Title 39Postal ServiceRelease 119-73not60

§3654 Additional Financial Reporting

Title 39 › Part IV— MAIL MATTER › Chapter 36— POSTAL RATES, CLASSES, AND SERVICES › Subchapter IV— REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND RELATED PROVISIONS › § 3654

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Postal Service must start, in the first full fiscal year after this law takes effect, sending regular financial reports to the Postal Regulatory Commission. It must file a quarterly report within 40 days after each quarter ends, an annual report within 60 days after each fiscal year ends, and other periodic reports on the same schedule and with the same kinds of facts required by the SEC’s Form 8-K. For those reporting rules, the Postal Service is treated like an SEC registrant and must follow SEC rules. The annual report for fiscal year 2010 and after must follow the Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 rules. Annual reports must include detailed information about the Postal Service’s pension and retiree health obligations. That includes funded status; what changed in the funds and why; periodic cost components; actuarial methods and assumptions; the effect of a one-percentage-point rise in health cost trend; actual contributions and payments and estimates for the next 5 years; plan asset makeup; and assumed and actual rates of return. The Office of Personnel Management must give this data within 30 days after year end. Reports for 2010 and later must include segment reporting after the Postal Service talks with the Commission. An independent auditor must say whether the pension and health information is fairly stated. The Commission can see audit papers and take action to improve data quality. If the Postal Service gives nonpublic material that it believes is confidential under section 410(c) or section 552(b) of title 5, it must notify the Commission in writing when it provides the material and explain why confidentiality is requested; the Commission will protect that material as provided elsewhere in the law.

Full Legal Text

Title 39, §3654

Postal Service — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Postal Service shall file with the Postal Regulatory Commission beginning with the first full fiscal year following the effective date of this section—
(A)within 40 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, a quarterly report containing the information required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be included in quarterly reports under section 13 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m, 78o(d)) on Form 10–Q, as such Form (or any successor form) may be revised from time to time;
(B)within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, an annual report containing the information required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be included in annual reports under such sections on Form 10–K, as such Form (or any successor form) may be revised from time to time; and
(C)periodic reports within the time frame and containing the information prescribed in Form 8–K of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as such Form (or any successor form) may be revised from time to time.
(2)For purposes of defining the reports required by paragraph (1), the Postal Service shall be deemed to be the “registrant” described in the Securities and Exchange Commission Forms, and references contained in such Forms to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations are incorporated herein by reference, as amended.
(3)For purposes of defining the reports required by paragraph (1)(B), the Postal Service shall comply with the rules prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commission implementing section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262), beginning with the annual report for fiscal year 2010.
(b)11 So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
(1)The reports required by subsection (a)(1)(B) shall include, with respect to the Postal Service’s pension and post-retirement health obligations—
(A)the funded status of the Postal Service’s pension and postretirement health obligations;
(B)components of the net change in the fund balances and obligations and the nature and cause of any significant changes;
(C)components of net periodic costs;
(D)cost methods and assumptions underlying the relevant actuarial valuations;
(E)the effect of a one-percentage point increase in the assumed health care cost trend rate for each future year on the service and interest costs components of net periodic postretirement health cost and the accumulated obligation;
(F)actual contributions to and payments from the funds for the years presented and the estimated future contributions and payments for each of the following 5 years;
(G)the composition of plan assets reflected in the fund balances; and
(H)the assumed rate of return on fund balances and the actual rates of return for the years presented.
(2)The Office of Personnel Management shall provide the data listed under paragraph (1) to the Postal Service not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year.
(3)(A)Beginning with reports for the fiscal year 2010, for purposes of the reports required under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (a)(1), the Postal Service shall include segment reporting.
(B)The Postal Service shall determine the appropriate segment reporting under subparagraph (A) after consultation with the Postal Regulatory Commission.
(c)For purposes of the reports required by subsection (a)(1)(B), the Postal Service shall obtain an opinion from an independent auditor on whether the information listed in subsection (b) is fairly stated in all material respects, either in relation to the basic financial statements as a whole or on a stand-alone basis.
(d)The Postal Regulatory Commission shall have access to the audit documentation and any other supporting matter of the Postal Service and its independent auditor in connection with any information submitted under this section.
(e)The Postal Regulatory Commission may, on its own motion or on request of an interested party, initiate proceedings (to be conducted in accordance with regulations that the Commission shall prescribe) to improve the quality, accuracy, or completeness of Postal Service data required under this section whenever it shall appear that—
(1)the data have become significantly inaccurate or can be significantly improved; or
(2)those revisions are, in the judgment of the Commission, otherwise necessitated by the public interest.
(f)(1)If the Postal Service determines that any document or portion of a document, or other matter, which it provides to the Postal Regulatory Commission in a nonpublic annex under this section or pursuant to subsection (d) contains information which is described in section 410(c) of this title, or exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, the Postal Service shall, at the time of providing such matter to the Commission, notify the Commission of its determination, in writing, and describe with particularity the documents (or portions of documents) or other matter for which confidentiality is sought and the reasons therefor.
(2)Any information or other matter described in paragraph (1) to which the Commission gains access under this section shall be subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 504(g) in the same way as if the Commission had received notification with respect to such matter under section 504(g)(1).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The

Effective Date

of this section, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 109–435, which enacted this section and was approved Dec. 20, 2006.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

39 U.S.C. § 3654

Title 39Postal Service

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60