UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
CHIEF FOIA OFFICER’S REPORT FOR 2023

The United States Postal Service (USPS or Postal Service), which is “an independent establishment of the executive branch of Government of the United States,” 39 U.S.C. § 201, submits this report, through the Postal Service’s Chief FOIA Officer, Natalie Bonanno, in response to the Attorney General’s directive to Chief FOIA Officers to review and to report each year to the Department of Justice on their progress in improving transparency through implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

The basic functions of the Postal Service were established in 39 U.S.C. § 101(a) and include, binding “the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.” This mission, to provide the nation with reliable, affordable, universal mail service, is to be done in accordance with sound business principles. 

Organizational Structure and Other Background Information:

The USPS Deputy Chief FOIA Officer, within the Privacy and Records Management Office, reports to the Chief FOIA Officer through the Chief Privacy and Records Management Officer. The Deputy Chief FOIA Officer is responsible for the overall administration of the Postal Service’s FOIA Program and its compliance with the FOIA, except for records independently maintained by the Postal Inspection Service and the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The Privacy and Records Management Office is a part of the Ethics and Compliance Group. The Ethics and Legal Compliance section of the Ethics and Compliance Group is responsible for FOIA appeals for the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service. 

This report includes responses from the following FOIA program offices:

•	USPS FOIA Program
•	USPS General Counsel (appeals for USPS and the Postal Inspection Service)
•	USPS OIG FOIA Program (initial requests and appeals) 
•	Postal Inspection Service FOIA Program (initial requests)

The USPS FOIA program is decentralized. The OIG and Postal Inspection Service FOIA programs are centralized. USPS has two FOIA Requester Service Centers (RSCs) to track and coordinate all FOIA requests received. FOIA requests for Postal Service Headquarters controlled records; Supply Management or Facilities controlled records including contracts, building leases, and other real estate transactions; and employee listings are tracked and coordinated by the FOIA RSC-Headquarters. The FOIA RSC-Field supports the tracking and processing of FOIA requests for Postal Service records maintained at area offices, district offices, Post Offices, or other field operations facilities (FOIA RSC-Field). The Postal Service has over 30,000 facilities throughout the country at which records are maintained. FOIA Coordinators have been designated to assist records custodians in each of the USPS Headquarters departments and each of the Area and District offices across the country. The FOIA Coordinator, an ad-hoc position, provides procedural guidance on the FOIA to records custodians regarding requests that fall within their areas of responsibility.

The Privacy and Records Management Office is responsible for developing a program and framework to assist records custodians in processing FOIA requests. As such, it issues detailed instructions to records custodians on the FOIA (see 39 Code of Federal Regulations § 265 and USPS Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy, the FOIA, and Records Management). The FOIA RSC staff is available to assist FOIA Coordinators and records custodians or their designees throughout the organization with record release determinations and other FOIA matters. The General Counsel’s office at Postal Service Headquarters and the General Law Service Center provides legal advice to records custodians regarding the FOIA, including the applicability of exemptions. 

It is Postal Service policy to make its official records available to the public to the maximum extent consistent with the public interest and with the interests of the Postal Service. In its commitment to the “Presumption of Openness” concept as it carries out its FOIA responsibilities, Postal Service policy requires a practice of full disclosure subject only to the specific exemptions required or authorized by law. It is Postal Service policy to promote transparency and accountability by adopting a presumption in favor of disclosure in all decisions involving the FOIA.

Section I:  FOIA Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness

A.  Leadership Support for FOIA

1.  The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level.  See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018).  Is your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at this level?  
Yes
2.  Please provide the name and title of your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer. 

Natalie Bonanno, Associate General Counsel and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer 

3.  What steps has your agency taken to incorporate FOIA into its core mission? For example, has your agency incorporated FOIA milestones into its strategic plan? 

The Privacy and Records Management Office created and launched new FOIA training in our training system for FOIA Coordinators and records custodians on how to properly process FOIA requests from start to finish. This ensures that FOIA Coordinators and records custodians receive comprehensive FOIA training. This also ensures that FOIA requests are timely and accurately processed, which fosters transparency and openness.  

B.  Presumption of Openness 

4.  The Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that “agencies should confirm in response letters to FOIA requesters that they have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions.” Does your agency provide such confirmation in its response letters? 
Yes
5. With respect to Glomar responses, please answer the below questions: 

a). In addition to tracking the asserted exemption, does your agency specifically track whether a request involved a Glomar response?

No

b). If yes, please provide:
    I. the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response (separate full and partial if possible);
N/A
   II. the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemptions (e.g., Exemption 7(C) – 20 times, Exemption 1-5 times).
N/A
c). If your agency does not track the use of Glomar responses, what would your agency need to do to track in the future? If possible, please describe the resources and time involved. 
We plan to add a feature to FOIAXpress that allows us to track “Glomar” responses. 
6. Optional – If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.

Section II:  Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration

A.  FOIA Training

1.  The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to agency personnel.  See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F).  Please describe the efforts your agency has undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel. 
•	The Privacy and Records Management Office created and launched FOIA training for FOIA Coordinators and records custodians on how to properly process FOIA requests from start to finish.  

•	To promote continued learning, the Privacy and Records Management Office and the Ethics and Legal Compliance team created and delivered monthly FOIA training presentations on a variety of FOIA-related topics to Headquarters and Field FOIA Coordinators. 

•	The Privacy and Records Management Office solicited FOIA and Privacy Act questions from Headquarters and Field FOIA Coordinators on a quarterly basis, and then scheduled quarterly conference calls to address those questions. This effort provides another informal training opportunity with a smaller group of participants.

•	The Ethics and Legal Compliance team created and delivered training presentations on a variety of Privacy Act and FOIA topics to the General Law Service Center on a bi-monthly basis. 

2.  Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period such as that provided by the Department of Justice?

Yes

3. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the topics covered.

American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) training: 
•	ASAP Annual National Training Conference 
•	ASAP Presidential Records – Myths, Ironies and Facts
•	Webinar - Significant Recent FOIA Decisions
•	Webinar - Exemption 5 Civil Discovery Privileges
•	Webinar - FOIA Procedural Overview
•	Webinar -- Interplay Between the Privacy Act and the FOIA
•	Webinar -- Virtual Fees & Fee Waiver Workshop
•	Webinar -- Processing from Start to Finish Workshop
Department of Justice training: 
•	Sunshine Week Meeting
•	FOIA Training on Agency Records
•	Procedural Requirements and Fees Workshop 
•	Advanced FOIA Training 
•	Litigation Workshop
•	Continuing FOIA Education
•	Procedural Requirements and Fees Workshop.
•	Annual FOIA Report Refresher and Quarterly Report Training
•	Chief FOIA Officer Report Training
•	Best Practices for FOIA Administration during the Pandemic
•	Privacy Considerations Training
•	Artificial Intelligence for FOIA Professionals
•	Introduction to the FOIA
•	Exemption 1 and 7 Workshop
•	Exemption 4 and 5 Workshop
•	Processing FOIA requests from Start to Finish
User Conference and Technology Summit (a vendor sponsored workshop) – topics included:
•	FOIAXpress New User Training 
•	User Conference
•	FOIA Search Issues
•	Steps to Reduce FOIA Request Backlog
•	Recent Significant FOIA Decisions
•	FOIA Tracking System 
•	EDR Workshop
Roundtables:
•	Use of Personal Email, Computer Chat Feature, and Text Message for Postal Business
•	Beyond the Privacy Act
•	Exemption 5
•	Exemption 6
•	Exemption 3 and 39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(2)
•	Supreme Court FOIA case law review
•	Quarterly FOIA and Privacy Act Client Awareness Training 
Brown Bags:
•	Sensitive FOIA Requests and Proper Responses
•	Exemption 6 and 7(C)
•	Responsibilities of FOIA Coordinators
•	The Glomar Response
•	Final Response Letters
•	Definition of a Record, Reasonably Described Records for Electronic of Records, Search Cut-Off Dates
•	Preparing Records in Response to FOIA Requests
•	Redactions under 39 U.S.C. § 410(c) 
•	FOIA Website Tour
4.. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.
100%
5. OIP has directed agencies to “take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year.” If your response to the previous question is that less than 80% of your FOIA professionals attended training, please explain your agency’s plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.
N/A
6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of their obligations under the FOIA.  In particular, please describe, how often and in what formats your agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your agency received a briefing on your agency’s FOIA resources, obligations and expectations during the FOIA process?
•	USPS Publication 550, For the Record, is a pamphlet that is made available online to all postal employees. The pamphlet describes the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act and includes employees’ rights and responsibilities under the Acts. The pamphlet is distributed to all new employees

•	Besides providing internal training, the Postal Service continued its internal process whereby FOIA requests that are close to overdue are escalated to senior management to ensure that records custodians timely respond to FOIA requests within the statutory deadline. This strategy is intended to promote the importance of the FOIA throughout the organization and has helped to reduce the backlog. 

•	The Postal Inspection Service Chief Counsel discusses the FOIA with newly appointed Postal Inspector recruits. The Chief Counsel encourages cooperation from the Inspection Service’s National Leadership Team regarding their FOIA obligations.

•	OIG holds periodic meetings to educate staff participating in the OIG New Leadership Development Program regarding FOIA best practices, processing, and records production. 

B. Outreach
7. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, outside of the standard request process, with the requester community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA?  Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency’s FOIA administration.
•	Yes. The Ethics and Legal Compliance team hosted two conference calls with the public that were advertised in advance on the Postal Service’s public FOIA website. The conference calls included an introduction to the Freedom of Information Act and included instructions on how to submit a proper FOIA request to the Postal Service. Members of the public had the opportunity to ask questions during the conference calls.
8. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and if applicable, any specific examples.
•	Yes. The Privacy and Records Management Office routinely contacts requesters regarding complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of each request. 
9. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the services provided by the agency’s FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from our agency’s FOIA Public Liaison during FY2022 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number).
The FOIA Public Liaisons collectively receive about ten calls each week from FOIA requesters. With more than 30,000 facilities throughout country at which records are maintained, FOIA Coordinators in each of the USPS Headquarters departments and each of the area and district offices across the country play a key role in responding to inquiries from FOIA requesters about their requests. In many instances, FOIA Coordinators are able to respond to inquiries from FOIA requesters without the need for them to contact the FOIA RSC or public liaison for assistance.
C. Other Initiatives
10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands? If so, please describe what changes your agency has or will implement.
Yes. We are exploring increased staffing options.
11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of your FOIA workload? For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used.

FOIAXpress generates a weekly report of the FOIA requests received as well as the FOIA requests assigned to each Government Information Specialist. FOIAXpress also generates a monthly aggregate report of the number of FOIA requests received, closed, and overdue. This allows the Postal Service to effectively manage the FOIA workload.  

12. Optional -- If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.

Section III: Proactive Disclosures

1.Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track and post (a)(2) proactive disclosures.

The Postal Service provides a vital public service that is a part of the nation’s critical infrastructure. The statute that created the Postal Service begins with the following sentence: “The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by an Act of Congress, and supported by the people.” 39 U.S.C. §101(a).
The Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 160 million residences, businesses, and Post Office Boxes. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class Mail postage regardless of location. With more than 34,000 retail locations and one of the most frequently visited websites in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual operating revenue of more than $71 billion and delivers 48 percent of the world’s mail. With more than 630,000 employees, we are one of the nation’s largest employers. And we have one of the world’s largest computer networks.
Our strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts are guided by these goals:
•	Deliver a world-class customer experience
•	Equip, empower, and engage employees
•	Innovate faster to deliver value
•	Invest in our future platforms
•	Support the legislative and regulatory changes to enable this vision
We are mindful that we must build upon the core strengths of the Postal Service: our mission of public service and our people — who live, work, and serve in every community in America. We strive to provide world-class affordable and dependable service to every American community six and seven days a week — today, tomorrow and for generations to come. The Postal Service is proud of its ability to provide a trusted, valued service to the American public, while safeguarding its employees and customers during the ongoing national public health emergency.
In Fiscal Year 2021, the Postal Service accelerated mail’s integration with digital and mobile platforms, and enhanced mail’s value as a marketing and communications channel for both senders and receivers.  The Postal Service enabled America’s continuing e-commerce growth by giving customers unprecedented visibility and competitive shipping solutions that reach every door in America every delivery day. Postal Service employees stepped into the spotlight during the holiday season, appearing in the news media to discuss the organization’s efforts to deliver customers’ mail and packages, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.  
The Postal Service delivered 54.4 million ballots during last year’s midterm elections, with 98.96 percent delivered from voters to election officials within three days. The Postal Service’s role in the vote-by-mail process is to transport, process and deliver ballots to and from election officials and voters. In July 2022, USPS announced the permanent formation of the Election and Government Mail Services Team to focus year-round on the timely and secure delivery of Election Mail, as interest in and use of vote-by-mail offerings continue to grow nationally. The data is included in a post-election analysis report that USPS released the first week of January.
The Postal Service recently release its first Annual report for Fiscal Year 2022 under the Delivering for American plan. Highlights of the report include:

•	17.3 billion mailpiece delivered to nearly 165 million addresses
•	2.3 percent increase in total revenue
•	Most service targets met or surpassed, including two-day First-Class Mail on time delivery
•	668 million COVID-19 test kits delivered

As an independent establishment of the executive branch, the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations. Since it is not funded by annual appropriations from Congress, it is not subject to government shutdowns.
USPS Service Alerts and USPS Newsroom sites have the latest information.

•	https://about.usps.com/newsroom/
•	https://about.usps.com/
•	https://facts.usps.com/

The Postal Service website, found at www.usps.com, is one of the most frequently visited government sites, recording 12.3 million visitors each day. It provides customers quick and easy access to Postal Service information, products, and services, as well as links to both OIG and Postal Inspection Service websites. The Postal Service is multi-lingual and offers usps.com in Spanish and Simplified Chinese. 

The Postal Service website is an online Post Office and is open for business 24/7. The Postal Service’s smartphone apps make it even quicker to use the most popular functions on usps.com, anytime and anywhere. With Informed Delivery service, you can digitally preview your incoming mail and manage your packages from a computer, tablet, or mobile device. More than 39 million customers have enrolled since it was launched in 2017.

The FOIA Reading Room, http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/foia/readroom/welcome.htm includes links to records previously released that have been or are likely to become the subject of multiple requests. It contains links to Purchasing Protest Decisions, Judicial Office Administrative Decisions, Board of Contract Appeal Decisions, Business Disagreement Decisions, Agency Policy Statements, Administrative Manuals, and Frequently Requested Records. There is also a link to the Postal Regulatory Commission’s (PRC) website (www.prc.gov). The PRC is an independent establishment of the Executive Branch that exercises regulatory oversight over the Postal Service. The PRC proactively publishes information of interest to the mailing community and public. For example, the PRC’s Reports/Data page, http://www.prc.gov/reports, includes dockets, PRC reports and studies, and Postal Service periodic reports. 

Our about.usps.com website provides corporate information, such as USPS history and the latest news and information on the Postal Service. About.usps.com helps keep the public and the news media informed about what the Postal Service is doing regarding mail service, sustainability, corporate structure, and how we impact the world around us.

Legislation and regulation require the Postal Service to disclose operational and financial information beyond that demanded of federal government agencies and private sector companies. The financial reports are available at http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/welcome.htm and include:

•	Annual reports and Form 10-K Annual Reports, and Integrated Financial Plans
•	Form 10-Q showing financial conditions and results
•	Quarterly Statistics Reports (QSR) presenting statistics on mail activity and focusing on estimates of Postal revenue, volume, and weight by mail category and transit time estimates for selected items.
•	Cost and Revenue Analysis Report showing revenue, cost and contribution by mail class, subclasses, and key special services.
•	The Cost Segments and Components Report shows Postal Service estimates of costs attributable to mail classes, subclasses, and key special services, summarized by cost segment and by major cost components. The report is generated annually.
•	Revenue, Pieces, and Weight Reports (RPW) presenting official estimates of revenue, volume and weight by class, subclass, and major special service. 
•	Annual Report to Congress which includes Combined Postal Comprehensive Statements and Annual Performance Plans drawing on the work of the entire organization.

Highlights of some of the other updated or new information posted this past reporting period, including links to where this material can be found online, are summarized below.

Corporate Communications

Corporate Communications - http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm - proactively and routinely makes a wide variety of documents available for public viewing based on the public’s and media’s interest in Postal Service issues. These documents are available on the about.usps.com pages and include the Newsroom, with links to all national and local Postal Service press releases on postal products, consumer and business issues, financial results, and other issues of great public interest. The Postal Service Newsroom provides national and local news releases, statements, fact sheets, electronic news kits, videos, leadership bios, written congressional testimony, and other information to the news media and the public. Included in the Newsroom are:  

•	Service Alerts:  http://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/welcome.htm
This page provides information to consumers, small businesses, and other business mailers about postal facility service disruptions due to weather-related and other natural disasters or events.
•	2021 Annual Report to Congress (2022 report to be posted soon): https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2021.pdf 
•	2022 Annual Sustainability Report: https://about.usps.com/what/corporate-social-responsibility/sustainability/report/2022/usps-annual-sustainability-report.pdf
•	2021 Postal Facts: https://facts.usps.com
•	Judicial decisions: https://about.usps.com/who/judicial/admin-decisions/  
•	Financial reports: https://about.usps.com/what/financials/ 
•	Service performance results: https://about.usps.com/what/performance/service-performance/ 
•	Board of Governors open sessions and slides: https://about.usps.com/who/leadership/board-governors/#sessions 
•	Statements: http://about.usps.com/news/statements/welcome.htm
Provides the Postal Service’s position on controversial issues and other subjects of public interest.
•	Postal Service Newsroom: http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm
Provides national and local news releases, statements, fact sheets, electronic news kits, videos, leadership bios, written congressional testimony and other information to the news media and the general public.
•	Digital Media: https://media.usps.com/
A sub-site of the Postal Service Newsroom. Provides the public and media access to stock photography, video b-roll and video documentation of official Postal Service events. 
•	Delivering for America: https://about.usps.com/what/strategic-plans/delivering-for-america/
Our vision and ten-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence.
•	Holiday newsroom: http://about.usps.com/holidaynews/
A sub-site of the Postal service newsroom. Provides a single location to locate all information regarding the Postal Service’s holiday efforts including Operation Santa, news releases, mail-by dates, and other customer resources. 
•	Postal Bulletin: http://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/welcome.htm
The Postal Bulletin, one of the oldest federal publications still in print, is posted to the About pages of usps.com every two weeks. It provides information on USPS operations, policies, procedures, and forms, as well as postal product information, and stamp news.
•	FOIA Library: https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm 
Provides information and resources on the Postal Service’s FOIA process.

Postal Service Social Media:

•	YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/uspstv 
•	Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/USPS 
•	Twitter: http://twitter.com/usps 
•	Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/uspsstamps/ 

Historian’s Office

Postal History webpages: https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/

To post documents, we create and send 508-compliant versions to USPS Interactive Digital Services, along with a description of where we’d like them to be listed (on which webpage, and where on that page).

•	Postmaster Finder -- http://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/postmaster-finder/ (updated weekly)
•	Postal Facilities Dedicated by Congress -- http://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/dedicated-facilities.pdf (updated monthly)
•	Number of Stamped Cards … since 1926 -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm 
•	Rates for Domestic Letters since 1863 -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm
•	Number of Postal Employees … since 1926 -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm
•	Delivery Points since 1905 --https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm 
•	Pieces of Mail Handled … since 1789 -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm
•	First-Class Mail Volume … since 1926 -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/rates-historical-statistics.htm
•	African American Subjects on Stamps; American Indian Subjects on Stamps; 
Hispanic Subjects on Stamps; Women Subjects on Stamps; Christmas Holiday Stamps --https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/stamps-postcards.htm (updated in July 2022)
•	Oldest U.S. Post Offices (new paper) -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/oldest-us-post-offices.pdf
•	Delivering during the COVID-19 Pandemic: How the U.S. Postal Service Kept the Nation Connected (new paper) -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/delivering-during-covid-19.pdf
•	Publication 100, The United States Postal Service: An American History (new edition) -- https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100.pdf
•	Postal History: Vehicles photo gallery (17 new photos added) -- https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/galleries/gallery-vehicles.htm
•	Publication 119, Sources of Historical Information on Post Offices, Postal Employees, Mail Routes, and Mail Contractors (new edition to be published soon) -- https://about.usps.com/publications/pub119.pdf
•	Post Office Headquarters Sites in Washington, DC -- https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/headquarters-sites.pdf 
•	Women Postmasters -- https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/women-postmasters.pdf
•	Advertising Mail: A Brief History -- https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/advertising-mail-history.pdf

Supply Management

•	Updates to the Supplying Principles and Practices -- https://about.usps.com/manuals/spp/spp.pdf
•	Purchase Cardholder Listing --  https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm 
•	New issues to the Supplier Newsletter: Supply Management -- https://about.usps.com/suppliers/newsletter/re-supply-08-16-22.pdf
•	USPS | Re: Supply Newsletter -- https://about.usps.com/suppliers/newsletter/re-supply-03-30-22.pdf
•	Fiscal Year 2020 Goals for the Supplier Diversity Program – https://about.usps.com/suppliers-diversity/usps-goals-fy2022.pdf

Facilities

•	National listing of both leased and owned postal facilities along with land for all fifty states and U.S. Territories located at:  http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/foia/readroom/welcome.htm 
•	Listing of Postal properties for sale located at: https://powersearch.jll.com/usps/ 

Sustainability

•	Annual Sustainability Report 2022 at: https://about.usps.com/asr/  
•	2021 Climate Action Plan at: https://about.usps.com/what/corporate-social-responsibility/sustainability/pdf/usps-2021-climate-action-plan.pdf
•	FY 2021 OMB Scorecard at: https://about.usps.com/omb-scorecard/
•	Blog on Earth Day at: https://uspsblog.com/usps-green-mail/
Postal Inspection Service
www.uspis.gov

•	As one of our country’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies, the Inspection Service has a proud history of fighting criminals who attack the postal system and misuse it to defraud, endanger, or otherwise threaten the American public. The Postal Inspection Service redesigned its website to make it easier for consumers to find crime prevention tips and to learn about the agency. The site offers information on avoiding common types of crime—including mail and identity theft, lottery scams and phishing—as well as guidelines on reporting suspicious activity.  The redesigned site also offers a behind-the-scenes look into the types of cases the Inspection Service investigates, the state-of-the-art tools used to solve crimes, and how to join the law enforcement organization.

•	Our Inspection Service Annual Report is openly posted on our external website each year. https://www.uspis.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FY-2020-annual-report-508-web.pdf (FY2022 report will be completed soon)

•	Some of the specific new content released to the Inspection Service’s website includes 24 PSA videos covering a wide range of frauds, scams, and other prevention messaging. Additionally, USPIS.gov contains several new features and information sources, including the following:

•	Created new Spanish language fraud prevention page informing the Spanish speaking public on the most prevalent frauds they may encounter
•	Added supporting Spanish language videos
•	Expanded Operation Protect Veterans and election mail security pages
•	Updated the email scams webpage
•	Updated tax fraud webpage
•	Updated current scam articles
•	Created a hot topics page for trending topics
•	Created page to support the Financial Industry Mail Security Initiative (FIMSI)
•	Added a button for reporting email crimes
•	Added instructions for reporting theft of mail

Many of these pages include various forms of supporting content, such as embedded Public Service Awareness videos hosted on the Inspection Service YouTube page, informational flyers, and infographics posted to the Inspection Service social media channels. This comprehensive media strategy is intended to drive online traffic to the website, which serves as the main hub of the information shared with the public.
Controller

•	FY 2021 USPS Annual Report to Congress - https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2021.pdf 
•	Form 10-Q Qtr. 1 FY22 -- https://about.usps.com/what/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2022-q1.pdf
•	Form 10-Q Qtr. 2 FY 22 -- https://about.usps.com/what/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2022-q2.pdf
•	Form 10-Q Qtr. 3 FY22 -- https://about.usps.com/what/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2022-q3.pdf
•	Form 10-K FY2022 -- https://about.usps.com/what/financials/10k-reports/fy2022.pdf 

Finance and Planning

•	USPS Fiscal Year 2023 Integrated Financial Plan - https://about.usps.com/what/financials/integrated-financial-plans/fy2023.pdf  
•	USPS Annual Report to Congress which includes the Annual Performance Plan, Annual Performance Report, and the Comprehensive Statement of Operations –https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2021.pdf 

https://about.usps.com/what/financials/ 
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/10k-reports/fy2022.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/integrated-financial-plans/fy2023.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/revenue-pieces-weight-reports/fy2022.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/revenue-pieces-weight-reports/fy2022-q4.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/revenue-pieces-weight-reports/fy2022-q3.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/revenue-pieces-weight-reports/fy2022-q2.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/revenue-pieces-weight-reports/fy2022-q1.pdf 
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/quarterly-statistics-reports/fy2022-q1.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/quarterly-statistics-reports/fy2022-q2.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/quarterly-statistics-reports/fy2022-q3.pdf
•	https://about.usps.com/what/financials/quarterly-statistics-reports/fy2022-q4.pdf

Board of Governors

•	Announcements of all Board of Governors’ meeting days, times, locations are posted on https://about.usps.com/who/leadership/board-governors/. In addition, this information is also published in the Federal Register and can be found by searching meeting notices at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/search
•	Live audio webcasts and the presentations of the Open sessions of the Board of Governors are available online. Three hours after the conclusion of the meeting, a recorded audio file is available.  In compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the audio webcasts are open-captioned. These are available at https://about.usps.com/who/leadership/board-governors/briefings/welcome.htm

Delivery and Retail Operations

Informed Delivery provides eligible residential customers with a digital preview of their household’s incoming mail scheduled to arrive soon. Users can view greyscale images of the exterior, address side of incoming letter-sized mail pieces (not the inside contents) via email or an online dashboard. Informed Delivery also allows customers to track packages delivered by the Postal Service and see when they will be delivered. More than 44 million customers have enrolled since it was launched in 2017.

•	FOIA Library Link – (Delivery Operations) - https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm
	Administrative Manuals that affect the Public
	Frequently Requested Records
	City Delivery --- Headquarters Holiday Operations
•	Curbside Delivery -- http://about.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/current-initiatives/delivery-growth-management/welcome.htm

Judicial Office

•	Decisions issued by the Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals, Office of the Administrative Law Judges, and Judicial Officer are added to the Decisions page (as part of the Postal Service website). Further, a report of pending Board of Contract Appeals cases is available on the Electronic Filing website. The report is accessible from the start page and does not require an electronic filing account.
https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/judicial/welcome.htm
https://uspsjoe.justware.com/JusticeWeb/Reports

International Postal Affairs

•	https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm
•	https://www.usps.com/international/
•	https://www.usps.com/international/international-how-to.htm 
•	https://www.usps.com/international/gxg.htm 
•	https://www.usps.com/international/priority-mail-express-international.htm 
•	https://www.usps.com/international/priority-mail-international.htm 
•	https://www.usps.com/international/first-class-mail-international.htm
•	International Price list: https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/welcome.htm
•	International Shipping Services: https://www.usps.com/international/mail-shipping-services.htm

Marketing

•	In addition to the Industry Engagement and Outreach monthly newsletter “Mail Spoken Here” released via our external facing “Industry Alerts” mailbox which shares information with our industry partners on important events within USPS and Marketing. The Marketing group maintains the industry portion of PostalPro, i.e., Postal Customer Council (PCC), Mailer’s Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) and Areas Inspiring Mail (AIM). This site contains presentations, meeting notes, webinars, and schedules for meetings that USPS holds regularly with customers and industry partners. It can be accessed at https://postalpro.usps.com/. The PCC is a postal-sponsored organization which provides local support to business mailers large and small through education and networking events. Our PCC website located at www.usps.com/pcc is designed to allow interactive communication to facilitate this. We also send regular PCC alert notices to our industry partners with updates and information. 

•	There have been enhancements to our “Disaster Recovery Reporting”. When national and natural disasters occur, USPS informs our mailing and shipping partners of disruptions in service via “Industry Alerts”. The formats and timing of these alerts has been streamlined to better meet industry needs. In addition to the alerts, this information can be found at http://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/. These alerts are for residential, business, and international customers. The Marketing group is responsible for ensuring coordination with the Ready campaign by using the information displayed on the www.Ready.gov website and its Spanish language version at www.Listo.gov to prepare for hurricanes, natural disasters, and severe weather. 

•	USPS assisted Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Administration on the distribution of at home COVID test kits for 2022. USPS worked with HHS and posted FAQs tied to USPS and its specific part. It also referred to the covidtest.gov site as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide accurate information relevant to the test kits.

Innovative Business Technology

•	Mail & Package Visibility -- All customers’ IV-MTR data is available for those customers to access via the IV-MTR portal. They have access to data about any mail that they sent directly or mail that they manage on behalf of a sender. 
There are 3 steps for a customer to get scan data for their mail via IV-MTR*:
o	Sign up in Business Customer Gateway - https://gateway.usps.com/ 
o	Request IV-MTR service
o	Do appropriate delegations to have the data available to the individuals in a company or their partners to have access to the scans
*Assumes appropriate barcoding and mail make-up.

•	In May 2021, customers had the ability to purchase a statement containing scan event information from the Postal archives for some items that may have been purged from the normal online databases. This new service option increases the availability of tracking records to the public.

Product Solutions
The following links are available to the public to learn more about the initiatives in the Mailing Services team and mailing promotions.

•	USPS.COM https://www.usps.com/business/promotions-incentives.htm 

•	POSTALPRO https://postalpro.usps.com/promotions 

•	Business Customer Gateway https://gateway.usps.com/eAdmin/view/knowledge?securityId=INCENTIVEPROGRAMS 
•	Information about current and upcoming mailing promotions is provided to industry and other interested parties in the following ways: 
•	Quarterly MTAC presentations (industry membership group) 
•	Monthly MTAC UG#8 teleconferences (this group is open to mailers and mail service providers who wish to join. Meeting notes are posted on postalpro and are available to MTAC members) 
•	Promotions information is also posted on PostalPro which is available to the public: https://postalpro.usps.com/promotions. This site contains information about each promotion that is offered as well as recordings of informational webinars. 
•	Promotions and associated webinars are advertised in Industry Alert emails that are sent to a subscriber list. 

•	Additionally, vendor participation in the Direct Mail Technology Integrator Directory is available at: https://postalpro.usps.com/promotions/promotions_resources/tech_directory/directory_application

•	Documents on Share Mail are available on the following links: 

•	POSTALPRO https://postalpro.usps.com/mailing/share-mail 
•	Documents on Every Door Direct Mail are available on the following links: USPS.COM https://www.usps.com/business/advertise-with-mail.htm;  POSTALPRO https://postalpro.usps.com/mailing/every-door-direct-mail 
•	Additionally, Vendor Participation in the USPS Printer Directory information is available online at https://postalpro.usps.com/printer-directory 
•	Case studies of the impact of different Informed Delivery strategies https://www.uspsdelivers.com/informed-delivery-case-studies/ 
•	With the launch of Connect Local, a new service providing same day next day delivery in select local markets, Participants have an opportunity to list their business in the directory. Information is available at the following links: 
Connect Local | USPS
Local Delivery Across Your Entire Neighborhood | USPS Connect™

•	Information about current and upcoming changes to Commercial Systems and Policies are communicated monthly to the following: UG#2, 3 11 and IWG, Quarterly MTAC presentations (industry membership group) 
•	Federal Register Notice (FRN) are also utilized for system and policy changes
•	Information is also made available on PostalPro and for PC Postage Vendor provider SharePoint folder for IMI PC documentation
•	Educational webinars are advertised in Industry Alert emails that are sent to a subscriber list. 

•	Publications that support the rules and regulations for Commercial Mailings can be found on PostalPro and USPS.com. Publications such as Pub 685 Streamlined Mail Acceptance for Letters and Flats, Pub 205 Technical Guide, and supported by the DMM.

The following links provide educational information, guidance, and policy documentation regarding Election Mail. 

•	Election Mail -- https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/
•	https://about.usps.com/kits/kit600.pdf
•	Publication 631 Official Election Mail – Graphic Guidelines and Logos January 2022
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub631.pdf
•	Publication 632 State and Local Election Mail Users Guide January 2022	
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub632.pdf
•	Facilitating the Processing and Delivery of Return Ballots from Voters Using Prepaid Post 
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/election-mail-prepaid-reply-mail-info.pdf
•	USPS Postal Explorer 703.8.0 Balloting Mail
https://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/703.htm?_gl=1*vl89y3*_ga*MTk4OTQxODg1My4xNjYzMDcyNTg2*_ga_3NXP3C8S9V*MTY3MTIxNjU1MS41NC4wLjE2NzEyMTY1NTEuMC4wLjA.#ep1174014
•	USPS PostalPro – Service Standards
https://postalpro.usps.com/operations/service-standards?_gl=1*vl89y3*_ga*MTk4OTQxODg1My4xNjYzMDcyNTg2*_ga_3NXP3C8S9V*MTY3MTIxNjU1MS41NC4wLjE2NzEyMTY1NTEuMC4wLjA.
•	United States Postal Inspection Service – Mail Security
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/Election-Mail-Security-Info.pdf
•	Frequently Asked Questions - Priority Mail Express Label 11-DOD for Military Absentee Ballots 
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/military-absentee-ballot-faqs.pdf
•	Chief Customer and Marketing Officer Communication - Preparing for the 2022 Primary Election Season January 27, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/preparing-for-2022-primary-election-season.pdf
•	DMM Revision: Ballot Mail Clarification April 7, 2022
https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2022/pb22591/html/cover_001.htm#ep1399618
https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2022/pb22595/html/updt_001.htm#ep1488160
•	Processing Operations Management Order – Service Talks April 21, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/pomo-2022-election-mail-service-talk.pdf
•	Processing Operations Management – Policies and Procedures Order April 21, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/pomo-2022-political-and-election-mail-policies-and-procedures.pdf
•	Letter to Election Officials 2022 Election Mail Preparedness July 21, 2022 
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/july-2022-election-mail-guidance-letter.pdf
•	US Postal Service - Podcast – Mailin’ It – Election Mail September 15, 2022
https://usps-mailin-it.simplecast.com/episodes/election-mail
•	Secure and Timely September 26, 2022
https://uspsblog.com/secure-and-timely/
•	2022 General Election Mail Preparedness Memorandum September 26, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/2022-general-election-mail-preparedness-memorandum.pdf
•	2022 General Election Extraordinary Measures Memorandum September 29, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/2022-general-election-extraordinary-measures.pdf
•	2022 Guidance on Postmarking Ballots October 11, 2022
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/guidance-on-postmarking-ballots-101122.pdf
•	Special Procedures for the Georgia Runoff Election November 21, 2022 
https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/2022-georgia-runoff-extraordinary-measures-memorandum-112122.pdf

Government Relations and Public Policy

•	Congressional Hearing Testimony https://about.usps.com/newsroom/testimony-speeches/welcome.htm
Sales

•	Global Direct Entry publishes updates online to the GDE Wholesaler list. This list is updated as each new wholesaler is approved, or as a wholesaler is removed. This information may be found at: https://www.usps.com/business/international-shipping.htm. Section 620 of the International Mail Manual is also updated to reflect new requirements for the GDE program. This information may be found at: https://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc6006.htm. 

Human Resources

•	USPS Careers – about.usps.com/careers/
USPS Careers website is updated with an application guide and FAQs to simplify the applicant application experience.
Enterprise Analytics 

•	Due to multiple FOIAs requesting change-of-address data surrounding moving patterns due to COVID, we published COA stats data on the FOIA website in March 2021. The data is updated on the website monthly to include the last 48 months of data. We also included a coversheet to explain each column in detail. This information can be found at: https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm

General Counsel

•	This fiscal year, the Postal Service Law Department proactively disclosed its response to a particular FOIA request that it expected to recur, as well as its response in a litigation matter.  These records can be found here: https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm. In addition to the Postal Service’s FOIA library, the Postal Service provides many online resources in its public facing website, https://about.usps.com.  This includes, for example, Postal Service forms, periodicals and publications, manuals, handbooks, management instructions, informational “kits” on various subjects, notices, posters, and signs and labels.  

•	The Ethics and Legal Compliance team held two FOIA conference calls with the public this fiscal year. The conference calls are advertised on the Postal Service’s public facing FOIA website to ensure maximum attendance. The Ethics and Legal Compliance team is the component of the Postal Service’s Law Department that advises on the Freedom of Information Act. Both calls this fiscal year were well attended by members of the public. These calls allow us to interface with the requester community, provide a description of the FOIA and how to submit a request, and field questions from the attendees.   
Corporate Information Security Office (CISO)
•	CISO maintains Corporate Information Security Office (CISO) | PostalPro (usps.com) to provide cybersecurity information to the mailing industry and the public.
•	Updated Handbook AS-805-I: https://about.usps.com/handbooks/as805i.pdf

Office of Inspector General

•	OIG posted audit reports, white papers, semi-annual reports to congress, and congressional testimony in full or with modest redactions: https://www.uspsoig.gov/document-library

Labor Relations

•	Uniform Allowances Increases (Updated) Uniform Allowance Increases (usps.gov)

Logistics 
To increase proactive disclosures, Logistics will endeavor to review incoming FOIA requests to identify, determine and contribute information that may be most useful to the public. Initial steps for consideration include, but are not limited to:
•	Monitoring and tracking incoming FOIA requests and reviewing current posted Logistics and Operations information to identify the core community of individuals and determine what posted information is most frequently accessed and thereby possibly more useful to the public users.
•	Concurrently coordinating with other stakeholder functions (i.e., Headquarters Processing as well as Maintenance Operations) and subject matter experts to develop mutually beneficial plans to identify, determine and proactively promote potential disclosures.

2. Provide examples of any material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past reporting year, including records that have been requested and release three or more times in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D).  Please includes links to these materials as well.
 
A link to the below-listed documents can be found here:  
https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/library.htm

•	FOIA Logs
•	Change of Address Stats
•	Investigative Report 
•	Election Mail
•	Holiday Operations
3. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your agency’s website?
Yes
4. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please describe steps your agency is taking to post information in open, machine-readable, and machine-actionable formats, to the extent feasible. If not posting in open formats, please explain why and not any challenges.
The Postal Service develops its strategic plan as well as the associated goals, objectives, performance indicators, and targets through a process that relies heavily on participation by postal stakeholders. To effectively reach the stakeholder community, the Postal Service has attempted to map out an all-inclusive list of key stakeholders

 For example:

•	Every Door Direct Mail - EDDM - is an online service that uses demographic data to help business mailers target their marketing mail pieces to customers in a select neighborhood, city, or ZIP Code. Since 2011, EDDM has resulted in more than 30 billion pieces of mail. The USPS Printer Directory provides customers free access to local print, design and mail preparation services for Every Door Direct Mail and other direct mail products through a searchable database and mapping program. More than 680 listings populate the directory that serves small and medium-size businesses nationwide.
•	The USPS Direct Mail Technology Integrator Directory allows select technology providers the opportunity to be included in a national directory available to Mailers. The directory is an opportunity for providers to connect with Mailers who are seeking to integrate technology into their direct mail campaigns.
•	With the launch of our new Mailing Promotions Portal, it will modernize the sample review process and allow mailers to keep better track of their submissions and get any of their questions answered. This new portal enhances the customer experience and gives mailers insight in the approval process. 
•	Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) is a venue for the United States Postal Service to share technical information with mailers, and to receive their advice and recommendations on matters concerning mail-related products and services, to enhance customer value and expand the use of these products and services for the mutual benefit of Mailing industry stakeholders and the Postal Service. More information can be found at postalpro.usps.com/mtac.
•	Postal Customer Councils (PCCs). These Postal Service-affiliated networks connect business mailers with local Post Office leadership to develop more effective and profitable mailings through training and information sharing. Since the 1960s, PCCs have been the go-to local resource for helping mailers learn, innovate, and build their business. More information can be found at postalpro.usps.com/pcc. 
•	National Postal Forum (NPF). The annual mailing industry conference provides educational and networking opportunities for thousands of business customers. Attendees learn about the latest mail trends and innovations through more than 100 workshops and seminars. More information can be found at npf.org.

Examples of improvements made to post information in open formats to the public:

•	The top five usps.com sites in order of popularity were USPS Tracking, Informed Delivery, The Postal Store, Change of Address and PO Locator.  In 2021, there were more than 4.5 billion visitors to usps.com, averaging more than 12 million visitors each day. It’s one of the most frequently visited government sites. 
•	Our Premium Forwarding Service® (PFS®) options offer residential and business customers more flexibility and control over when and where they receive mail. If you would like to forward your mail while you relocate for a while or want to get all your business mail in one place, USPS® forwarding services can help you manage your mail. We added a new Premium Forwarding Service option, Premium Forwarding Service Local.

Premium Forwarding Service Local (PFS-L)
A new Premium Forwarding Service option, Premium Forwarding Service Local (PFS-L), allows residential and business PO Box holders to have USPS Customer Service Back Office employees gather mail addressed to PO Box for delivery to street addresses when both addresses are serviced by the same Local Post Office.

•	The customer pays a nonrefundable enrollment fee and a per container fee for the mail to be forwarded. 
•	Customers can request PFS-L online at USPS.com for residential customers or through Business Customer Gateway (BCG) for business customers.
•	Customers can select a frequency of daily (Monday-Saturday), weekly, multiple times a week, or monthly. 
Premium Forward Service Residential (PFS-R)
 Allows forwarding all customer’s mail from their permanent address to a temporary address. 
•	Pay $21.10 at Retail or $19.35 Online to enroll in the service and $21.10 for each week. 
•	Most mail is bundled, placed in Priority Mail packaging, and sent to you every Wednesday via Priority Mail (our 1, 2, or 3-day service). Service is based on the primary address ZIP Code and the temporary address ZIP Code. 
•	Priority Mail Express™ items are automatically rerouted directly to you upon arrival at the primary address ZIP Code. 
•	Priority Mail items are shipped right away or included in your weekly shipment as long as their delivery would not be delayed. 
•	First-Class Mail® mailpieces that don’t fit in the weekly shipment are rerouted separately at no extra cost. 
•	PFS-Residential is a temporary service that can be used from 2 weeks up to 1 year.
Premium Forwarding Service Commercial (PFS-C)
Allows business customers with an active business PO Box or business street address to temporarily forward all mail to their domestic business address using Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail
•	Annual Fee $20.10 annually per servicing post office 
•	Once yearly annual fee is regardless of the number of the number of individual PO Boxes, Caller Service numbers or street delivery addresses included for each servicing post office. Postage is charged per shipment by weight and zone. 
•	Commercial Base prices are calculated by the weight of the Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail container and the zone based on the ZIP Code of the servicing / origin Post Office and the delivery address of the shipment. 
•	A Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope and its contents are considered one piece for the applicable Flat Rate price. 
•	If no mail is collected for shipment on a designated frequency day, no postage is charged
5. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff outside the FOIA office, such as IT or data personnel? If so, describe this interaction.
Yes. The Privacy and Records Management Office frequently collaborates with the Interactive Digital team to ensure the FOIA reading room is updated on a regular basis. The Privacy and Records Management Office also collaborates with other departments to post records to the FOIA reading room.
6. Optional – Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any challenges your agency faces in this area.
Given the size and decentralized nature of the FOIA program, the Postal Service continually emphasizes to FOIA coordinators and records custodians that they must inform the FOIA Office if they receive three or more requests for the same records. In addition, Privacy and Records Management Office periodically reviews FOIA logs to determine whether there are new categories of frequently requested that should be added to the public FOIA reading room. Beyond these efforts to identify frequently requested records, the Privacy and Records Management Office continually works with stakeholders throughout the organization to identify regularly queried databases and information repositories, as well as newly created IT tools and systems to identify new categories of records that may be subject to the FOIA.  

Section IV:  Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

1.	Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?
Yes
2.	Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency began using during the reporting period to support your FOIA program.  

•	Ensure the vendor successfully updates FOIAXpress each year.

•	USPS Information Catalog Program Office (ICP) and IT professionals provide required support and assistance in conducting electronic records searches. ICP sorts and de-duplicates email records and may provide data transfer services for the exchange of electronic files. 

•	We ensure that FOIAXpress is updated and has enough data space, so that we are able to process FOIA requests without any disruptions. 

•	The Postal Service has one of the world’s largest computer networks. The services provided daily by the Postal Service depends on an astonishing network of people and technologies that collect, transport, process and deliver the nation’s mail. As such, records custodians at the over 30,000 facilities throughout the country at which records are maintained may utilize available technology which supports the programs they manage to help create efficiencies in processing FOIAs.  

3.	Does your agency currently use any technology to automate record processing? For example, does your agency use machine learning, predictive coding, technology assisted review or similar tools to conduct searches or make redactions? If so, please describe and, if possible, estimate how much time and financial resources are saved implementing the technology.

Yes. FOIAXpress has a tool to remove duplicate records and redact certain information using specific filters.

4.	OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA websites to ensure that they contain essential resources, and are informative and user-friendly.  Has your agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the elements noted in the guidance?
Yes
5.	Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2022 appear on your agency's website and on FOIA.gov?
Yes
6.	If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information appearing on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency’s plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2022. 
N/A
7.	The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical data used to compile their Annual FOIA Reports.  Please provide the link to this posting for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report.  
•	Fiscal Year 2021 –https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/annual-foia-reports/fy2021-rawdata.csv
•	Fiscal Year 2022 - https://about.usps.com/who/legal/foia/annual-foia-reports/fy2022-rawdata.csv

8.	In February 2019, DOJ and OMB issued joint Guidance establishing interoperability standards to receive requests from National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov. Are all components of your agency in compliance with the guidance?

Yes

Other Initiatives

9.	Optional -- Please describe: best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any challenges your agency faces in this area.
The Privacy and Records Management Office continues to work with an IT portfolio manager to identify technology tools that it may need to provide for efficient FOIA processing. This approach requires yearly review by communicating with IT to develop a plan for accomplishing explicit development goals and timelines, gauging results, and making any necessary modification or enhancements.   

Section V:  Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reducing Backlogs

A.	Remove Barriers to Access

1. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first party requested records outside of the FOIA process?

Yes

2. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please indicate why not. Please also indicate if you do not know. 

First party requesters seeking employment records are able to obtain those records outside of the FOIA process. 

B.	Timeliness

3. For Fiscal Year 2022, what was the average number of days your agency reported for adjudicating requests for expedited processing?  Please see Section VIII.A of your agency's Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report.

4

4. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was above ten calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less. 

N/A
5. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?    
Yes	
6. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report section VII.A, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2022?
    Yes
7. If not, did the simple track average processing time decrease compared to the previous Fiscal Year?
N/A
8.  Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022 that were placed in your simple track.  Please use the following calculation based on the data from your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section VII.C.1) divided by (requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100.  
    	82.1%
9.  If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to process all non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer? 
    	N/A
C. Backlogs -- Requests
10.. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021? 
Yes
11.  If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 2020? 
N/A
12. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2022, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog.  When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:
•	An increase in the number of incoming requests.
•	A loss of staff.
•	An increase in the complexity of the requests received.  If possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase.
•	Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions
•	Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.
N/A
13. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up the backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report:  (backlogged requests from Section XII.A) divided by (requests received from Section V.A) x 100.  This number can be greater than 100%.  If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with “N/A.”
2.0%
D. Backlogs – Appeals
14. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, according to Section XII.E.2 of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021?   
No
15.  If not, according to section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2022 than it did during Fiscal Year 2021?
No
16. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog.  When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:
•	An increase in the number of incoming appeals.
•	A loss of staff.
•	An increase in the complexity of the requests received.  If possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase.
•	Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions.
•	Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.
The agency’s appeal backlog increased by one appeal due to the complexity of the records received.
17. If you had an appeal backlog, please report the percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged appeals from Section XII.A) divided by (appeals received from Section VI.A) x 100.  This number can be greater than 100%.  If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2022 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."
0.58%
E. Backlog Reduction Plans
18. In the 2022 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2021 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in the year ahead.  Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last year?  If so, describe your agency’s efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2022? 
N/A
19. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2022, please explain your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2023.  
N/A
F. 10 Oldest Requests
20. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?
Yes
21. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that. 
N/A
22. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.
The Privacy and Records Management Office continued meeting on a weekly basis and ensured that all team members were assisting with closing the oldest requests or any overdue cases.

G. 10 Oldest Appeals
23. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report? 

Yes
24. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VI.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that. 
N/A
25. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals. 
N/A
H. 10 Oldest Consultations
26. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?
Yes
27. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that. 
N/A
I. Additional Information Regarding 10 Oldest 
28. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest pending requests, appeals or consultations, please explain why and provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those “ten oldest” requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2023.
N/A
29. Were any requests at your agency the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period? If so, please describe the impact on your agency’s overall FOIA request processing and backlog. If possible, please indicate the number and nature of requests subject to litigation, and any other information to illustrate the impact of litigation on your overall administration.  
Two FOIA requests were the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period. FOIA litigation does not affect FOIA process or backlog. This is because the Law Department handles FOIA litigation. 
30. How many requests during Fiscal Year 2022 involved unusual circumstances as defined by the FOIA? (This information is available in your agency’s FY22 raw data).
73