Effective September 12, 2022, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), part 207, to reflect changes to the annual cap on the number of copies that a Periodicals publisher is permitted to mail to nonsubscribers at In-County rates.
On April 6, 2022, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 was signed into law. Section 204 of that Act raised the annual cap on the number of copies that a Periodicals publisher is permitted to mail to nonsubscribers at In-County rates from 10 percent of the number of copies mailed to subscribers at In-County rates to 50 percent. Final prices are available under Docket No. R2020-1 (Order No. 5373) on the Postal Regulatory Commission website at prc.gov.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions until September 12, 2022, the standards became effective May 27, 2022.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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200 Commercial Mail Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels
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207 Periodicals
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7.0 Mailing to Nonsubscribers or Nonrequesters
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7.6 Expired Subscription
[Revise the second sentence of 7.6 to read as follows:]
***These copies are not considered subscriber copies for determining eligibility for Periodicals mailing privileges, the base for computing the nonsubscriber limits under 7.9.1 through 7.9.3, or whether an issue is a bona fide issue under 8.0.
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[Revise the title and text of 7.9.1 to read as follows:]
7.9.1 Outside-County Prices
For authorized Periodicals subscriber and requester publications, 10 percent or less of the total number of copies mailed to subscribers or requesters during the calendar year may be mailed to nonsubscribers or nonrequesters at Outside-County Periodicals prices, provided that those copies are eligible for Outside-County prices if mailed to subscribers or requesters, and if the copies are presorted under applicable standards. Nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies within the 10-percent limit do not need to be commingled in a mailing with subscriber or requester copies to be eligible for Outside-County prices. Nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies over the 10-percent limit are eligible for Outside-County prices when commingled and presorted with subscriber or requester copies, but otherwise the mailer pays appropriate non-Periodicals prices.
[Delete 7.9.2 in its entirety. Renumber current 7.9.3 as 7.9.2 and revise the text of renumbered 7.9.2 to read as follows:]
7.9.2 Preferred Prices
For Nonprofit, Classroom, Science-of-Agriculture, Limited Circulation, and Limited Circulation Science-of-Agriculture publications, nonsubscriber (for Periodicals except requester publications) or nonrequester (for requester publications) copies totaling 10 percent or less of the total number of copies mailed to subscribers or requesters during the calendar year may be mailed at the applicable Preferred prices or Preferred-price discount, provided that the nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies qualify as Preferred- price or Preferred-price discount publications if mailed to subscribers or requesters and if the copies are presorted under applicable standards. The following also applies:
a. Nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies mailed over the 10-percent limit are not eligible for Preferred prices or the Preferred-price discount.
b. To qualify for regular Outside-County prices, nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies over the 10-percent limit must be part of a presorted, commingled mailing (one that includes subscriber or requester copies).
c. Mailers of these copies otherwise pay appropriate non-Periodicals prices.
[Add new 7.9.3 to read as follows:]
7.9.3 In-County Prices
Subject to 11.3, nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies may be mailed at In-County prices if they total no more than 50 percent of the total number of subscriber or requester copies of the publication mailed at In-County prices during the calendar year. If the 50-percent calendar year limit is exceeded, the nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies that exceed the limit are ineligible to be mailed at In–County prices.
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[Revise the title and text of 7.9.5 to read as follows:]
7.9.5 Mixed Preferred and Regular Outside-County Prices
If the total number of nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies mailed during the calendar year exceeds the applicable calendar-year limit under 7.9.1 or 7.9.2, further mailings of nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies are not eligible for the relevant Preferred price. Nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies exceeding the 10-percent limit under 7.9.1 or 7.9.2 must be part of a presorted commingled mailing (i.e., including subscriber or requester copies) to qualify for Outside-County prices.
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[Delete 7.9.6 in its entirety. Renumber current 7.9.7 and 7.9.8 as 7.9.6 and 7.9.7, respectively, and revise the text of renumbered 7.9.6 and 7.9.7 to read as follows:]
7.9.6 Excess Noncommingled Mailing
A mailing is not eligible for Periodicals prices if it consists entirely of nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies totaling over the applicable limit under 7.9.1 through 7.9.3. These copies are subject to appropriate non-Periodicals prices.
7.9.7 Mixed Mailing
If all copies in a mailing are to nonsubscribers or nonrequesters and some copies are within the applicable limit under 7.9.1 through 7.9.3 while the rest are over that limit, the excess copies are not eligible for Periodicals prices. The excess copies are subject to appropriate non-Periodicals prices.
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11.0 Basic Eligibility
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11.3 In-County Prices
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11.3.2 Exceptional Conditions
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[Revise the text of item c. to read as follows:]
c. A Periodicals publication having original entry at an incorporated city situated entirely within a county or contiguous to one or more counties in the same state, but politically independent of such county or counties, is considered within a part of the county with which it is principally contiguous. Except commingled nonsubscriber or nonrequestor copies totaling more than 50 percent of total number of mailed nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies under 7.9.3, copies mailed into that county are priced at In-County prices. Where more than one county is involved, the publisher selects the principal county and notifies the postmaster.
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11.3.3 Nonsubscriber or Nonrequester Copies
[Revise the text of 11.3.3 to read as follows:]
During a calendar year, the total number of nonsubscriber or nonrequester copies mailed at In-County prices must not exceed 50 percent of the number of subscriber or requester copies mailed at In-County prices, under 7.9.3.
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next edition of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 7-28-22
