S. 4254 — Introduced in Senate

II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4254 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 2, 2024Mr. Tester introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To limit the closure or consolidation of any United States Postal Service processing and distribution center in States, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Access to Rural Carriers for Every Location Act or the PARCEL Act. 2. Limitation on closing or consolidating Postal Service processing and distribution centers in States (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Processing and distribution center The term processing and distribution center means a central mail facility that— (A) distributes and dispatches part or all of both incoming mail and outgoing mail for a designated service area; (B) provides instructions on the preparation of collection mail, dispatch schedules, and sorting plan requirements to mailers; and (C) is a sectional center facility, a general mail facility, or a dedicated mail processing facility without a station or branch. (2) State The term State means a State or the District of Columbia. (b) Prohibition The United States Postal Service may not close, consolidate, downgrade, or take any other similar action with respect to a processing and distribution center in a State if such action would result in— (1) the processing operations of the processing and distribution center being relocated outside the boundaries of the State; or (2) degradation of local mail delivery. (c) Limitation The United States Postal Service may not move forward on any decision to close, consolidate, downgrade, or take any other similar action with respect to a processing and distribution center in a State unless the United States Postal Service— (1) completes a review of the anticipated impact of geographical considerations, including mountain passes, on mail delivery following such action, and adequately addresses any issues raised by the review; and (2) publishes a public input summary that reflects favorably on the decision.