(3) Penalty. Penalty mail, subject to the restrictions of paragraph (d) of this section, is sent without prepayment of postage. Envelopes, cards, labels, tags, and wrappers used in transmitting official mail under the penalty privilege must bear in the upper right corner of the address side the printed statement of the penalty of misuse: "Penalty for Private Use to Avoid Payment of Postage, $300." The printed statement of the penalty for misuse may not be handwritten or typewritten. They must also show, over the words "Official Business" in the upper left corner of the address side, the name and address including ZIP Code of the department, bureau, office, or officer.

(4) Prepaid postage. Official mail which is not sent as penalty mail or as postage and fees paid mail must have postage prepaid. The regular rates and conditions apply except that postage on official mail weighing over 4 pounds may be paid at the fourth-class rates. See paragraph (e) (1) of this section.

(d) Use. (1) The markings authorized on official mail in paragraph (c) of this section may not be placed on other mail to avoid payment of postage or special service fees.

(2) Any department or office authorized to use the official mail privilege may furnish self-addressed envelopes or labels to persons or concerns for their convenience in submitting official information desired by any U.S. Government department or agency. Reply envelopes may not be furnished to bidders or contractors, or to enable private persons or concerns to send without prepayment of postage reports or other information which they are required by law to make.

(3) The right of an officer to use the official mail privilege ceases immediately on his going out of office.

(4) Official matter of those departments and agencies listed in § 137.2(c) (1) (i) that is marked "Postage and Fees Paid" (name of department or agency) shall be given any special service, including airmail, when it is so marked by the sender without requiring prepayment of postage or fees. See Publication 42, regarding international mail.

(5) Airmail and the special services may not be given official mail in penalty envelopes without prepayment of air postage or prepayment of the appropriate fee for the special service requested. EXCEPTION: Penalty envelopes of a President-elect (see § 137.7) and those containing urgent official communications of the Postal Service may be sent airmail without prepayment of the postage. Official mail of the Postal Service may be sent as registered, certified, or special delivery mail without prepayment of the postage or fees.

(e) Weight and size limits―(1) Weight (i) Penalty mail. No article or package of official matter, or number of articles or packages of official matter, constituting in fact a single shipment exceeding 4 pounds may be admitted to the mail under the penalty privilege except stamped paper and supplies sold or used by the Postal Service, and books or documents published or circulated by order of Congress when mailed by the Superintendent of Documents. Official matter in packages exceeding 4 pounds, if otherwise mailable, will be accepted on payment of postage at the fourthclass rates within the limits of weight prescribed for such matter. (See § 135.3 (a) of this chapter.) Such parcels may be sealed or unsealed, and may include written matter when mailed at those rates. Official matter of the Postal Service, and books and documents circulated by order of Congress when mailed by the Superintendent of Documents, may weigh up to 70 pounds.

(ii) Postage and fees paid mail. Maximum weight as § 135.3(a) except airmail. See § 136.3.

(iii) Prepaid Government mail. Maximum weight same as § 135.3 (a) except airmail. See § 136.3.

(2) Size. (i) Mail, shall, when physically possible, be prepared so as to be within the range of sizes which can be machine processed, and also most efficiently hand processed. This range of sizes, referred to as letter-size mail, is as follows:

(ii) In instances where mail pieces must be larger than letter-size, avoid the use of items over 9 inches by 12 inches whenever possible. Items larger than that are especially difficult to handle even by manual methods.

(iii) Mail, other than letter-size mail, may measure not to exceed the limitations stated in § 135.3 (a). See § 135.3(b) for instructions on how to measure.

(3) Shape. (i) Envelopes, cards, and self-mailers shall be rectangular, regardless of size or class of mail.

(ii) Letter-size mail shall have a maximum ratio of height to length of 1 to 1.4, and a minimum ratio of 1 to 2.5.

(f) ZIP Coding of mail-(1) Addressing. The address on all official mailings of Federal Exceutive Departments and Agencies under § 137.2 must include the ZIP Code number.

(2) Presorting and postage charges. When identical pieces of individually addressed matter are included in a single mailing, and the reimbursement to the U.S. Postal Service required by paragraph (a) of this section is made at the bulk third-class postage rates prescribed by § 134.1(b), they must be prepared in packages and sacks as prescribed by § 134.4 (c).

(a) Census mail. All mail, of whatever class, relating to the census and addressed to the Census Office, or to any official thereof, and endorsed "Official Business, Census Office," will be sent without prepayment of postage. Such mail may not exceed 4 pounds. (See § 137.2(a) of this chapter regarding postage reimbursement.) Mail sent by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce or one of its officers in envelopes of that Bureau is subject to the conditions in § 137.2(c) (1) of this chapter.

(b) Immigration and Naturalization Service mail. All mail of whatever class, relating to naturalization, including duplicate papers required by law or regulation to be sent to the Service by clerks of courts addressed to the Department of Justice or the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or any official of either, and endorsed "Official Business,' will be transmitted without prepayment of postage and marked "Naturalization Papers." Mail relating to naturalization may not exceed 4 pounds. (See § 137.2(a) regarding postage reimbursement.)

§ 137.4 State employment security mailings.

All mail of State employment security offices cooperating with the Department of Labor that bears, in the upper left corner of the address side, the words "Official Business" printed immediately below the name and address of the State employment agency and, in the upper right corner, the words "Postage and Fees Paid, Employment Security Mail" will be accepted without prepayment of postage or fees. Postage and fees chargeable are collected periodically under a special arrangement with the Postal Service. Such matter will be given the service indicated on the cover.

§ 137.5 Diplomatic and consular mail.

(a) Diplomatic mail. All correspondence (written or printed) of members of the Diplomatic Corps of the countries of the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain stationed in the United States may be reciprocally transmitted in the domestic mail without prepayment of postage. This correspondence may not exceed 4 pounds in weight. The envelopes, cards, tags, wrappers, and labels must show in the upper left corner of the address side the name of the Ambassador or the Minister or the name of the Embassy or Legation, together with the post office address; and in the upper right corner the inscription "Diplomatic Mail" over the word "Free." These inscriptions may be handwritten, hand-stamped, or printed.

(b) Consular mail. The official correspondence (written or printed) exchanged between consulates (consuls and vice consuls) of the countries of the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain stationed in the United States, and correspondence directed by those consulates to the Government of the United States or their respective Embassies or Legations or to officials of State or local governments may be transmitted in the domestic mail without prepayment of postage. This correspondence may not exceed 4 pounds in weight. The envelopes, labels, etc., covering correspondence of consulates must show over the words "Official Correspondence," in the upper left corner of the address side, the name and address of the consul or consulate, and the name of the country represented; and, in the upper right corner, the inscription "Consular Mail" over the word "Free". These inscriptions may be handwritten, handstamped, or printed.

§ 137.6

Absentee balloting materials.

(a) Purpose. Balloting materials consisting of post card applications, ballots, voting instructions, and envelopes, are sent through the mail without prepayment of postage, including airmail postage, for the purpose of enabling every person in any of the following categories to vote by absentee ballot when he is absent from the place of his voting residence and is otherwise eligible to vote:

(1) Members of the Armed Forces while in the active service and their spouses and dependents.

(2) Members of the merchant marine of the United States and their spouses and dependents.

(3) Civilian employees of the United States in all categories serving outside the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses and dependents when residing with or accompanying them, whether or not the employee is subject to the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, and whether or not paid from funds appropriated by the Congress.

(4) Members of religious groups or welfare agencies assisting members of the Armed Forces, who are officially attached to and serving with the Armed Forces, and their spouses and dependents.

(5) Citizens of the United States temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the Dis

accom

trict of Columbia and their spouses and dependents when residing or panying them. To be mailable free of postage, the balloting materials must be deposited at a U.S. post office, an overseas U.S. military post office, or presented to an American embassy.

(b) Elections affected. The materials may be sent for any general election of electors for President and Vice President or of Senators and Representatives in Congress and for other general, primary, and special elections.

(c) Markings required on ballot envelopes and post card applications. (1) Envelopes used to send balloting material and envelopes supplied for return of the ballot must have printed across the face two parallel horizontal red bars, each one-quarter inch wide, extending from one side of the envelope to the other side, with an intervening space of onequarter inch, the top bar to be 14 inches from the top of the envelope, and the words "Official Election Balloting Material-Airmail," or similar language as prescribed by State law, between the bars. There must be printed in the upper right corner of each envelope in a rectangular box the words "Free of U.S. Postage, Including Airmail." All printing on the face must be in red with an appropriate inscription or blanks for return address of sender in the upper left corner.

§ 137.7 President-elect, former Presidents, widows of former Presidents and surviving spouses of Members of Congress.

(a) President-elect. All mail, including airmail, of any President-elect sent by him in connection with his preparations for the assumption of official duties as President may be accepted subject to the provisions of § 137.2(c) (3).

(b) Former presidents and widows of former Presidents. All mail of former U.S. Presidents, all mail of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, widow of former President John F. Kennedy, and all mail of Mamie Doud Eisenhower, widow of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, shall be accepted without prepayment of postage if it bears the written signature of the sender, or a facsimile signature, in the upper right corner of the address side. Such matter may be dispatched by air if it bears the word "Airmail" on the address side.

(c) Surviving spouses of Members of Congress. Upon the death of a Member of Congress during his term of office the surviving spouse of such Member may send, without prepayment of postage for a period not to exceed 180 days after the death of the Member, correspondence

(City or Town, State, Zip Code)

relating to the death of the Member, provided it bears the written signature of the sender, or a facsimile signature in the upper right corner of the address side.

§ 137.8 Pan American Union and Pan American Sanitary Bureau.

The Pan American Union and Pan American Sanitary Bureau are authorized by law to transmit official matter without prepayment. The mail must bear the printed clause citing the penalty for private use instead of postage stamps. It must be prepared like Federal Government penalty mail and is subject to the same restrictions. See § 137.2 (c) (3), (d), and (e).

§ 137.9 General instructions.

(a) Official mail not to be detained. Official mail of any kind must not be detained even though there are indications of abuse of official mailing privileges. It must be promptly dispatched and delivered to the addressee. Reports of the indicated abuse must be submitted to the Finance Department, Office of Rates and Classification.

(b) Separation of official mail by mailer. Airmail, special delivery, special handling, and first-class mail should be

The following conditions are applicable to articles mailable free of postage under this section:

(a) Except as provided in § 138.2(a) the matter is for the use of the blind or other persons who cannot use or read conventionally printed material because of a physical impairment who are certified by competent authority as unable to read normal reading material;

(b) No charge, or rental, subscription, or other fee, is required for such matter or a charge, or rental, subscription, or other fee is required for such matter not in excess of the cost thereof;

(c) The matter may be opened for postal inspection;

(d) The matter contains no advertising.

§ 138.2 Items mailable free.

(a) Unsealed letters sent by a blind person or a person having a physical impairment as described in § 138.1(a) in raised characters or sight-saving type or in the form of sound recordings; (b) Reading matter

scores;

and musical

(c) Sound reproductions;

(d) Paper, records, tapes, and other material for the production of reading matter, musical scores, or sound reproductions;

(e) Reproducers or parts thereof for sound reproductions; and

(f) Braille writers or typewriters, or parts thereof, used for writing by or specifically designed or adapted for use of a blind person or a person having a

physical impairment as described in § 138.1(a).

(g) Educational or other materials or devices, or parts thereof, specifically designed or adapted for use of a blind person or a person having a physical impairment as described in § 138.1(a). § 138.3 Markings.

All matter mailed under the provisions of Part 138 shall show the words "Free Matter for the Blind or Handicapped” in the upper right corner of the address side.

§ 138.4 Weight and size limits.

The weight and size limitations in § 135.3(a) are applicable to mailings made under this part.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 137 issued under 39 U.S.C. 401.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 139 appear at 35 F.R. 19446, Dec. 23, 1970, unless otherwise noted.

§ 139.1 Mail of a higher class enclosed with mail of a lower class.

When mail of a higher class is enclosed with mail of a lower class, the rate of postage on the entire piece or package is that of the higher class except as provided in § 139.3. See § 139.2 for attachment of letters to parcels of second-, third-, and fourth-class mail.

(a) Attachment. Letters or other pieces of first- or third-class mail may be placed in an envelope and securely tied or otherwise attached to the address side of a second-, third-, or fourth-class mailing piece including airmail articles. The envelope must be placed on the address side of the principal mailing piece. Combination envelopes or containers having separate parts for the two classes of mail may be used. See § 134.8 concerning the sealing of third-class mail.

(b) Addressing. The name and address of the sender and the name and address