Title 39, Postal ServiceRelease 119-110

§3705 Transparency and Accountability for Nonpostal Services

Title 39 › PART IV — MAIL MATTER › CHAPTER 37 — NONPOSTAL SERVICES › § 3705

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Postal Service must send a yearly report to the Postal Regulatory Commission within 90 days after the end of each year. The report must analyze costs, revenues, rates, and service quality for each agreement (or similar groups of agreements) that provide property or nonpostal services under sections 3703 or 3704, and for any other nonpostal service allowed by this chapter. The report must include private annexes, working papers, and Inspector General support materials. The Commission will set rules for what the report looks like and what it must contain. When making those rules the Commission must try to give the public enough information to judge compliance, avoid unnecessary work or cost for the Postal Service, and protect commercially sensitive or otherwise legally protected information. The Inspector General must regularly audit the data and systems used to make the report and send the audit results to the Postal Service and the Commission. If the Postal Service gives documents it thinks are confidential, it must tell the Commission in writing and explain why. After the Commission gets the report, it must allow public comment and name an officer to speak for the public. The Commission then has 90 days to issue a written decision saying whether the Postal Service followed the chapter’s rules that year. Failure to meet the rules for covering attributable costs is treated as noncompliance. If the Commission finds noncompliance, it must act. If cost coverage rules are not met, the Commission must, within 60 days, order fixes to restore compliance as soon as possible, including making up revenue shortfalls the following year, and it may stop services that repeatedly fail. For deliberate noncompliance, the Commission may order fines; fine money goes to the Treasury general fund. The Commission must issue any regulations needed to carry out these duties. The Postal Service may run market tests of such agreements under the same terms as section 3641, and cost coverage rules do not apply to those market tests.

Full Legal Text

Title 39, §3705

Postal Service, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Annual Report to the Commission.—

(1)In general.—

Not later than 90 days after the last day of each year, the Postal Service shall submit to the Postal Regulatory Commission a report that analyzes costs, revenues, rates, and quality of service for each agreement or substantially similar set of agreements for the provision of property or nonpostal services under section 3703 or the program as a whole under section 3704, and any other nonpostal service authorized under this chapter, using such methodologies as the Commission may prescribe, and in sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

(2)Supporting matter.—

A report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include any nonpublic annex, the working papers, and any other supporting matter of the Postal Service and the Inspector General related to the information submitted in such report.

(b)Content and Form of Report.—

(1)In general.—

The Postal Regulatory Commission shall, by regulation, prescribe the content and form of the report required under subsection (a). In prescribing such regulations, the Commission shall give due consideration to—

(A)providing the public with timely, adequate information to assess compliance;

(B)avoiding unnecessary or unwarranted administrative effort and expense on the part of the Postal Service; and

(C)protecting the confidentiality of information that is commercially sensitive or is exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5.

(2)Revised requirements.—

The Commission may, on its own motion or on request of any interested party, initiate proceedings to improve the quality, accuracy, or completeness of Postal Service data required by the Commission if—

(A)the attribution of costs or revenues to property, products, or services under this chapter has become significantly inaccurate or can be significantly improved;

(B)the quality of service data provided to the Commission for a report under this chapter has become significantly inaccurate or can be significantly improved; or

(C)such revisions are, in the judgment of the Commission, otherwise necessitated by the public interest.

(c)Audits.—

The Inspector General shall regularly audit the data collection systems and procedures used in collecting information and preparing the report required under subsection (a). The results of any such audit shall be submitted to the Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission.

(d)Confidential Information.—

(1)In general.—

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 contains information described in section 410(c), 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)Treatment.—

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).

(e)Annual Compliance Determination.—

(1)Opportunity for public comment.—

Upon receiving a report required under subsection (a), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall promptly—

(A)provide an opportunity for comment on such report by any interested party; and

(B)appoint an officer of the Commission to represent the interests of the general public.

(2)Determination of compliance or noncompliance.—

Not later than 90 days after receiving a report required under subsection (a), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall make a written determination as to whether the activities carried out pursuant to this chapter during the applicable year were or were not in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. For purposes of this paragraph, any case in which the requirements for coverage of costs attributable have not been met shall be considered to be a case of noncompliance. If, with respect to a year, no instance of noncompliance is found to have occurred, the determination shall be to that effect. Such determination of noncompliance shall be included with the annual compliance determination required under section 3653.

(3)Noncompliance.—

If a timely written determination of noncompliance is made under paragraph (2), the Postal Regulatory Commission shall take appropriate action. If the requirements for coverage of costs attributable specified by this chapter are not met, the Commission shall, within 60 days after the determination, prescribe remedial action to restore compliance as soon as practicable, including the full restoration of revenue shortfalls during the following year. The Commission may order the Postal Service to discontinue a nonpostal service under section 3703 that persistently fails to meet cost coverage requirements.

(4)Deliberate noncompliance.—

In the case of deliberate noncompliance by the Postal Service with the requirements of this chapter, the Postal Regulatory Commission may order, based on the nature, circumstances, extent, and seriousness of the noncompliance, a fine (in the amount specified by the Commission in its order) for each incidence of such noncompliance. All receipts from fines imposed under this subsection shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

(f)Regulations Required.—

The Postal Regulatory Commission shall issue such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.

(g)Experimental Product Authority.—

The Postal Service may conduct market tests of agreements pursuant to section 3703 and section 3704 of this chapter subject to the same terms and conditions described in section 3641 of this title. For the purposes of a market test, the cost coverage requirements in section 3703 and 3704 of this chapter shall not apply.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

39 U.S.C. § 3705

Title 39, Postal Service

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110