39 U.S.C. § 3621
Section 3621 · Applicability; definitions
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 31 court decisions — leading case Franchise Tax Board of California v. United States Postal Service (1984)
Most recently applied in United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Postal Regulatory Commission (March 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Applicability.—This subchapter shall apply with respect to—
(1) first-class mail letters and sealed parcels;
(2) first-class mail cards;
(3) periodicals;
(4) standard mail;
(5) single-piece parcel post;
(6) media mail;
(7) bound printed matter;
(8) library mail;
(9) special services; and
(10) single-piece international mail,
subject to any changes the Postal Regulatory Commission may make under section 3642.
(b) Rule of Construction.—Mail matter referred to in subsection (a) shall, for purposes of this subchapter, be considered to have the meaning given to such mail matter under the mail classification schedule.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 3621, Pub. L. 91–375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 760, authorized the Governors to fix rates and classes, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 109–435, title II, §201(a), Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3200.
Ratemaking Limitations
Pub. L. 103–123, title VII, §704(b)(2), Oct. 28, 1993, 107 Stat. 1270, provided that:
“(A) In general.—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), rates of postage may not be established, under subchapter II [now I] of chapter 36 of title 39, United States Code, in a manner designed to allow the United States Postal Service to receive through revenues any portion of the additional revenues (referred to in section 2401(d) of such title, as amended by paragraph (1)(E)) for which amounts are authorized to be appropriated under such section 2401(d).
“(B) Exception.—If Congress fails to appropriate an amount authorized under section 2401(d) of title 39, United States Code (as amended by paragraph (1)(E)), rates for the various classes of mail may be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of subchapter II [now I] of chapter 36 of such title (excluding section 3627 thereof) such that the resulting increase in revenues will equal the amount that Congress so failed to appropriate.”