Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today extended by 30 days the initial comment and reply periods in its Investigation of Suspended Post Offices, Docket PI2010-1.
Initial comments are now due by February 16, 2010; and reply comments are due by March 18, 2010.
Order no. 389 is available on the Commission’s website, www.prc.gov, and has been submitted to the Federal Register. The Commission welcomes comments from the public.
“The Commission is extending its deadlines in response to a request by the Public Representative and to ensure full opportunity for postal customers to register their concerns whether small post offices are being closed without due process,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway.
Docket PI2010-1 was initiated following the receipt of information from the Postal Service indicating that 97 post offices had been suspended under emergency suspension procedures during the past five years solely because of lease expirations. Of these 97 offices, 25 subsequently were closed; five are pending closure; two were reopened; and 65 remain in suspension.
The Docket provides for a public inquiry to develop information on the status of the suspended offices and the Postal Service’s practice of suspending offices for extended periods without affording the public the rights guaranteed by law.
A list of the 97 suspended offices is attached. Further information on these offices is contained in the Postal Service filing, which is available here.