# 2026-19720: Postal Service Streamlines Its Eco-Impact Checklists

2026-19720, National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures, is a Federal Register rule from Postal Service published 2026-09-25, effective 2026-09-25; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-02).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19720
- As of: 2026-10-02
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-19720
- Title: National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Postal Service
- Citation: 91 FR 60827
- Published: 2026-09-25
- Effective: 2026-09-25
- Comments close: 2026-10-26
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-10-02

## In one line

Postal Service Streamlines Its Eco-Impact Checklists

## Summary

The United States Postal Service is updating its rules for how it checks the environmental impact of its actions, making the process simpler and clearer. This affects USPS employees and anyone interested in how the Postal Service protects the environment. The new rules start on September 25, 2026, and the USPS wants your feedback by October 26, 2026—no extra costs involved, just smarter steps!

## Abstract

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is publishing this interim final rule with request for comments to partially rescind and update its remaining National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures, which were promulgated to implement the now- rescinded Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations.

## Effects PRIA read

- Postal Rate Actions No Longer Need NEPA Review: cost, medium. The rule places "postal rate or mail classification actions" in Appendix A as administrative and routine actions that are excepted from NEPA review. That means USPS postal rate or classification actions are explicitly treated as not subject to NEPA review under the new Part 775.
- Workforce Reductions Under 1,000 Exempted From NEPA: cost, medium. Appendix A lists "Reduction in force resulting from workload adjustments, reduced personnel or funding levels, skill imbalances or other similar causes that do not affect more than 1,000 positions" as a routine personnel action excepted from NEPA review. Such reductions of up to 1,000 positions are…
- Faster Processing Network Changes Can Skip NEPA: mixed, medium. The rule adds categorical exclusion B1.g for "processing network actions necessary to improve performance and achieve operational efficiencies," which explicitly includes examples such as lengthening a service standard, routing through hubs, facility consolidations, and workforce reduction, provide…
- Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Purchases Eligible for Categorical Exclusion: benefit, low. Categorical exclusion B1.f covers procurement and/or fuel conversion of vehicles if the new vehicles have both comparable or improved relative fuel efficiency and comparable or lower relative air emissions compared with the vehicles being replaced. When those two conditions are met, routine vehicle…

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## Sources
- [2026-19720 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/25/2026-19720/national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-procedures)
- [2026-19720 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-25/pdf/2026-19720.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2026-19696, Driving Efficiency in Farm Loan Delivery; Correction](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19696)
- [Next: 2026-19722, IFR Altitudes; Miscellaneous Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19722)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19720 (as of 2026-10-02).