Title 39 — Postal ServiceRelease 119-73

§3703 Postal Service program for State governments

Title 39 › Part PART IV— - MAIL MATTER › Chapter CHAPTER 37— - NONPOSTAL SERVICES › § 3703

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Postal Service can set up a program to make deals with State, local, or tribal governments to offer property or nonpostal services to the public for non-commercial purposes. Those services must give extra value to the public (for example, lower cost, better quality, or easier access), must not harm postal operations or make them more costly or harder to use (for example, longer waits or less parking), and each deal must bring in at least 100% of the Postal Service’s attributable costs each year. If the Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission agree some deals are basically the same, those deals can be reviewed together. Within 90 days of starting a service, the Postal Service must post the agreement and a business plan on its website describing the service, its public benefit, and how the Postal Service is reimbursed. The program must be approved by a recorded, public vote of the Governors, with a majority of Governors then in office voting yes. The Postal Service does not have to post information that other federal law protects from disclosure.

Full Legal Text

Title 39, §3703

Postal Service — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the Postal Service may establish a program to enter into agreements with an agency of any State government, local government, or tribal government to provide property or nonpostal services to the public on behalf of such agencies for non-commercial purposes, but only if—

(1)such property or nonpostal services—

(A)provide enhanced value to the public, such as by lowering the cost or raising the quality of such services or by making such services more accessible;

(B)do not interfere with or detract from the value of postal services, including by—

(i)harming the cost and efficiency of postal services; and

(ii)unreasonably restricting access to postal retail service, such as customer waiting time and access to parking; and

(2)such agreements provide a net contribution to the Postal Service, defined as reimbursement that covers at least 100 percent of the costs attributable to all property and nonpostal services provided under each relevant agreement in each year, except that agreements determined to be substantially similar by the Postal Service with the concurrence of the Postal Regulatory Commission shall be reviewed based on their collective revenue and costs attributable.

(b)Not more than 90 days after offering a service under the program, the Postal Service shall make available to the public on its website—

(1)the agreement with the agency regarding such service; and

(2)a business plan that describes the specific property or nonpostal service to be provided, the enhanced value to the public, and terms of reimbursement to the Postal Service.

(c)The Postal Service may not establish the program under subsection (a) unless the Governors of the Postal Service approve such program by a recorded vote that is publicly disclosed on the Postal Service website with a majority of the Governors then in office voting for approval.

(d)Subsection (b) shall not be construed as requiring the Postal Service to disclose to the public any information—

(1)described in section 410(c); or

(2)exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

39 U.S.C. § 3703

Title 39 — Postal Service

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73