[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 14, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63134-63137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21993]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Parts 301-11 and 301-70
[FTR Amendment 2016-02, FTR Case 2015-304; Docket No. 2015-0017,
Sequence No. 1]
RIN 3090-AJ56
Federal Travel Regulation; Clarifying Agency Responsibilities
Concerning Reimbursement for Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Fees and
Laundry, Cleaning and Pressing of Clothing Expenses
AGENCY: Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: GSA is amending the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) by
clarifying the regulations regarding reimbursement for Automatic Teller
Machine (ATM) fees and laundry, cleaning, and pressing of clothing
expenses.
DATES: Effective: September 14, 2016.
Applicability: Federal agencies have until November 14, 2016 to
apply this rule to their internal policies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact
Mr. Cy Greenidge, Program Analyst, Office of Government-wide Policy, at
202-219-2349. For more information pertaining to status or publication
schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street
NW., Washington, DC 20405, 202-501-4755. Please cite FTR Case 2015-304.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
GSA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on January 8,
2016 (81 FR 883). The rule proposed to amend the FTR by expanding the
definition of ``incidental expenses'' (IE) to include ATM fees.
Additionally, the rule proposed to amend the FTR by clarifying that
agencies have discretion regarding the reimbursement of expenses
related to laundry, cleaning, and pressing of clothing for official
travel within CONUS that involves four or more consecutive nights of
lodging.
The public had 60 calendar days to comment on the proposed rule.
GSA received 22 comments from 19 respondents. Two respondents opposed
the amendment in general, eleven addressed only the inclusion of ATM
fees in the definition of IE, two addressed only the clarification
concerning the final approval authority for the reimbursement for
laundry, cleaning, and pressing of clothing expenses, three addressed
both the
[[Page 63135]]
proposed IE definition change and the laundry reimbursement
clarification (which have been broken out separately below for ease of
response), and one was out of scope. Some of these comments resulted in
changes to this final rule.
B. Analysis of Public Comments
The two comments that opposed the amendment in general are
summarized below:
Comment: If travel is required to do mission related duties, how
can there be a cap on the travel related expenses? The employee should
not have to pay out of pocket to do their job.
Comment: As a government engineer, I am already paid less than my
private industry counterparts and now it appears that I am expected to
pay my own travel expenses as well.
Response: The final rule changes will have a minimal impact on
employee reimbursements for official travel. When necessary to fairly
compensate travelers, agencies will retain the discretion to authorize
the reimbursement for the cost of ATM fees and/or the cost for laundry,
cleaning, and pressing of clothing services while employees are on
official travel within CONUS for four or more consecutive nights.
The fourteen comments concerning ATM fees being included in the
definition of IE are summarized below:
Comment: Proposing to change ATM fees to incidental expenses as
part of per diem is patently unfair to Federal employees. You would be
forcing employees ordered to travel (many times against the will or
convenience of employees) as part of their work duties to subsidize the
Federal government's operating costs especially considering the
expensive costs of eating at restaurants in many cities.
Comment: An employee conducting official business for the
government should not be required to use personal funds to augment
travel costs. We do not have control over the fees charged by the banks
for using their ATMs and we do not have control over fees for ``cash
advance'' charged by the government credit card issuer.
Comment: This is not a fair assessment to move the expense of ATM
fees under the incidental expense included in the M&IE. It would cause
the traveler to come out of pocket for official business.
Comment: Moving ATM fees from miscellaneous expenses to incidental
expenses means that employees of official travel will have to use per
diem funds to pay for ATM fees instead of those available for meals and
lodging.
Comment: Employees on short trips will receive insufficient
incidental expense reimbursement to reimburse the employee for all ATM
fees incurred, thereby requiring the employee to pay for the ATM fees
out-of-pocket. The proposal also gives agencies the discretion to
determine when an employee will be separately reimbursed for ATM fees
even though the fees are part of incidental expense allowance. We
believe this will result in a disproportionate increase in
administrative time required to determine when ATM fees are payable as
miscellaneous expenses when compared to any cost savings realized from
the proposed regulatory change.
Comment: Moving the ATM fee from a miscellaneous expense to an
incidental expense puts the burden of government travel onto the
traveler which shouldn't be allowed. There are times when an employee
might be on travel for a week or more and the ATM fee (with the foreign
ATM fee and .025 fee of the total amount) would easily exceed the $5
incidental expense allowance. This goes against the precept that it
should not cost the employee to conduct government business (travel).
Comment: The $5 limit for incidental expenses will be inadequate to
reimburse the actually incurred expenses of employees who use their
Citi Travel Cards to obtain cash advances for their TDY. This proposed
rule change does not appear to account for these reasonably anticipated
costs it will prohibit agencies from reimbursing, to the detriment of
employees on TDY.
Comment: My agency has put in place restrictions on how much cash
we are able to get from ATMs, despite the fact we are advised in many
countries to only use cash and not the credit card due to fraud. In all
cases we are assessed an ATM fee in the foreign country and again by
the travel card. This proposed regulation may mean I end up eating some
or all of these costs on my own.
Comment: I disagree with including ATM services and fees as part of
per diem allowance. Our agency has a large number of traveler's that
use the ATM to get advanced funds.
Comment: Section 301-12.1 removes ATM fee as a miscellaneous travel
expense and does not give agencies discretion to pay ATM fees as a
miscellaneous expense. Section 300-70.200(h) implies that an agency or
approving official can determine if the ATM fees can be paid as a
separate miscellaneous expense, if warranted (e.g., forced gratuity or
other incidental expenses, which may exhaust the allowance to cover the
cost of ATM fees). Sections 301-12.1 and 300-70.200 are contradictory
and need to be revised.
Comment: If GSA wishes to embed the ATM fees inside the incidental
expenditures part of the traveler reimbursement, then GSA should do a
nation-wide survey on incidental expenses. If GSA is unwilling to
update the incidental expenses inside CONUS, then the ATM fees should
remain a miscellaneous expense reimbursement, fully reimbursable for
federal employees.
Comment: It is unfair to make them pay these mandated fees which
will easily exceed the daily incidental rate. Unlike the USA where
taxi, bus, and even the smallest restaurants accept travel cards as
payment, many international locations require local cash currency for
valid travel related expenses. It is unfair to expect employees to pay
for the required currency transaction, exchange rate, ATM surcharges
and travel card cash advance fees when this entire system was put in
place for government convenience and to reduce government costs by
eliminating cashiers necessary to dispense foreign travel currency.
Comment: It is not fair that reimbursement for ATM fees for the use
of the government card will no longer be a separate miscellaneous item,
but will be lumped in with the incidental expenses. The incidental
expenses are those that we, as travelers may or may not choose to make.
We are required to expend the ATM fees for the use of the government
card. This is because we are required by Federal law to use the
government travel card (and ONLY the government travel card) when
obtaining cash for travel.
Comment: The incidental fees for baggage, porters, etc. are
discretionary based on the traveler's decision. ATM fees are not
discretionary. A traveler is entitled to a cash advance for MI&E
expenses which means incurring an ATM fee.
Response: Based upon these comments, GSA will neither add ATM fees
to the definition for ``incidental expenses,'' nor amend FTR 301-70.200
regarding internal per diem policy, and will continue to list ATM fees
as a miscellaneous expense. Agencies will continue to have discretion
regarding the reimbursement of ATM fees. In those instances when
directly using the Government contractor-issued travel charge card may
not be feasible, the amendment to section 301-70.301 mandates agencies
to establish policies and procedures governing who will determine if
miscellaneous expense reimbursement is appropriate in connection with
official travel, to include transaction fees for use of ATMs) when
using the Government
[[Page 63136]]
contractor-issued charge card. If there is a valid reason why the
traveler cannot use the Government travel charge for lodging and meals,
agencies have the option to fully reimburse travelers for ATM fees. As
a result, GSA has updated the language in this final rule based upon
these comments.
The five comments that addressed clarification of the policy
relating to laundry, cleaning, and pressing of clothing expenses are
summarized below:
Comment: I have been involved with DoD travel vouchers and claims
for over 30 years and recommend not to authorize laundry and dry
cleaning as a reimbursable expense. Leave it as an incidental expense.
Comment: When TDY for more than a week, laundry usually has to be
cleaned. While at the home station, most employees own washers and
dryers to do their own laundry. Cleaning laundry while TDY is an added
expense that would not otherwise exist and therefore should be covered
by miscellaneous expenses and not incidentals.
Comment: The change makes the reimbursement for laundry, cleaning
and pressing of clothing at the discretion of the agency. This will
permit the agency to disallow these expenses entirely.
Comment: We recommend that GSA completely eliminate the
reimbursement of laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing of clothing, as
these expenses are not a direct consequence of traveling. Employees
would incur the same expenses for laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing
of clothing at their official duty station if they were not in travel
status.
Comment: 301-11.31 needs to include a minimum number of days or
proof of expense must be provided. We have no way of proving if the
expense actually occurred, except for dry cleaning. If you make this
expense more lenient, we will have traveler's claiming laundry for a
single overnight stay.
Response: The cost of laundry, cleaning, and pressing of clothing
services will continue to be treated as a discretionary, miscellaneous
expense. The change in regulatory language is intended to clarify that
agencies are responsible for making the final decision with respect to
approving this type of expense. Although the FTR stipulates that a TDY
trip must be at least four consecutive nights for the traveler to be
eligible for reimbursement of laundry and dry cleaning expenses,
agencies have the discretion to establish a higher number of minimum
nights. Additionally, agencies may choose to deny reimbursement for any
laundry, dry cleaning, and clothes pressing expenses. The agency's
internal policies should address what the agency will require for the
traveler to receive approval for reimbursement for these expenses.
This, GSA will not change the language in the amendment based upon
these comments.
The following comment was out of scope as it does not pertain to
the subject matter of this amendment, and as a result, no change will
be made in response:
Comment: With everyone having computers, why is there a need for so
much travel? Video conferencing costs a fraction of sending ten people
to Los Angeles for a convention.
C. Major Changes in This Final Rule
Based upon the comments received, this final rule does not include
ATM fees within the definition of ``incidental expenses,'' but rather
leaves reimbursement of these expenses as a miscellaneous expense, and
further clarifies that reimbursement for these fees is within the
agency's discretion.
D. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives, and if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O.
13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits,
of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility.
GSA has determined that this final rule is not a significant regulatory
action is not subject to review under section 6(b) of Executive Order
12866. GSA has further determined that this final rule is not a major
rule under 5 U.S.C. 804.
E. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. This final rule is
also exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(a)(2) because it applies to agency management or personnel.
F. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the changes to
the FTR do not impose recordkeeping or information collection
requirements, or the collection of information from offerors,
contractors, or members of the public that require the approval of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
G. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This final rule is also exempt from Congressional review prescribed
under 5 U.S.C. 801. This final rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C.
804.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Parts 301-11 and 301-70
Government employees, Travel and transportation expenses;
Administrative practice and procedures, and Individuals with
disabilities.
Dated: August 3, 2016.
Denise Turner Roth,
Administrator of General Services.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
5701-5711, GSA amends 41 CFR parts 301-11 and 301-70 as set forth
below:
PART 301-11--PER DIEM EXPENSES
0
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR part 301-11 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707.
0
2. Revise Sec. 301-11.31 to read as follows:
Sec. 301-11.31 Are laundry, cleaning and pressing of clothing
expenses reimbursable?
Your agency may reimburse the expenses incurred for laundry,
cleaning, and pressing of clothing as a miscellaneous travel expense
for TDY within CONUS. However, you must incur a minimum of four
consecutive nights lodging on official travel to qualify for this
reimbursement. Laundry and dry cleaning expenses have not been removed
from foreign per diem rates established by the Department of State, or
from non-foreign area per diem rates established by the Department of
Defense. Separate claims for laundry and dry cleaning expenses incurred
in foreign areas and non-foreign areas are not allowed.
PART 301-70--INTERNAL POLICY AND PROCEDURE REQUIREMENTS
0
3. The authority citation for 41 CFR part 301-70 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707; 40 U.S.C. 121(c); Sec. 2, Pub. L. 105-
264, 112 Stat. 2350 (5 U.S.C. 5701, note), OMB Circular No. A-126,
revised May 22, 1992, and OMB Circular No. A-123, Appendix B,
revised January 15, 2009.
0
4. Amend Sec. 301-70.301 by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:
[[Page 63137]]
Sec. 301-70.301 What governing policies must we establish for payment
of miscellaneous expenses?
* * * * *
(c) Who will determine if other miscellaneous expenses are
appropriate for reimbursement in connection with official travel,
including but not limited to, fees for the use of automated teller
machine (ATMs) when using the Government contractor-issued travel
charge card and expenses for laundry, cleaning, and pressing of
clothing.
[FR Doc. 2016-21993 Filed 9-13-16; 8:45 am]
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