Federal Agency Proposed Rules of Impact on Volume

Recent activity at the Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) and Department of Labor (DOL) could spell mail volume losses for First-Class in 2027 of over 3 billion pieces. 

• SEC Rulemaking: Proposed Regulation E-Delivery

• • • On July 16th, 2026, the SEC proposed Regulation E-Delivery, shifting the default delivery method for financial disclosures from paper mail to electronic delivery. You can read more details on the four-page fact sheet provided.
      • Key Shift: Investors must affirmatively opt out of digital to continue receiving paper statements, reversing decades of paper-by-default practices.
      • Mail Types Affected: Proxy statements, annual reports, prospectuses, tender offer materials, and routine brokerage statements. (not traditional savings, checking bank statements)
    • Impact on Mail Volume: Significant decrease. USPS has not officially published an estimate of volume, but indicators are that this could result in a loss of 2.5 to  3+ billion pieces of First-Class mail annually.
      • Next Steps: The Proposed rule opened a comment period that ends on September 26th, after which we would expect the SEC to issue a final rule either aligned with the proposed rule or modified based on public comments.

• DOL Rulemaking: Health Plans vs. Retirement Statements

• • The Department of Labor (DOL) introduced new regulations in 2026:
    • Group Health Plan E-Delivery Safe Harbor (Proposed July 2026): Expands electronic disclosure options for group health plan administrators, allowing Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-required health plan documents (such as Summary Plan Descriptions) to be posted online rather than physical mailing. The FRN is found here.
• Impact: Moderate decrease in health-benefit-related First-Class Mailings, estimated at 11 billion sheets of paper annually, but that hasn’t been equated to a number of mail pieces yet.
  • Next Steps: The FRN is open to comments due by September 21st, after which a final rule may be issued.

The broader structural trend across Federal Agencies—highlighted by the SEC’s default e-delivery rule—continues to accelerate the migration of commercial communications away from physical First-Class Mail.