Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); FTR Case 2009-306; Relocation Allowances, 53979-53982 [E9-25334]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 21, 2009 / Proposed Rules
Executive Order 13132—Federalism
This rule does not have Federalism
implications. SMCRA delineates the
roles of the Federal and State
governments with regard to the
regulation of surface coal mining and
reclamation operations. One of the
purposes of SMCRA is to ‘‘establish a
nationwide program to protect society
and the environment from the adverse
effects of surface coal mining
operations.’’ Section 503(a)(1) of
SMCRA requires that State laws
regulating surface coal mining and
reclamation operations be ‘‘in
accordance with’’ the requirements of
SMCRA, and section 503(a)(7) requires
that State programs contain rules and
regulations ‘‘consistent with’’
regulations issued by the Secretary
pursuant to SMCRA.
Executive Order 13175—Consultation
and Coordination with Indian Tribal
Governments
In accordance with Executive Order
13175, we have evaluated the potential
effects of this rule on Federallyrecognized Indian Tribes and have
determined that the rule does not have
substantial direct effects on one or more
Indian Tribes, on the relationship
between the Federal Government and
Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities between the
Federal Government and Indian Tribes.
The basis for this determination is that
our decision is on a State regulatory
program and does not involve a Federal
regulation involving Indian lands.
Executive Order 13211—Regulations
that Significantly Affect the Supply,
Distribution, or Use of Energy
On May 18, 2001, the President issued
Executive Order 13211 which requires
agencies to prepare a Statement of
Energy Effects for a rule that is (1)
considered significant under Executive
Order 12866, and (2) likely to have a
significant adverse effect on the supply,
distribution, or use of energy. Because
this rule is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866 and is not
expected to have a significant adverse
effect on the supply, distribution, or use
of energy, a Statement of Energy Effects
is not required.
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National Environmental Policy Act
This rule does not require an
environmental impact statement
because section 702(d) of SMCRA (30
U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency
decisions on proposed State regulatory
program provisions do not constitute
major Federal actions within the
meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the
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National Environmental Policy Act (42
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain
information collection requirements that
require approval by OMB under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3507 et seq.).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Interior
certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The State submittal,
which is the subject of this rule, is based
upon counterpart Federal regulations for
which an economic analysis was
prepared and certification made that
such regulations would not have a
significant economic effect upon a
substantial number of small entities. In
making the determination as to whether
this rule would have a significant
economic impact, the Department relied
upon the data and assumptions for the
counterpart Federal regulations.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act
This rule is not a major rule under 5
U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.
This rule: (a) Does not have an annual
effect on the economy of $100 million;
(b) Will not cause a major increase in
costs or prices for consumers,
individual industries, Federal, State, or
local government agencies, or
geographic regions; and (c) Does not
have significant adverse effects on
competition, employment, investment,
productivity, innovation, or the ability
of U.S.-based enterprises to compete
with foreign-based enterprises. This
determination is based upon the
analysis performed under various laws
and executive orders for the counterpart
Federal regulations.
Unfunded Mandates
This rule will not impose an
unfunded mandate on State, local, or
Tribal governments or the private sector
of $100 million or more in any given
year. This determination is based upon
the analysis performed under various
laws and executive orders for the
counterpart Federal regulations.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 948
Intergovernmental relations, Surface
mining, Underground mining.
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53979
Dated: August 8, 2009.
Michael K. Robinson,
Acting Regional Director, Appalachian
Region.
[FR Doc. E9–25314 Filed 10–20–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–05–P
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Parts 300–70 and 302–1
[FTR Case 2009–306; Docket 2009–0011,
Sequence 1]
RIN 3090–AI94
Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); FTR
Case 2009–306; Relocation Allowances
AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide
Policy (OGP), General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: This proposed rule defines a
process for collecting transaction-level
data regarding relocation of Federal
civilian employees. Specifically, this
proposed rule would require that
agencies that spend more than $5
million per year on travel and relocation
send transaction-level data on relocation
to GSA at least quarterly. GSA will store
this data in a data warehouse that the
agencies will be able to query to answer
operational, managerial, and policy
questions. In addition to the transactionlevel reporting process, this proposed
rule also would establish an annual
reporting requirement for data regarding
employee relocation and would modify
the existing requirement for large
agencies to collect and report data on
temporary duty travel on an annual
basis, instead of biennially.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before December 21, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by FTR case 2009–306 by any
of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Search for any
document by typing in the FTR case
number (for example, FTR case 2009–
306) and clicking on the ‘‘Go’’ button.
• Fax: 202–501–4067.
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
(MVPR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room
4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers,
Washington, DC 20405.
Instructions: Please submit comments
only and cite FTR case 2009–306 in all
correspondence related to this case. All
comments received will be posted
without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 21, 2009 / Proposed Rules
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
clarification of content, contact Mr.
Henry Maury, OGP, Office of Travel,
Transportation, and Asset Management,
at (202) 208–7928. For information
pertaining to status or publication
schedules contact the Regulatory
Secretariat (MVPR), Room 4041, 1800 F
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20405,
(202) 501–4755. Please cite FTR case
2009–306.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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A. Background
In 1986, Congress amended 5 U.S.C.
5707 for travel and relocation by
mandating that GSA collect and report
data from certain Federal agencies (Pub.
L. 99–234). This mandate expired in
1991 but was permanently reinstated in
1994 by Public Law 103–329, Sec.
634(c), 5 U.S.C. 5707(c). In summary,
the current statute states:
• The Administrator of General
Services shall submit to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), at least
once every two years, a report on agency
spending on temporary duty travel and
relocation.
• The report shall be an analysis of
estimated total agency payments for
items such as travel, transportation,
average cost and duration of trips,
purposes of official travel, and
estimated total agency payments for
relocation.
• The report shall be based on a
sampling survey of agencies that spent
more than $5 million during the
previous fiscal year on travel and
relocation combined.
• The agencies that spent more that
$5 million during the previous fiscal
year shall provide the necessary
information to GSA in a format
prescribed by GSA.
GSA has surveyed the agencies, in
accordance with this statute, several
times since 1994. The results have not
been useful. The governmentwide totals
were clearly far less than the actual
governmentwide expenditures as
estimated by GSA, OMB, and the trade
press.
One explanation for the lack of data
is that agencies had no way to gather it
at a reasonable cost. For both temporary
duty travel and relocation, the agencies
found it impossible to provide complete
and reliable answers to the questions
because they had no central repository
for this data. Instead, agencies had to
survey each of the thousands of
locations where travel or relocation
orders were authorized and, in most
cases, they had to actually copy and add
the values from paper copies of travel
and relocation orders.
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Today, all documentation for travel
and relocation should be fully
automated, so it should be much easier
to collect complete and reliable data.
For temporary duty travel, agencies are
in the final stages of migrating to
eTravel systems, which can provide the
required data easily. For employee
relocation, GSA expects shortly to
publish a final rule that urges agencies
to move to comprehensive, automated,
relocation management systems, which
again should be able to provide the data
that they are required to report.
Data collection processes for travel
and relocation should provide:
1. Accurate, complete, transparent,
and reliable totals of expenditures that
can be tracked year-to-year, on an
agencywide and governmentwide basis.
2. Accurate, complete, transparent,
and reliable totals of the major
components of travel and relocation,
such as lodging, air travel, household
goods shipments, residence transaction
reimbursements, etc., also with enough
consistency that they can be tracked
year-to-year.
3. Enough detail that Federal
agencies, GSA, OMB, Congress, and the
public can analyze the information,
identify policies that perhaps ought to
be adjusted, determine whether those
policy levers actually should be moved,
and determine the direction and
amplitude of appropriate changes in
policy (a policy lever in this context is
a point at which the statute or
regulation allows, or should allow, GSA
or agency relocation managers to make
adjustments in response to changes in
the market, changes in relocation
patterns, etc.).
For example, household goods
shipments have been limited to 18,000
pounds per household at least since
1966, but GSA has never had data to
determine whether the current statutory
weight limitation should be higher,
lower, or tiered in some fashion.
Transaction-level data would allow GSA
to answer these questions, as well as
similar questions about many other
current provisions.
This proposed rule would replace the
existing reporting process described in
FTR part 300–70 with separate reporting
requirements for temporary duty travel
and employee relocation. The travel
reporting requirement would remain in
FTR part 300–70, but the employee
relocation reporting requirement would
now be in FTR part 302–1.
For temporary duty travel, GSA’s
Federal Acquisition Service is building
a data warehouse with information
derived from vouchers in the eTravel
systems, Travel Management Services,
banks that issue the Government’s travel
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charge cards, and other sources. This
warehouse, when it is fully operational,
will allow the agencies, GSA, OMB, and
Congress to answer a wide range of
questions about temporary duty travel.
In the meantime, this proposed rule
would simplify the requirements in FTR
part 300–70, stating only that GSA will
provide the required data elements,
report format, and due dates in an FTR
bulletin. This proposed rule would also
change the reporting requirement for
temporary duty travel from biennial to
annual.
For employee relocation, GSA and the
Executive Relocation Steering
Committee (ERSC, a Governmentwide
body chartered and chaired by GSA)
have determined that the only way to
ensure the accuracy described in
paragraph numbers 1 and 2, above, and
to provide the detail required by
paragraph number 3, is to collect
transaction-level information. GSA’s
OGP is building a data warehouse to
store this information and make it
available to appropriate parties. This
proposed rule would establish the basic
requirements for the affected agencies to
gather and send the necessary,
transaction-level information to GSA.
Concurrent with this proposed rule,
GSA is publishing a Notice in this
Federal Register. The Notice announces
and requests comments on this
proposed rule and a proposed FTR
Bulletin. The proposed FTR bulletin
itself can be viewed on GSA’s Web site,
at https://www.gsa.gov/relo; it consists
primarily of a data dictionary, with the
list of data elements, field lengths,
coding, definitions, and suggested data
sources that the affected agencies would
be required to report. GSA would
update this FTR bulletin whenever GSA
and the ERSC determine that a change
is needed.
This proposed rule would also
establish an annual reporting
requirement for employee relocation
data. At first glance, this requirement
may seem redundant, since the agencies
will be providing the data to GSA’s data
warehouse, and then presumably will be
extracting summary data from that
warehouse for the annual report;
however, it is not redundant because it
has very different objectives. The
objectives of the annual reporting
requirement are:
1. To have a senior executive at each
agency ensure the accuracy,
completeness, and reliability of the data
that the agency has sent to the
warehouse; and
2. To make those executives cognizant
of the full extent of their agencies’
relocation programs.
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GSA expects to publish the details of
the annual reporting requirement (data
elements, format, due date, etc.), along
with details of the transaction-level
process, in a second FTR bulletin. This
second bulletin will be fully
coordinated with the ERSC before
publication, and it will also be updated
as necessary. GSA is postponing this
second Bulletin because it would not be
reasonable to require annual reports
until a majority of agencies are sending
transaction data to the data warehouse.
The statute, at 5 U.S.C. 5707(c), as
summarized above, states that The
Administrator of General Services shall
submit to OMB, at least once every two
years, a report on agency spending on
temporary duty travel and relocation.
GSA believes that requiring the
transaction-level data collection process
and annual reporting by agencies will
allow GSA to compile the necessary
data to fulfill the statute’s intent within
the timeframes prescribed. The intent of
the statute is to make Federal relocation
data transparent to all interested parties
and, thereby, to make it much easier for
OMB, GSA, and Federal agency
executives to manage relocation more
efficiently and effectively. It is clear
from the Governmentwide Relocation
Advisory Board report and from the
analysis by the GSA and the ERSC that
only a transaction-level reporting
process can accomplish this intent.
GSA’s intention is to make this rule
effective on the date that the final rule
is published in the Federal Register.
GSA recognizes that many agencies will
not be able to fulfill the requirements
immediately. GSA also notes, however,
that since 1994 (and previously, 1985–
1991) 5 U.S.C. 5707(c) has required that
agencies spending more than $5 million
per year on travel and relocation be able
to provide data to GSA, so that GSA
could fulfill its reporting requirements.
Several private sector companies sell
systems that agencies can use to collect
and send the data described in the
proposed FTR Bulletin associated with
this proposed rule, and a number of
agencies have agency-developed
systems that can be modified to collect
and send the required data. GSA will
work closely with the affected agencies
to help them fulfill the requirement
once issued as a final rule.
B. Proposed Rule
This proposed rule would change the
reporting requirement for data regarding
temporary duty and employee
relocation from biennial to annual, and
it would add a requirement that
agencies submit selected data from
every employee relocation transaction to
the GSA relocation data warehouse.
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C. Changes to Current FTR
This proposed rule would replace
FTR sections 300–70.1, 300–70.2, and
part 302–1, subpart B, in their entirety.
D. Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is excepted from
the definition of ‘‘regulation’’ or ‘‘rule’’
under section 3(d)(3) of Executive Order
12866, Regulatory Planning and Review,
dated September 30, 1993, and
therefore, was not subject to review
under section 6(b) of that Executive
Order.
E. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule is not required to
be published in the Federal Register for
notice and comment as per the
exemption specified in 5 U.S.C.
553(a)(2); therefore, the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.,
does not apply.
F. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does
not apply because these proposed
changes to the FTR do not impose
information collection requirements that
require the approval of OMB under 44
U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
G. Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act
This proposed rule is also exempt
from congressional review under 5
U.S.C. 801 since it relates solely to
agency management and personnel.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Parts 300–70
and 302–1
Agency Reporting Requirements and
General Rules.
Dated: June 29, 2009.
Stan Kaczmarczyk,
Acting Associate Administrator, Office of
Governmentwide Policy.
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5701–
5709, GSA proposes to amend 41 CFR
Parts 300–70 and 302–1 as set forth
below:
PART 300–70—AGENCY REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR
Part 300–70 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707; 5 U.S.C. 5738; 5
U.S.C. 5741–5742; 20 U.S.C. 905(a); 31 U.S.C.
1353; 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 49 U.S.C. 40118; E.O.
11609, 3 CFR, 1971–1975 Comp., p. 586.
2. Revise § 300–70.1 to read as
follows:
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53981
§ 300–70.1 What are the requirements for
reporting payments for employee travel and
relocation?
Agencies (as defined in § 301–1.1 of
this title) that spent more than $5
million on travel and transportation
payments, including relocation, during
the fiscal year immediately preceding
the report due date, must report such
total agency payments as described in
this regulation.
(a) Specific information on reporting
payments for temporary duty travel are
in this subpart.
(b) Specific information on reporting
payments for employee relocation are in
Part 302–1, Subpart B.
3. Revise § 300–70.2 to read as
follows:
§ 300–70.2 What information must we
report, and when must we report it?
GSA provides the list of data
elements, the report formats, and the
due dates in a series of FTR bulletins.
GSA coordinates these FTR bulletins
with the affected agencies and updates
them as needed. FTR bulletins are
available through: https://www.gsa.gov/
ftrbulletins.
PART 302–1—GENERAL RULES
4. The authority citation for 41 CFR
part 302–1 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707(c); 5 U.S.C. 5738;
20 U.S.C. 905(a).
5. Add subpart B to part 302–1 to read
as follows:
Subpart B—Reporting Requirements
Sec.
302–1.100 [Reserved]
302–1.101 [Reserved]
302–1.102 Are we required to report to GSA
on employee relocation activities?
302–1.104 What data must we provide to
the GSA relocation data warehouse?
302–1.105 When must we collect the data
for the GSA relocation data warehouse?
302–1.106 When must we send the data to
the GSA relocation data warehouse?
302–1.107 What data must we send to GSA
in our annual report?
302–1.108 Who must sign the annual
report?
302–1.109 May an agency report at the
bureau level?
Subpart B—Reporting Requirements
§ 302–1.100
[Reserved]
§ 302–1.101
[Reserved]
§ 302–1.102 Are we required to report to
GSA on employee relocation activities?
Yes, every agency that spent more
than $5 million during the preceding
fiscal year on travel and transportation
payments, including relocation, must
report to GSA on their employee
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 202 / Wednesday, October 21, 2009 / Proposed Rules
relocation activities, as provided in this
subpart. Agencies that spend $5 million
per year or less are also welcome to
participate.
components, so long as the sum of all
those reports represents all relocation
activity in the agency.
[FR Doc. E9–25334 Filed 10–20–09; 8:45 am]
§ 302–1.103 What data collection
processes will GSA employ for employee
relocation?
BILLING CODE 6820–14–P
(a) GSA collects transaction-level
data, which is stored in a data
warehouse and made available for
analysis to appropriate officials.
(b) In addition, reporting agencies
must submit annual summary reports to
GSA, signed by a senior executive as
specified in FTR 302–1.108.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
§ 302–1.104 What data must we provide to
the GSA relocation data warehouse?
GSA works with the affected agencies
to develop the data elements and report
format for this information, and
publishes the specific requirements in a
series of FTR bulletins. These bulletins
provide the data dictionary and details
on the reporting processes (i.e., annual
and transactional). FTR bulletins are
available through https://www.gsa.gov/
ftrbulletins.
§ 302–1.105 When must we collect the data
for the GSA relocation data warehouse?
The affected agencies must collect the
data elements listed in the data
dictionary from every relocation
transaction that includes one or more of
the required data elements. This
includes all travel authorizations for
relocation, plus allowances,
reimbursements, and direct payments to
vendors.
§ 302–1.106 When must we send the data
to the GSA relocation data warehouse?
The affected agencies must send the
specified data to the GSA warehouse at
least quarterly. There is no maximum
frequency; agencies may send data to
the warehouse daily if they choose to do
so.
§ 302–1.107 What data must we send to
GSA in our annual report?
GSA specifies the data elements,
format, and due date for the current
annual report in an FTR bulletin. FTR
bulletins are available through https://
www.gsa.gov/ftrbulletins.
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§ 302–1.108
report?
Who must sign the annual
The annual report must be signed by
a senior executive who has the authority
to ensure that the data provided to the
data warehouse and in the annual report
are accurate, complete, and reliable.
§ 302–1.109 May an agency report at the
bureau level?
Yes, an agency may send multiple
reports from different bureaus or
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Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
49 CFR Parts 171, 172, 173, 174, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179, 180
[Docket Nos. PHMSA–2009–0126 (HM–
215K)]
[RIN 2137–AE45]
Hazardous Materials: Harmonization
With the United Nations
Recommendations on the Transport of
Dangerous Goods Model Regulations,
International Maritime Dangerous
Goods Code, International Civil
Aviation Organization Technical
Instructions for the Safe Transport of
Dangerous Goods by Air, and
Transport Canada’s Transport of
Dangerous Goods Regulations
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), DOT.
ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPRM).
SUMMARY: PHMSA is considering
amending the Hazardous Materials
Regulations (HMR) by incorporating
various amendments to international
standards and modal regulations,
including changes to proper shipping
names, hazard classes, packing groups,
special provisions, and packaging
authorizations. These amendments may
be necessary to harmonize the HMR
with revised editions of the United
Nations Recommendations on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods Model
Regulations and Manual of Tests and
Criteria, the International Maritime
Organization’s Dangerous Goods Code,
the International Civil Aviation
Organization’s Technical Instructions
for the Safe Transport of Dangerous
Goods by Air and Transport Canada’s
Transport of Dangerous Goods
Regulations. In this notice, we are
soliciting public comment regarding the
safety consequences, regulatory burden,
and cost implications of some of the
more significant amendments adopted
or under consideration for adoption in
these international standards.
DATES: Comments must be received by
January 19, 2010.
ADDRESSES:
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Comments: You may submit
comments identified by the docket
number PHMSA–2009–0126 by any of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Operations, U.S.
Department of Transportation, West
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–
140, Routing Symbol M–30, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC
20590.
• Hand Delivery: To Docket
Operations, Room W12–140 on the
ground floor of the West Building, 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington,
DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the agency name and docket
number for this notice at the beginning
of the comment. Note that all comments
received will be posted without change
to the Federal eRulemaking Portal,
including any personal information
provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search
the electronic form of any written
communications and comments
received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
document (or signing the document, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (Volume
65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78), which
may also be found at
https://www.dot.gov.
Docket: For access to the dockets to
read background documents or
comments received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov or DOT’s Docket
Operations Office (see ADDRESSES).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Stevens, Office of Hazardous
Materials Standards, telephone (202)
366–8553, or Shane Kelley,
International Standards, telephone (202)
366–0656, Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., 2nd Floor,
Washington, DC 20590–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. International Standards and Modal
Regulations for Review
A. Sixteenth Revised Edition of the United
Nations Recommendations on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods Model
Regulations (UN Model Regulations)
1. Noteworthy Amendments
2. Additional Amendments
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 21, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53979-53982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25334]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Parts 300-70 and 302-1
[FTR Case 2009-306; Docket 2009-0011, Sequence 1]
RIN 3090-AI94
Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); FTR Case 2009-306; Relocation
Allowances
AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP), General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This proposed rule defines a process for collecting
transaction-level data regarding relocation of Federal civilian
employees. Specifically, this proposed rule would require that agencies
that spend more than $5 million per year on travel and relocation send
transaction-level data on relocation to GSA at least quarterly. GSA
will store this data in a data warehouse that the agencies will be able
to query to answer operational, managerial, and policy questions. In
addition to the transaction-level reporting process, this proposed rule
also would establish an annual reporting requirement for data regarding
employee relocation and would modify the existing requirement for large
agencies to collect and report data on temporary duty travel on an
annual basis, instead of biennially.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 21, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by FTR case 2009-306 by any of
the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Search for any document by typing in the FTR case number (for example,
FTR case 2009-306) and clicking on the ``Go'' button.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVPR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers,
Washington, DC 20405.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite FTR case 2009-
306 in all correspondence related to this case. All comments received
will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided.
[[Page 53980]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact
Mr. Henry Maury, OGP, Office of Travel, Transportation, and Asset
Management, at (202) 208-7928. For information pertaining to status or
publication schedules contact the Regulatory Secretariat (MVPR), Room
4041, 1800 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20405, (202) 501-4755. Please
cite FTR case 2009-306.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
In 1986, Congress amended 5 U.S.C. 5707 for travel and relocation
by mandating that GSA collect and report data from certain Federal
agencies (Pub. L. 99-234). This mandate expired in 1991 but was
permanently reinstated in 1994 by Public Law 103-329, Sec. 634(c), 5
U.S.C. 5707(c). In summary, the current statute states:
The Administrator of General Services shall submit to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), at least once every two years, a
report on agency spending on temporary duty travel and relocation.
The report shall be an analysis of estimated total agency
payments for items such as travel, transportation, average cost and
duration of trips, purposes of official travel, and estimated total
agency payments for relocation.
The report shall be based on a sampling survey of agencies
that spent more than $5 million during the previous fiscal year on
travel and relocation combined.
The agencies that spent more that $5 million during the
previous fiscal year shall provide the necessary information to GSA in
a format prescribed by GSA.
GSA has surveyed the agencies, in accordance with this statute,
several times since 1994. The results have not been useful. The
governmentwide totals were clearly far less than the actual
governmentwide expenditures as estimated by GSA, OMB, and the trade
press.
One explanation for the lack of data is that agencies had no way to
gather it at a reasonable cost. For both temporary duty travel and
relocation, the agencies found it impossible to provide complete and
reliable answers to the questions because they had no central
repository for this data. Instead, agencies had to survey each of the
thousands of locations where travel or relocation orders were
authorized and, in most cases, they had to actually copy and add the
values from paper copies of travel and relocation orders.
Today, all documentation for travel and relocation should be fully
automated, so it should be much easier to collect complete and reliable
data. For temporary duty travel, agencies are in the final stages of
migrating to eTravel systems, which can provide the required data
easily. For employee relocation, GSA expects shortly to publish a final
rule that urges agencies to move to comprehensive, automated,
relocation management systems, which again should be able to provide
the data that they are required to report.
Data collection processes for travel and relocation should provide:
1. Accurate, complete, transparent, and reliable totals of
expenditures that can be tracked year-to-year, on an agencywide and
governmentwide basis.
2. Accurate, complete, transparent, and reliable totals of the
major components of travel and relocation, such as lodging, air travel,
household goods shipments, residence transaction reimbursements, etc.,
also with enough consistency that they can be tracked year-to-year.
3. Enough detail that Federal agencies, GSA, OMB, Congress, and the
public can analyze the information, identify policies that perhaps
ought to be adjusted, determine whether those policy levers actually
should be moved, and determine the direction and amplitude of
appropriate changes in policy (a policy lever in this context is a
point at which the statute or regulation allows, or should allow, GSA
or agency relocation managers to make adjustments in response to
changes in the market, changes in relocation patterns, etc.).
For example, household goods shipments have been limited to 18,000
pounds per household at least since 1966, but GSA has never had data to
determine whether the current statutory weight limitation should be
higher, lower, or tiered in some fashion. Transaction-level data would
allow GSA to answer these questions, as well as similar questions about
many other current provisions.
This proposed rule would replace the existing reporting process
described in FTR part 300-70 with separate reporting requirements for
temporary duty travel and employee relocation. The travel reporting
requirement would remain in FTR part 300-70, but the employee
relocation reporting requirement would now be in FTR part 302-1.
For temporary duty travel, GSA's Federal Acquisition Service is
building a data warehouse with information derived from vouchers in the
eTravel systems, Travel Management Services, banks that issue the
Government's travel charge cards, and other sources. This warehouse,
when it is fully operational, will allow the agencies, GSA, OMB, and
Congress to answer a wide range of questions about temporary duty
travel. In the meantime, this proposed rule would simplify the
requirements in FTR part 300-70, stating only that GSA will provide the
required data elements, report format, and due dates in an FTR
bulletin. This proposed rule would also change the reporting
requirement for temporary duty travel from biennial to annual.
For employee relocation, GSA and the Executive Relocation Steering
Committee (ERSC, a Governmentwide body chartered and chaired by GSA)
have determined that the only way to ensure the accuracy described in
paragraph numbers 1 and 2, above, and to provide the detail required by
paragraph number 3, is to collect transaction-level information. GSA's
OGP is building a data warehouse to store this information and make it
available to appropriate parties. This proposed rule would establish
the basic requirements for the affected agencies to gather and send the
necessary, transaction-level information to GSA.
Concurrent with this proposed rule, GSA is publishing a Notice in
this Federal Register. The Notice announces and requests comments on
this proposed rule and a proposed FTR Bulletin. The proposed FTR
bulletin itself can be viewed on GSA's Web site, at https://www.gsa.gov/relo; it consists primarily of a data dictionary, with the list of data
elements, field lengths, coding, definitions, and suggested data
sources that the affected agencies would be required to report. GSA
would update this FTR bulletin whenever GSA and the ERSC determine that
a change is needed.
This proposed rule would also establish an annual reporting
requirement for employee relocation data. At first glance, this
requirement may seem redundant, since the agencies will be providing
the data to GSA's data warehouse, and then presumably will be
extracting summary data from that warehouse for the annual report;
however, it is not redundant because it has very different objectives.
The objectives of the annual reporting requirement are:
1. To have a senior executive at each agency ensure the accuracy,
completeness, and reliability of the data that the agency has sent to
the warehouse; and
2. To make those executives cognizant of the full extent of their
agencies' relocation programs.
[[Page 53981]]
GSA expects to publish the details of the annual reporting
requirement (data elements, format, due date, etc.), along with details
of the transaction-level process, in a second FTR bulletin. This second
bulletin will be fully coordinated with the ERSC before publication,
and it will also be updated as necessary. GSA is postponing this second
Bulletin because it would not be reasonable to require annual reports
until a majority of agencies are sending transaction data to the data
warehouse.
The statute, at 5 U.S.C. 5707(c), as summarized above, states that
The Administrator of General Services shall submit to OMB, at least
once every two years, a report on agency spending on temporary duty
travel and relocation. GSA believes that requiring the transaction-
level data collection process and annual reporting by agencies will
allow GSA to compile the necessary data to fulfill the statute's intent
within the timeframes prescribed. The intent of the statute is to make
Federal relocation data transparent to all interested parties and,
thereby, to make it much easier for OMB, GSA, and Federal agency
executives to manage relocation more efficiently and effectively. It is
clear from the Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board report and from
the analysis by the GSA and the ERSC that only a transaction-level
reporting process can accomplish this intent.
GSA's intention is to make this rule effective on the date that the
final rule is published in the Federal Register. GSA recognizes that
many agencies will not be able to fulfill the requirements immediately.
GSA also notes, however, that since 1994 (and previously, 1985-1991) 5
U.S.C. 5707(c) has required that agencies spending more than $5 million
per year on travel and relocation be able to provide data to GSA, so
that GSA could fulfill its reporting requirements. Several private
sector companies sell systems that agencies can use to collect and send
the data described in the proposed FTR Bulletin associated with this
proposed rule, and a number of agencies have agency-developed systems
that can be modified to collect and send the required data. GSA will
work closely with the affected agencies to help them fulfill the
requirement once issued as a final rule.
B. Proposed Rule
This proposed rule would change the reporting requirement for data
regarding temporary duty and employee relocation from biennial to
annual, and it would add a requirement that agencies submit selected
data from every employee relocation transaction to the GSA relocation
data warehouse.
C. Changes to Current FTR
This proposed rule would replace FTR sections 300-70.1, 300-70.2,
and part 302-1, subpart B, in their entirety.
D. Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is excepted from the definition of
``regulation'' or ``rule'' under section 3(d)(3) of Executive Order
12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993, and
therefore, was not subject to review under section 6(b) of that
Executive Order.
E. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule is not required to be published in the Federal
Register for notice and comment as per the exemption specified in 5
U.S.C. 553(a)(2); therefore, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.
601, et seq., does not apply.
F. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because these proposed
changes to the FTR do not impose information collection requirements
that require the approval of OMB under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
G. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This proposed rule is also exempt from congressional review under 5
U.S.C. 801 since it relates solely to agency management and personnel.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Parts 300-70 and 302-1
Agency Reporting Requirements and General Rules.
Dated: June 29, 2009.
Stan Kaczmarczyk,
Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Governmentwide Policy.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
5701-5709, GSA proposes to amend 41 CFR Parts 300-70 and 302-1 as set
forth below:
PART 300-70--AGENCY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR Part 300-70 continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707; 5 U.S.C. 5738; 5 U.S.C. 5741-5742; 20
U.S.C. 905(a); 31 U.S.C. 1353; 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 49 U.S.C. 40118;
E.O. 11609, 3 CFR, 1971-1975 Comp., p. 586.
2. Revise Sec. 300-70.1 to read as follows:
Sec. 300-70.1 What are the requirements for reporting payments for
employee travel and relocation?
Agencies (as defined in Sec. 301-1.1 of this title) that spent
more than $5 million on travel and transportation payments, including
relocation, during the fiscal year immediately preceding the report due
date, must report such total agency payments as described in this
regulation.
(a) Specific information on reporting payments for temporary duty
travel are in this subpart.
(b) Specific information on reporting payments for employee
relocation are in Part 302-1, Subpart B.
3. Revise Sec. 300-70.2 to read as follows:
Sec. 300-70.2 What information must we report, and when must we
report it?
GSA provides the list of data elements, the report formats, and the
due dates in a series of FTR bulletins. GSA coordinates these FTR
bulletins with the affected agencies and updates them as needed. FTR
bulletins are available through: https://www.gsa.gov/ftrbulletins.
PART 302-1--GENERAL RULES
4. The authority citation for 41 CFR part 302-1 is revised to read
as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5707(c); 5 U.S.C. 5738; 20 U.S.C. 905(a).
5. Add subpart B to part 302-1 to read as follows:
Subpart B--Reporting Requirements
Sec.
302-1.100 [Reserved]
302-1.101 [Reserved]
302-1.102 Are we required to report to GSA on employee relocation
activities?
302-1.104 What data must we provide to the GSA relocation data
warehouse?
302-1.105 When must we collect the data for the GSA relocation data
warehouse?
302-1.106 When must we send the data to the GSA relocation data
warehouse?
302-1.107 What data must we send to GSA in our annual report?
302-1.108 Who must sign the annual report?
302-1.109 May an agency report at the bureau level?
Subpart B--Reporting Requirements
Sec. 302-1.100 [Reserved]
Sec. 302-1.101 [Reserved]
Sec. 302-1.102 Are we required to report to GSA on employee
relocation activities?
Yes, every agency that spent more than $5 million during the
preceding fiscal year on travel and transportation payments, including
relocation, must report to GSA on their employee
[[Page 53982]]
relocation activities, as provided in this subpart. Agencies that spend
$5 million per year or less are also welcome to participate.
Sec. 302-1.103 What data collection processes will GSA employ for
employee relocation?
(a) GSA collects transaction-level data, which is stored in a data
warehouse and made available for analysis to appropriate officials.
(b) In addition, reporting agencies must submit annual summary
reports to GSA, signed by a senior executive as specified in FTR 302-
1.108.
Sec. 302-1.104 What data must we provide to the GSA relocation data
warehouse?
GSA works with the affected agencies to develop the data elements
and report format for this information, and publishes the specific
requirements in a series of FTR bulletins. These bulletins provide the
data dictionary and details on the reporting processes (i.e., annual
and transactional). FTR bulletins are available through https://www.gsa.gov/ftrbulletins.
Sec. 302-1.105 When must we collect the data for the GSA relocation
data warehouse?
The affected agencies must collect the data elements listed in the
data dictionary from every relocation transaction that includes one or
more of the required data elements. This includes all travel
authorizations for relocation, plus allowances, reimbursements, and
direct payments to vendors.
Sec. 302-1.106 When must we send the data to the GSA relocation data
warehouse?
The affected agencies must send the specified data to the GSA
warehouse at least quarterly. There is no maximum frequency; agencies
may send data to the warehouse daily if they choose to do so.
Sec. 302-1.107 What data must we send to GSA in our annual report?
GSA specifies the data elements, format, and due date for the
current annual report in an FTR bulletin. FTR bulletins are available
through https://www.gsa.gov/ftrbulletins.
Sec. 302-1.108 Who must sign the annual report?
The annual report must be signed by a senior executive who has the
authority to ensure that the data provided to the data warehouse and in
the annual report are accurate, complete, and reliable.
Sec. 302-1.109 May an agency report at the bureau level?
Yes, an agency may send multiple reports from different bureaus or
components, so long as the sum of all those reports represents all
relocation activity in the agency.
[FR Doc. E9-25334 Filed 10-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-14-P