The Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual, for the disposal or treatment of books and sound recordings that are undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) in their original packaging. The disposal of these items as waste will simplify handling procedures and reduce costs.

The Postal Service published a Federal Register proposed rule (73 FR 39272-39273) on July 9, 2008 to remove DMM section 507.1.9.2. The intent of this section was to facilitate a process for identifying and returning books and recordings that had become undeliverable as a result of being "loose in the mail" (contents separated from packaging and other address information), to the original publisher or distributor. This standard was misinterpreted to allow some publishers and distributors to reclaim ownership of all UAA mail and not just mail that was truly identified as "loose" in the mail.