S4254-118

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Access to Rural Carriers for Every Location Act or the PARCEL Act.

2. Limitation on closing or consolidating Postal Service processing and distribution centers in States In this section: The term processing and distribution center means a central mail facility that— distributes and dispatches part or all of both incoming mail and outgoing mail for a designated service area; provides instructions on the preparation of collection mail, dispatch schedules, and sorting plan requirements to mailers; and is a sectional center facility, a general mail facility, or a dedicated mail processing facility without a station or branch. The term State means a State or the District of Columbia. The United States Postal Service may not close, consolidate, downgrade, or take any other similar action with respect to a processing and distribution center in a State if such action would result in— the processing operations of the processing and distribution center being relocated outside the boundaries of the State; or degradation of local mail delivery. The United States Postal Service may not move forward on any decision to close, consolidate, downgrade, or take any other similar action with respect to a processing and distribution center in a State unless the United States Postal Service— completes a review of the anticipated impact of geographical considerations, including mountain passes, on mail delivery following such action, and adequately addresses any issues raised by the review; and publishes a public input summary that reflects favorably on the decision.