The U.S. Postal Service should engage the public more as it decides which post offices to close, the agency's regulating body recommends.

The Postal Service is studying 162 post offices for closure as part of a months-long process that began with a list of more than 3,000 post offices last summer. More closures are planned for the coming years: Postmaster General John Potter said last week that the Postal Service wants the authority to close post offices for economic reasons, something it doesn't currently have.

The Postal Regulatory Commission, in an advisory opinion released today, didn't contest that the Postal Service needs to close retail facilities — but it urged the agency to review how it chooses those it targets for closure. The PRC complained that now, postal customers get short notice of post office closures, and sometimes have only 10 days to comment on a proposed closure.

"Public comments often are not sought until after the initial decision to close the facility has already been made," the PRC wrote in its opinion. "[The] Postal Service's decision-making will be improved if it establishes a notice and comment period that provides an adequate opportunity for public input before an initial decision to close a facility is made."

The PRC also criticized the Postal Service for applying different procedures to close post offices, stations and branches. Public comment periods for stations or branches — which are smaller auxiliary facilities — are typically shorter than comment periods for post offices.

"The Postal Service's nomenclature differentiates among stations, branches and post offices. But customers do not recognize any difference," said Ruth Goldway, chairwoman of the PRC. "They expect and deserve the same public notice, opportunity for comment and rights of appeal if and when postal facilities they depend on may be closed."

Goldway said the Postal Service also needs a better way to calculate the financial impact of closing a post office. The PRC said the current process doesn't account for possible revenue loss from lower mail volume or for the cost of closing a post office and moving its operations elsewhere.

The Postal Service didn't respond to a request for comment on the PRC's opinion. Postal officials haven't said when they expect to make a final decision on the 162 post offices currently being studied.