PRC orders postal service to reconsider station closing
The USPS will have to reconsider its decision to close the Observatory Station located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to a ruling handed down last week by the Postal Rate Commission. The station was closed in June of this year, prompting protests by local residents and Pennsylvania politicians.
The USPS had argued that the PRC did not have jurisdiction over the decision to close the unit, because it was not a “post office”, but a “finance station”. The PRC found otherwise, ruling that while the station might not technically be a post office as defined by the USPS, it was clearly the intent of Congress to protect such units from arbitrary closing.
The ruling concludes:
The pleadings indicate that the Postal Service began the closing process by obtaining customer input to ensure that it would maintain a satisfactory level of service to the public in the Observatory Hill area. It appears, however, that although the Postal Service started that process, it never completed it. To comply with the Congressional mandate of §§ 101 and 404, the Postal Service needs to complete that process with respect to Observatory Finance Station by evaluating, among other things, input from affected citizens, and reaching a conclusion on whether a satisfactory level of service will be maintained. This obligation is heightened when the public is confused about the status of the Postal Service’s actions and about the status of their right to be heard, particularly when that confusion is caused by the contradictory statements of the Postal Service.