39 CFR 111.4 - Approval of the Director of the Federal Register.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 709.3 to include new promotions and incentive programs that will be offered at various time periods during calendar year 2013 for Presorted and automation First-Class Mail® cards, letters, and flats, and Standard Mail® letters, flats, or parcels.

In October 2012, the Postal Service filed a notice of mailing services price adjustments with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), effective in January 2013. This final rule contains the revisions to Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) that we will adopt to implement the changes coincident with the price adjustments.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 601.10 to adopt new mandatory marking standards for parcels containing mailable hazardous material that will align with the revised requirements provided by the Department of Transportation (DOT). This revision also provides terminology and categorization changes needed to respond to the pending elimination of the “Other Regulated Material” (ORM-D) category and the partial elimination of the “consumer commodity” category by the DOT.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 602.5.0 to terminate the use of FASTforward TM technology as a Move Update option for commercial First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service TM , Standard Mail®, and Parcel Select Lightweight® mailings.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to reflect changes to prices and mailing standards for the following competitive products: Express Mail®, Priority Mail®, First-Class Package Service TM , Parcel Select®, Parcel Post®, Extra Services, Return Services, Mailer Services, and Recipient Services.

This final rule establishes the retail option of Every Door Direct Mail-Retail® (EDDM-Retail) as a formal product offering within Mailing Services, and ends the market test period for this initiative.

The Postal Service will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 705.8.10.2 to align pallet preparation standards for Periodicals with those currently required for Periodicals prepared in sacks and similar containers. The Postal Service will also align the preparation standards for merged pallets of Periodicals in DMM 705.10, 705.12 and 705.13 with other DMM sections by allowing mailers using these programs to place Periodicals bundles directly on mixed area distribution center (ADC) pallets.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 709.3 to add a new temporary promotion during November of 2012 for Presorted and automation First-Class Mail® cards, letters, and flats, and Standard Mail® letters and flats bearing two-dimensional mobile barcodes or equivalent print technology.

The Postal Service announces the issuance of the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) dated June 24, 2012, and its incorporation by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to expand Express Mail® product options to include a new Padded Flat Rate Envelope.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), throughout various sections to modify eligibility requirements for mailers to qualify for automation prices. Effective January 26, 2014, use of “full-service” Intelligent Mail® is required to qualify for automation prices for postcards (First-Class Mail® only), letters, and flats when mailed using the following services: First-Class Mail, Standard Mail® and Periodicals®; and for flats mailed at Bound Printed Matter® prices. Additionally, the 10/24 transitional barcoded tray label format is eliminated, and mailers are required to use the 24-digit Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb TM ) format on tray, tub, and sack labels.

The Postal Service TM proposes to revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 604.9, and other DMM sections, to remove obsolete standards pertaining to postage refunds and stamp exchanges; standardize processes for requesting refunds for PC Postage® labels and extra service refunds; and change the methods for calculating refund assessment amounts.

The Postal Service is exploring the advisability of requiring the use of Intelligent Mail® package barcodes (IMpb) or unique tracking Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb TM ) on all commercial parcels, and providing support to mailers to assure their ability to apply unique tracking barcodes to all commercial parcels.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 709.3 to include new promotions and incentive programs that will be offered at various time periods during calendar year 2013 for Presorted and automation First-Class Mail® cards, letters, and flats, and Standard Mail® letters, flats, or parcels.

In October 2012, the Postal Service filed a notice of mailing services price adjustments with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), effective in January 2013. This final rule contains the revisions to Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) that we will adopt to implement the changes coincident with the price adjustments.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 601.10 to adopt new mandatory marking standards for parcels containing mailable hazardous material that will align with the revised requirements provided by the Department of Transportation (DOT). This revision also provides terminology and categorization changes needed to respond to the pending elimination of the “Other Regulated Material” (ORM-D) category and the partial elimination of the “consumer commodity” category by the DOT.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 602.5.0 to terminate the use of FASTforward TM technology as a Move Update option for commercial First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service TM , Standard Mail®, and Parcel Select Lightweight® mailings.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to reflect changes to prices and mailing standards for the following competitive products: Express Mail®, Priority Mail®, First-Class Package Service TM , Parcel Select®, Parcel Post®, Extra Services, Return Services, Mailer Services, and Recipient Services.

In October 2012, the Postal Service filed a notice of mailing services price adjustments with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), effective in January 2013. This proposed rule contains the revisions to Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) that we would adopt to implement the changes coincident with the price adjustments.

The Postal Service is proposing to revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) throughout various sections to modify eligibility requirements for mailers to obtain automation prices for First-Class Mail®, Standard Mail®, Periodicals®, and Bound Printed Matter® when mailing postcards, letters, and flats. Effective January 2014, use of “full-service” Intelligent Mail® would be required to obtain automation prices. Additionally, the 10/24 transitional barcoded tray label format would be eliminated and mailers would be required to use the 24-digit Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb TM ) format on tray, tub, and sack labels.

This final rule establishes the retail option of Every Door Direct Mail-Retail® (EDDM-Retail) as a formal product offering within Mailing Services, and ends the market test period for this initiative.

The Postal Service is proposing to revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 601.10 to adopt new mandatory marking standards for parcels containing mailable hazardous material that will align with the revised requirements provided by the Department of Transportation (DOT). This proposed rule also provides terminology and categorization changes needed to respond to the pending elimination of the “Other Regulated Material” (ORM-D) category and the partial elimination of the “Consumer Commodity” category by the DOT.

The Postal Service will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 705.8.10.2 to align pallet preparation standards for Periodicals with those currently required for Periodicals prepared in sacks and similar containers. The Postal Service will also align the preparation standards for merged pallets of Periodicals in DMM 705.10, 705.12 and 705.13 with other DMM sections by allowing mailers using these programs to place Periodicals bundles directly on mixed area distribution center (ADC) pallets.

The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 709.3 to add a new temporary promotion during November of 2012 for Presorted and automation First-Class Mail® cards, letters, and flats, and Standard Mail® letters and flats bearing two-dimensional mobile barcodes or equivalent print technology.

The Postal Service proposes to revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 602.5.0 to terminate the use of FASTforward ® technology as a Move Update option for commercial First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package Service TM , Standard Mail®, and Parcel Select Lightweight TM mailings.

The Postal Service announces the issuance of the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) dated June 24, 2012, and its incorporation by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Postal Service is considering the adoption of a new criterion for eligibility of Bound Printed Matter (BPM) parcels by adding a physical density threshold for individual mailpieces.

The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), to expand Express Mail® product options to include a new Padded Flat Rate Envelope.