[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52753-52754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21597]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[Notice-MA-2015-03; Docket No. 2015-0002; Sequence 19]


Maximum Per Diem Rates for the Continental United States (CONUS)

AGENCY: Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services 
Administration (GSA).

ACTION: Notice of GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 16-01, Fiscal Year (FY) 
2016 Continental United States (CONUS) per diem rates.

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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration's (GSA) Fiscal Year (FY)

[[Page 52754]]

2016 per diem review has resulted in lodging and meal allowance changes 
for certain locations within the Continental United States (CONUS) to 
provide for reimbursement of Federal employees' expenses covered by per 
diem.

DATES: Effective: September 1, 2015.
    Applicability: This notice applies to travel performed on or after 
October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
Ms. Jill Denning, Office of Government-wide Policy, Office of Asset and 
Transportation Management, at 202-208-7642, or by email at 
[email protected]. Please cite Notice of GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 
16-01.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: GSA identified two new non-standard areas (NSAs): Grand 
Lake, CO (Grand County) and Pecos, TX (Reeves County). Additionally, 
the NSA of Belle Mead, NJ has been renamed Somerset, which more 
accurately recognizes the major city in the county.
    The Government-wide Travel Advisory Committee (GTAC) recommended 
that GSA review the standard CONUS lodging rate annually instead of 
every three years, and GSA has accepted that recommendation, starting 
for FY2016 rates. The standard CONUS lodging rate will increase to $89 
from $83. The meals and incidental expense (M&IE) rate tiers were 
revised for the first time since FY 2010. The standard CONUS M&IE rate 
is now based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Food away from home 
measure, and will be $51 for FY 2016. The M&IE rates for the NSAs 
continue to be based on survey data from local restaurants in their 
respective areas, and now range from $54-$74.
    The CONUS per diem rates prescribed in Bulletin 16-01 may be found 
at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. GSA bases the lodging rates on the average 
daily rate that the lodging industry reports to an independent 
organization. If a lodging rate or a per diem rate is insufficient to 
meet necessary expenses in any given location, Federal executive 
agencies can request that GSA review that location. Please review 
numbers five and six of GSA's per diem Frequently Asked Questions at 
(www.gsa.gov/perdiemfaqs) for more information on the special review 
process.
    In addition, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) allows for actual 
expense reimbursement as provided in Sec. Sec.  301-11.300 through 301-
11.306.
    GSA issues and publishes the CONUS per diem rates, formerly 
published in Appendix A to 41 CFR Chapter 301, solely on the Internet 
at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. GSA also now solely publishes the M&IE meal 
breakdown table, which is used when employees need to deduct meals from 
their M&IE reimbursement per direction in FTR Sec.  301-11.18, at 
www.gsa.gov/mie. This process, implemented in 2003 for lodging and 2015 
for the M&IE table, ensures more timely changes in per diem rates 
established by GSA for Federal employees on official travel within 
CONUS. Notices published periodically in the Federal Register, such as 
this one, now constitute the only notification of revisions in CONUS 
per diem rates to agencies.

    Dated: August 14, 2015.
Christine J. Harada,
Associate Administrator, Office of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-21597 Filed 8-31-15; 8:45 am]
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