,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bajc ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,march #ad1 #bjbe ,ms4 ,budzinski 7for herself1 ,ms4 ,hageman1 ,mr4 ,golden of ,maine1 ,mr4 ,bergman1 and ,mr4 ,pappas7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform ,a ,,bill ,to modify the procedures used by the ,united ,states ,postal ,service for the closure or consolidation of any post office or any processing and distribution center1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,protect ,postal ,performance ,act4 #b4 ,limitation on closure and consolidations of post offices ,section #djd7;d7 of title #ci1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#d7-- 7,a7 by striking ,the ,postal ,service and insert 7,a7 ,the ,postal ,service2 and 7,b7 by adding at the end the following3 7,b7 ,during such #fj-;day period1 the ,postal ,service shall carry out a public hearing on the closure or consolidation1 which may be attended in-person or virtually by any members of the public affected by the closure or consolidation4 7,c7 ,not later than #g days after such hearing1 the ,postal ,service shall publish a summary of the hearing on the ,postal ,service's public website1 and include in such summary a description of any comments made or otherwise submitted at such hearing and the percentage of such comments that were in support or against the closure or consolidation4 7,d7 ,notwithstanding any other provision of this title1 the applicable post office may not be closed or consolidated until the date that is #ahj days after the date the summary is published under subparagraph 7,c74 2 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following3 7#g7 ,notwithstanding any other provision of this title1 a post office may not be closed or consolidated if such post office-- 7,a7 is not located within #ae miles of any other post office2 or 7,b7 is the closest post office for a population of #ae1jjj individuals or more4 4 #c4 ,postal ,service processing and distribution centers2 transportation optimization 7a7 ,in general ,chapter #d of title #ci1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding after section #daf the following3 #dag4 ,postal ,service processing and distribution centers 7a7 ,in general ,the ,united ,states ,postal ,service may not close1 consolidate1 downgrade1 or take any other similar action with respect to any processing and distribution center in a ,state if such action would result in no such center being located in that ,state in any geographically non-contiguous region of that ,state inhabited by more than #ajj1jjj permanent residents4 ,in this subsection1 the term geographically non-contiguous region means an area of a ,state that is physically separated from the main body of the ,state by a significant body of water or land controlled by another ,state4 7b7 ,limitation on changes to mail processing facilities 7#a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the ,postal ,service may not implement or otherwise carry out any changes to the operations of its mail processing facilities 7including consolidation or partial consolidation1 aggregation of processing1 distribution1 or delivery operations7 until on or after the date that the ,postal ,regulatory ,commission issues an advisory opinion on the proposed facility changes4 7#b7 ,deadline ,the ,postal ,regulatory ,commission shall issue the advisory opinion required under paragraph 7#a7 not later than #abj business days after the date the ,postal ,service submits to the ,commission a proposed change to any such facility4 7#c7 ,other requirements ,the ,commission shall issue an advisory opinion for each processing and distribution center at which the ,postal ,service has proposed changes1 downsizing1 and consolidations4 7#d7 ,report ,if an advisory opinion by the ,commission under this subsection determines that a proposed change will lead to slower on-time mail delivery1 the ,postal ,service shall publish a report on the ,postal ,service's public website on practices and procedures the ,postal ,service will implement to ensure mail delivery remains on time4 ,no such changes may be implemented or otherwise carried out for the period of #ahj days beginning on the date such report is so published4 7c7 ,prohibiting on carrying out mail processing facility review ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the ,postal ,service may not carry out the ,united ,states ,postal ,service ,mail ,processing ,facility ,review 7or any successor program71 and no ,federal funds 7including amounts in the ,postal ,service ,fund under section #bjjc7 may be obligated or expended to carry out such ,review4 7d7 ,limitation of the closure of processing and distribution centers in regions that are not meeting on-,time delivery benchmarks ,during any calendar year1 the ,postal ,service may not close1 consolidate1 or otherwise move any operations or services from any processing and distribution center located within any ,postal ,service district that1 during anytime within the immediately preceding calendar year1 failed to meet-- 7#a7 at least #ic percent on-time delivery rate for two-day single first-class mail2 and 7#b7 at least #ij4c percent on-time delivery rate for three to five-day first-class mail4 7e7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term processing and distribution center means a central mail facility that-- 7,a7 distributes and dispatches part or all of both incoming mail and outgoing mail for a designated service area2 7,b7 provides instructions on the preparation of collection mail1 dispatch schedules1 and sorting plan requirements to mailers2 and 7,c7 is a sectional center facility1 a general mail facility1 or a dedicated mail processing facility without a station or branch2 and 7#b7 the term ,state means the #ej ,states and the ,district of ,columbia4 #dah4 ,local transportation optimization and regional transportation optimization changes 7a7 ,in general ,the ,postal ,service may not implement or otherwise carry out any local transportation optimization 7in this section referred to as ,,lto7 and regional transportation optimization 7in this section referred to as ,,rto7 efforts that will decrease the number of times mail is either picked up or dropped off for any post office in the country4 7b7 ,,prc opinion ,the ,postal ,service may not proceed with changing drop off and pick up schedules at post offices as part of the ,,lto or ,,rto plans without requesting a ,postal ,regulatory ,commission opinion4 7c7 ,limitation ,if the ,postal ,regulatory ,commission does not recommend implementing these changes in an opinion under subsection 7b71 the ,postal ,service may not move forward with ,,lto or ,,rto optimization efforts anywhere in the ,united ,states4 4 7b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of sections for such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section #daf the following3 #dag4 ,postal ,service processing and distribution centers4 #dah4 ,local transportation optimization and regional transportation optimization changes4 4