The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act is the first major legislative change to the Postal Service since 1971.
The new law directs the Department of the Treasury to resume funding of military pensions for postal employees, returning the Postal Service to the same status as the majority of other agencies. It also abolishes a legally mandated escrow requirement. It reconstitutes the former Postal Rate Commission into the Postal Regulatory Commission, and grants it greater authority and responsibility.
The Act also establishes two separate product categories: Market-Dominant products and Competitive products. It prescribes a new process for setting prices, with increases for Market-Dominant products capped at the Consumer Price Index, by class. For Competitive products, the law creates new pricing flexibility. Many of the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley will now also apply to the Postal Service.
Read the Postmaster General’s comments on the guiding principles for implementation of the new postal law in PDF or HTML.
Review the comments filed with the PRC on RM2007-1, Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Regulations Establishing a System of Ratemaking. Go to www.prc.gov and click on “Review Filed Documents” in the box titled “A New System of Ratemaking.” Then select “Orders/Response to Orders.”
View the New Law PowerPoint presentation given by Postal Service officials at the National Postal Forum, March 25-28, 2007 in PDF.
Read the transcript from the Ratemaking Summit held March 13, 2007. Go to www.prc.gov and click on “Transcript of USPS-PRC Joint Summit on Ratemaking” in the box titled “A New System of Ratemaking.”
Read the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (P.L. 109-435) in PDF or HTML.
To be notified about announcements or updates to this page, send an email to NewPostalLaw@usps.gov.
