3001.5—Definitions.
(c)
Commission or Commissioner means, respectively, the Postal Regulatory Commission established by the Act or a member thereof.
(e)
Presiding officer means the Chairman of the Commission in proceedings conducted by the Commission en banc or the Commissioner or employee of the Commission designated to preside at hearings or conferences.
(f)
Person means an individual, a partnership, corporation, trust, unincorporated association, public or private organization, or governmental agency.
(g)
Party means the Postal Service, a complainant, an appellant, or a person who has intervened in a proceeding before the Commission.
(h)
Participant means any party and the officer of the Commission who is designated to represent the interests of the general public and, for purposes of §§ 3001.11(e), 3001.12, 3001.21, 3001.23, 3001.24, 3001.29, 3001.30, 3001.31, and 3001.32 only, it also means persons who are limited participators.
(i)
Complainant means a person or interested party who as permitted by section 3662 of the Act files a complaint with the Commission in the form and manner hereinafter prescribed.
(j)
Hearing means a hearing under sections 556 and 557 of title 5, U.S.C. (80 Stat. 386), as provided by sections 3624, 3661, and 3662 of the Act.
(k)
Record means the transcript of testimony and exhibits, together with all papers and requests filed in the proceeding, which constitutes the exclusive record for decision.
(l)
Effective date of an order or notice issued by the Commission or an officer thereof means the date of issuance unless otherwise specifically provided.
(m)
Appellant means a person who as permitted by 39 U.S.C. 404(b) appeals to the Commission a determination of the Postal Service to close or consolidate a post office.
(n)
Commission meeting means the deliberations of at least three Commissioners where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official Commission business, but does not include deliberations required or permitted by § 3001.43(d) or § 3001.43(e).
(o)
Ex parte communication means an oral or written communication not on the public record with respect to which reasonable prior notice to all participants and limited participators is not given, but it shall not include requests for status reports on any matter or proceeding covered by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 or a proceeding conducted pursuant to subpart H of this part.
(p)
Domestic Mail Classification Schedule means the classification schedule, including schedules of full and phased rates and fees, adopted by the Decision of the Governors of the U.S. Postal Service Re Recommended Decision of the Postal Rate Commission Regarding the Proper Scope and Extent of the Mail Classification Schedule, issued April 3, 1979, and any amendments thereto adopted pursuant to the procedures of subchapter III, chapter 36, title 39 of the U.S.C.
(q)
Office of the Consumer Advocate or OCA means the officer of the Commission designated to represent the interests of the general public in a Commission proceeding.
(r)
Negotiated service agreement means a written contract, to be in effect for a defined period of time, between the Postal Service and a mailer, that provides for customer-specific rates or fees and/or terms of service in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. A rate associated with a negotiated service agreement is not a rate of general applicability.
(s)
Postal service refers to the delivery of letters, printed matter, or mailable packages, including acceptance, collection, sorting, transportation, or other functions ancillary thereto.
(t)
Product means a postal service with a distinct cost or market characteristic for which a rate or rates are, or may reasonably be, applied.
(u)
Rate or class of general applicability means a rate or class that is available to all mailers equally on the same terms and conditions.