General Services Administration September 5, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The General Services Administration's (GSA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 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. The standard lodging per diem rate will increase to $83. The meals and incidental expense tiers remain unchanged for FY 2014 and range from $46-$71. GSA identified two new non-standard areas (NSAs): Big Spring, TX (Howard County); and Pearsall, TX (Frio, La Salle, and Medina Counties). The City of Hershey, PA, is now a separate NSA from Harrisburg, PA. In addition, Pasco, WA (Franklin County) and Richland, WA (Benton County) have been merged into a single NSA. Finally, Hendry County, FL is now included with the Palm Beach County, FL NSA. The CONUS per diem rates prescribed in Bulletin 14-01 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 allows for actual expense reimbursement as provided in Sec. Sec. 301-11.300 through 301- 11.306.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat, will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement concerning the American Recovery and Reinvestment ActReporting RequirementsOne Time-Reporting, Compensation Requirements.