Protect Postal Performance Act

Increased Public Transparency: The bill requires the Postal Service to hold public hearings (in-person or virtually) regarding post office closures or consolidations, and mandates that a summary including public comments be published on their website (Section 2).

Protection of Isolated Post Offices: A post office cannot be closed or consolidated if it is not within 15 miles of another post office (Section 2).

Protection of High-Population Service Points: The bill prevents the closure of a post office if it is the closest one for a population of s 15,000 individuals (Section 2).

Guarding Against Regional Service Gaps: The Postal Service is prohibited from closing or consolidating centers if the action would leave a non-contiguous region of a State (separated by water or land) without a center, provided that region has more than 100,000 residents (Section 3(a)).

Ensuring Mail Delivery Standards: The bill prevents the closure or movement of operations in districts that failed to meet specific on-time delivery rates for first-class mail in the previous year (Section 3(d)).

Preventing Service Reductions via Optimization: The bill prohibits transportation optimization efforts that would decrease the number of times mail is picked up or dropped off at any post office (Section 4(a)).

Delays in Operational Changes: The bill requires a 180-day waiting period after a hearing summary is published before a post office can be closed or consolidated (Section 2).

Operational Delays due to Commission Reviews: Changes to mail processing facilities cannot occur until the Postal Regulatory Commission issues an advisory opinion, which can take up to 120 business days (Section 3(b)).

Mandatory Service Delays During Review: If a proposed change is found to lead to slower on-time mail delivery, the Postal Service must publish a report and cannot implement changes for 180 days (Section 3(b)).

Funding Restrictions on Reviews: Federal funds cannot be used to carry out the United States Postal Service Mail Processing Facility Review (Section 3(c)).