[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 195 (Friday, October 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 69822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24263]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[Notice-MA-2016-07; Docket No. 2016-0002; Sequence No. 7]


Interagency Per Diem Working Group Meeting Concerning Boundaries 
To Set Continental United States Lodging and Meals and Incidental Per 
Diem Reimbursement Rates

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

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Interagency Per Diem Working Group (IPDWG) is meeting to 
discuss studying the process of setting continental United States 
(CONUS) Non-Standard Area (NSA) boundaries for lodging maximum 
reimbursement rates and meals and incidental expense (M&IE) per diem 
reimbursement rates. The purpose of the study would be to recommend 
whether the NSA boundary-setting process should be replaced, changed, 
or maintained as is. Interested parties are invited to attend and 
provide comments.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Thursday, October 27, 2016, 
beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, ending no later than 
3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the GSA Auditorium, located at 
the GSA Central Office, 1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC, 20405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Cy Greenidge, Office of 
Government-wide Policy, Office of Asset and Transportation Management, 
at 202-219-2349, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5702, the Administrator 
of General Services (GSA) sets the maximum lodging allowance and M&IE 
reimbursement rates for CONUS locations. Each year, GSA sets a standard 
maximum lodging allowance and M&IE reimbursement rates to cover the 
majority of CONUS. GSA also sets individual rates for each established 
NSA. The current methodology for setting rates was established by an 
independent Federal Advisory Committee in 2006. Another Federal 
Advisory Committee, chartered in 2013, validated the existing 
methodology. The latter Committee had a full briefing and discussed the 
overall per diem methodology, but did not specifically evaluate setting 
NSA boundaries.
    Under the current methodology, NSA boundaries are set as a single 
county unless an exception is made. As of FY2017, 68 of the 346 CONUS 
NSAs, or approximately 20 percent, have an exception for one of three 
reasons: (1) Historically the boundary was set that way, (2) an agency 
requested that a one-county boundary be adjusted to meet official 
needs, or (3) the survey methodology required inclusion of multiple 
counties to have sufficient data to establish a rate.
    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707.
    Meeting Access: The meeting is open to the public. Those wishing to 
attend must do so in person. Teleconferencing will not be available.
    Registration: Interested parties must register by October 21, 2016 
via email at [email protected]. Please provide your full name to 
expedite entrance into the building. To gain entry into the Federal 
building where the meeting is being held, public attendees who are 
Federal employees should bring their Federal employee identification 
cards, and members of the general public should bring their driver's 
license or a government-issued photo identification card. Seating will 
be capped at 275 people on a first-come, first-served basis.
    Procedures for Providing Comments: Written comments will be 
accepted until November 4, 2016, for consideration. Please email 
comments to [email protected] with attachments being no more than 
three pages. Any registrant who wishes to comment orally at the meeting 
will be limited to 10 minutes. All comments from the public, including 
attachments and other supporting materials received, are subject to 
public disclosure.

    Dated: October 3, 2016.
Troy Cribb,
Associate Administrator, Office of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2016-24263 Filed 10-6-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-14-P