, an officer, executive department, or independent establishment of the Government of the United States may not mail, as penalty mail, any article or document unless—

(1)a request therefor has been previously received by the department or establishment; or

(2)its mailings is required by law.

(b)Subsection (a) of this section does not prohibit the mailing, as penalty mail, by an officer, executive department, or independent agency of—

(1)enclosures reasonably related to the subject matter of official correspondence;

(2)informational releases relating to the census of the United States and authorized by title 13;

(3)matter concerning the sale of Government securities;

(4)forms, blanks, and copies of statutes, rules, regulations, instructions, administrative orders, and interpretations necessary in the administration of the department or establishment;

(5)agricultural bulletins;

(6)lists of public documents offered for sale by the Superintendent of Documents;

(7)announcements of the publication of maps, atlases, and statistical and other reports offered for sale by the Federal Power Commission as authorized by section 825k of title 16; or

(8)articles or documents to educational institutions or public libraries, or to Federal, State, or other public authorities.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1985—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–87 substituted “section or section 3220(a) of this title,” for “section,” in introductory provisions.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective July 1, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–9 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.

Transfer of Functions

The Federal Power Commission was terminated, and its functions, personnel, property, funds, etc., were transferred to the Secretary of Energy (except for certain functions which were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) by section 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

§3204 Restrictions on use of penalty mail