This bill directs the Postmaster General to run a study and submit a report within 1 year about using the United States Postal Service's Informed Delivery platform to send electronic notifications to Postal Service customers about weather and mail delivery. The study must look at sending messages about mail delays caused by inclement weather or natural disasters, post office or Postal Service location closures or limited hours and staffing for those reasons, and reminders that property owners and renters should clear walkways and mailboxes for mail carriers when there is snow, sleet, ice, or debris. The study must evaluate how to expand customer enrollment in Informed Delivery, how messages would be sent, what criteria and content the messages should include, and who would receive them. The bill limits the definition of contact information to name, mailing address, email address, or phone number. The Postmaster General must send the report to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. After the report is submitted, the Postal Service may implement the program. The bill allows the Postal Service to carry out the act notwithstanding the Privacy Act of 1974.
If the Postal Service implements the program after the study, customers could receive emails, texts, or other electronic notices about weather-related mail delays, post office closures or limited hours, and reminders to clear walkways and mailboxes so carriers can deliver mail. The study is to be completed and reported to Congress within 1 year of the bill becoming law. The Postal Service would use only the customer contact information defined in the bill: name, mailing address, email, or phone number.
No publicly available information on costs. The bill text does not include cost estimates or funding details for the study or any later program implementation.
The bill directs a structured evaluation of whether and how the Postal Service can use its Informed Delivery platform to notify customers about weather-related impacts on mail delivery, closures, and safety steps like clearing walkways. It requires the Postal Service to study enrollment methods, messaging methods and content, and recipient criteria, and to report findings to two congressional committees.
No publicly available information.