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SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

March 2023
“SCI moving forward in the 21st Century using technology, innovation, and old fashioned hard work”

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of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and 

employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited 

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apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 

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the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or 

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SCI Division Local Travel Policy 

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................1

GUIDE FOR ELECTRONIC USAGE.............................................................................................1

DEFINITIONS.................................................................................................................................2

PER DIEM .......................................................................................................................................2

TRAVEL TIME ...............................................................................................................................2

MILEAGE....................................................................................................................................... 3

Single Stop ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Multiple Stops..................................................................................................................................3

MILEAGE EXAMPLES..................................................................................................................4

Example 1 (Single Stop) ..................................................................................................................4

Example 2 (Single Stop) ..................................................................................................................5

Example 3 (Single Stop) ..................................................................................................................6

Example 4 (Multiple Stops) .............................................................................................................7

Example 5 (Multiple Stops) .............................................................................................................8

Example 6 (Multiple Stops) .............................................................................................................9

Example 7 (Multiple Stops) ...........................................................................................................10

Example 8 (Single Stop) ................................................................................................................11

REFERENCE LINKS ....................................................................................................................12

i
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 1 of 12

INTRODUCTION

This travel policy provides guidance to employees on what is considered local travel, the local 

commuting area and when employees are entitled to local mileage and/or per diem reimbursement. 

Employees may be required to go to a temporary duty point(s) as a regular part of their job or on 

infrequent occasions. 

GUIDE FOR ELECTRONIC USAGE

The AIM system of instructional manuals is available electronically in Adobe Acrobat Portable 

Document Format (PDF) at the following intranet address: 

https://usdagcc.sharepoint.com/sites/ams/AMS-SCI/SitePages/Home.aspx. 

When accessed electronically, AIM materials have hyperlinks and hypertext (visible as underlined 

blue text) available to the PDF user. Clicking on a hyperlink takes the reader to a web site with 

information relating to the subject. Hypertext links the reader to a different page within the current 

manual, or a different manual, with information relating to the subject. For example, the hypertext 

in the Table of Contents allows a reader to go directly to the section of interest in the manual by 

clicking on the section title.

PDF offers a variety of tools depending on the Adobe version the reader has. The newer the 

version, the more tools available. PDF documents are easily searchable for content within a 

document or within multiple documents. To learn about the variety of PDF search options: 

• Click on the “Help” tab on the top of any page in Adobe Acrobat,

• Then click on the “Adobe Acrobat Help” bar,

• Type the word “Search” in the “Search” box, and click on the “Search” button,

• A series of options will become available,

• Click on the “Access Search Features” link and follow the instructions for the type of 

search you are interested in.
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 2 of 12

DEFINITIONS

Local travel: Travel as a result of official business that is other than an employee’s normal hometo-work commute (i.e., travel from an employee’s residence to their actual duty point/official duty 

station), which is completed within one workday and does not require the payment of per diem.

Local commuting area: Travel as a result of official business that is performed within a 50-mile 

radius of an employee’s official duty station.

PER DIEM

Per diem eligibility: An employee is eligible for per diem when he/she: (1) performs travel as a 

result of official business that is outside of the local commuting area [Note: weather-related issues 

may warrant an exception]; (2) incurs per diem expenses while traveling (e.g., lunch); and (3) is in 

a travel status for more than 12 work hours, excluding lunch.

Unless an employee meets all three conditions, he/she is not entitled to per diem. Except in 

unusual and/or extenuating circumstances (e.g., weather-related issues), a travel authorization must 

be pre-approved to authorize per diem.

If an employee is required to go on travel for official business outside of the local commuting area, 

there needs to be a conversation between the supervisor and the employee about the expected length 

of the assignment/workday, including whether an overnight stay is anticipated. If an overnight stay

is expected, the applicant must be notified of the anticipated lodging and per diem charges before

providing inspection service.

If an employee is on official business travel outside of the local commuting area, the employee 

is entitled to per diem if they work more than 12 hours, excluding a 30-minute lunch. If you know 

the workday is more than 12 work hours excluding lunch, we need to give the employee the choice 

of coming home or staying overnight unless the employee is within one hour of their residence. 

Either way, the employee is entitled to 3⁄4 day per diem for that workday.

If a single applicant, we need to charge the applicant whether we charge them the 3⁄4 day per diem 

or we charge them lodging and 3⁄4 day per diem for both days. Any applicable per diem and 

lodging charges for multiple applicant trips should be prorated among applicants.

Also, the per diem rate utilized is based on the location of the assignment, not the employee’s 

official duty station. For example, if an employee assigned to the St. Louis, MO sub-office is 

assigned to drive to Louisville, KY to perform an inspection assignment, any per diem that is 

warranted would be based on the Louisville per diem rate.

TRAVEL TIME

Travel within the local commuting area: No travel time is allowed except when the daily 

assignment includes more than one stop within the local commuting area. Travel time is allowed 

between multiple stops. Travel time from home to the first stop and from the last stop to home is 

not allowed.
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 3 of 12

Travel outside the local commuting area: Limited to travel time in excess of the normal home-towork and/or work-to-home commute.

MILEAGE

An employee is entitled to mileage reimbursement in the following situations:

Single Stop

• When a daily assignment is limited to one stop within the local commuting area, only 

mileage over the normal home-to-work commute is compensable. 

• When a daily assignment is limited to one stop outside the local commuting area, all 

mileage is compensable.

Multiple Stops

When a daily assignment involves more than one stop within the local commuting area and:

• The travel begins or ends at the actual duty point/official duty station, the mileage between 

the actual duty point/official duty station and the employee’s residence is not compensable.

• The first duty point is a temporary duty point within the local commuting area, 

reimbursement for miles driven from the employee’s residence to the first duty point, less 

the normal one-way commute, is compensable. 

• The first duty point is a temporary duty point outside the local commuting area, 

reimbursement for miles driven from the employee’s residence to the first duty point is 

compensable.

• The last duty point is a temporary duty point within the local commuting area, 

reimbursement for miles driven from the last duty point to the employee’s residence, less 

the normal one-way commute, is compensable.

• The last duty point is a temporary duty point outside the local commuting area, 

reimbursement for miles from the last duty point to the employee’s residence is 

compensable.

Note: If an employee is approved to use a different form of transportation to get to and from the 

temporary duty point than they normally use to commute to the official duty station, the employee 

may be reimbursed the full cost of the trip as long as the employee uses a reasonable alternative 

(e.g., this could be a subway fare if the employee normally drives their POV to their official duty 

station, but they take the subway to the temporary duty point instead). Claims for mileage-only 

reimbursement should be submitted via an OF-1164, Claim for Reimbursement for Expenditures 

on Official Business. 
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 4 of 12

MILEAGE EXAMPLES

In the following examples, the employee’s normal commute – residence to actual duty 

point/official duty station and back to residence – is 15 miles each way.

Example 1 (Single Stop):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty location “A” (other than Actual Duty 

Point/Official Duty Station) within the local commuting area and back to their residence. If the 

mileage is less than the normal commute, then the mileage is not compensable. The employee is 

not entitled to mileage reimbursement in this example. 

Local Commuting Area

Residence 50

15

Actual Duty Point/

Official Duty Station

7

Location A
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 5 of 12

Example 2 (Single Stop):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty location “A” (other than Actual Duty 

Point/Official Duty Station) within the local commuting area and back to their residence.

• If the mileage is more than the normal commute, then only the excess/extra mileage is 

compensable. The employee is entitled to claim 20 miles in this example.

Local Commuting Area

50

Residence

15

Actual Duty Point/ 

Official Duty 

Station

25

Location A 
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 6 of 12

Example 3 (Single Stop):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” outside the local 

commuting area and back to their residence. All mileage is compensable. The employee is 

entitled to claim 130 miles in this example.

Local Commuting Area

Residence 50

15

Actual Duty Point/Official Duty

65

Location A
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 7 of 12

Example 4 (Multiple Stops):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” within the local 

commuting area (other than Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station), then to Actual Duty 

Point/Official Duty Station, and back to their residence. 

• Mileage from employee’s residence to Temporary Duty Location” A” is actual mileage, 

less the normal one-way commute.

• All mileage from Temporary Duty Location “A” to Actual Duty Point/Official Duty 

Station is compensable. 

• Mileage from Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station to employee’s residence is not 

compensable.

The employee is entitled to claim 25 miles in this example.

Local Commuting Area

50

Residence

15 Actual Duty Point/ 

Official Duty Station

20 20

Location A
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 8 of 12

Example 5 (Multiple Stops):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” within the local 

commuting area (other than Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station), then to Temporary Duty 

Location “B” within the local commuting area, and back to their residence. 

• Mileage from employee’s residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” is actual mileage, 

less the normal one-way commute.

• All mileage from Temporary Duty Location “A” to location “B” is compensable.

• Mileage from Temporary Duty Location “B” to employee’s residence is actual mileage, 

less the normal one-way commute.

The employee is entitled to claim 45 miles in this example.

Local Commuting Area

Actual Duty Point/ 

Official Duty Station

15

50

Residence

Location B

25

20

30

Location A
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Local Commuting Area

Residence

Actual Duty Point/ 

Official Duty Station

50

15

30

60

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 9 of 12

Example 6 (Multiple Stops):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” outside the local 

commuting area, then to Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station, and back to their residence.

• All mileage from employee’s residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” is compensable.

• All mileage from Temporary Duty Location “A” to Actual Duty Point/Official Duty 

Station is compensable. 

• Mileage from Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station to employee’s residence is not 

compensable.

The employee is entitled to claim 90 miles in this example.

Location A 
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Local Commuting Area

50

Residence

Actual Duty Point/ 

Official Duty Station

15

Location B

20

70 45

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 10 of 12

Example 7 (Multiple Stops):

Employee travels from their residence to Temporary Duty Location “A” outside the local 

commuting area, then to Temporary Duty Location “B” (inside the local commuting area), and 

then to their residence. 

• All mileage from employee’s residence to location “A” is compensable.

• All mileage from Temporary Duty Location “A” to Temporary Duty Location “B” is 

compensable.

• Mileage from Temporary Duty Location “B” to employee’s residence is actual mileage, 

less the normal one-way commute.

The employee is entitled to claim 120 miles in this example.

Location A 
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 11 of 12

Example 8 (Single Stop):

Employee travels from their residence to Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station, then to 

Temporary Duty Location/Location “A” outside the local commuting area, and back to their 

residence.

• Mileage from employee’s residence to Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station is not 

compensable

• All mileage from Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station to location “A” is compensable.

• All mileage from Temporary Duty Location “A” to residence is compensable.

The employee is entitled to claim 150 miles in this example.

Location A 

Local Commuting Area

Residence Actual Duty Point/Official Duty Station

15

70

80
SCI Division Administration Series SCI Division

Local Travel Policy

Effective Date: March 2023 Page 12 of 12

REFERENCE LINKS Version Date

(Printed for distribution)

OF-1164, Claim for Reimbursement for Expenditures on Official Business: 

https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/OF1164-17a.pdf?forceDownload=1 address

Checked Materials have been printed from the links in this manual and included for 

reference.