USPS v. PRC, No. 13-1308 (D.C. Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2013, the Postal Service amended its mail preparation requirements so that mail pieces prepared according to the “basic-service Intelligent Mail” standard would no longer be eligible for a discounted “automation” rate available to mailers who use technologies to increase the Postal Service’s efficiency. In subsequent rate change proceedings before the Commission, mailers objected that this change in mail preparation requirements constituted a classification change resulting in an increase in rates that must be counted against the Postal Service’s price cap. The Commission agreed and the Postal Service petitioned for review. The court held that the price cap statute and the applicable regulations do not entirely foreclose the Commission from determining that some mail preparation requirements constitute “changes in rates;" however, the Commission's decision in this case is arbitrary and capricious for lack of reasoned decisionmaking; the court remanded to the Commission to enunciate an intelligible standard and then reconsider its decision in light of that standard; and, because the changes to the Domestic Mail Manual should continue to be held in abeyance pending the outcome of the remand, it is unnecessary for the court to vacate the Commission’s decision.
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