Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 3703 

1OEQ houses the professional and administrative 

staff of CEQ, and the Chair of CEQ is the Director 

of OEQ ex officio. 42 U.S.C. 4372(a), (d)(1). This 

preamble refers to the Chair of CEQ and the Director 

of OEQ, and to CEQ and OEQ, interchangeably. 

2CEQ, Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund, 67 FR 62189 (Oct. 4, 2002). 

3Federal Plain Language Guidelines (1st rev. May 

2011), https://www.plainlanguage.gov/media/ 

FederalPLGuidelines.pdf. 4 67 FR 53461 (Aug. 16, 2002). 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric 

Generating Units; and Repeal of the 

Affordable Clean Energy Rule,’’ 

available in the rulemaking docket. At 

this time, the EPA is not addressing 

other grounds for reconsideration that 

have been raised by these or other 

petitioners. 

Jane Nishida, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00659 Filed 1–14–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL 

QUALITY 

40 CFR Part 1518 

RIN 0331–AA09 

Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund 

AGENCY: Council on Environmental 

Quality. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) is 

amending its Office of Environmental 

Quality Management Fund regulations 

to clarify their meaning, modernize 

them to reflect developments in CEQ’s 

practices in administering the Office of 

Environmental Quality Management 

Fund (the Management Fund) since 

CEQ first adopted its regulations, and 

make administrative changes. 

DATES: This rule is effective January 15, 

2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samuel Roth, Associate General 

Counsel, 202–395–5750, 

Samuel.E.Roth@ceq.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Environmental Quality 

Improvement Act, as amended (Pub. L. 

91–224, Title II, April 3, 1970; Pub. L. 

97–258, September 13, 1982; and Pub. 

L. 98–581, October 30, 1984) established 

the Management Fund to receive 

advance payments from other agencies 

or accounts that may be used solely to 

finance (1) study contracts that are 

jointly sponsored by the Office of 

Environmental Quality (OEQ) and one 

or more other Federal agencies; and (2) 

Federal interagency environmental 

projects (including task forces) in which 

OEQ participates. 42 U.S.C. 4375(a). The 

statute requires the Director of the 

Office of Environmental Quality (OEQ) 

to promulgate regulations setting forth 

policies and procedures for operation of 

the OEQ Management Fund. 42 U.S.C. 

4375(c).1

The CEQ Chair approved internal 

policies and procedures for operation of 

the Management Fund in January 1985. 

On October 4, 2002, the CEQ Chair 

promulgated regulations governing the 

operation of the Management Fund.2

II. Summary of the Final Rule 

CEQ is amending its Management 

Fund regulations to clarify their 

meaning, including for consistency with 

the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 

111–274) and the Federal Plain 

Language Guidelines,3 modernize them 

to reflect developments in CEQ’s 

practices in administering the 

Management Fund since CEQ first 

adopted its regulations, and make 

administrative changes. 

Section 1518.1—Purpose. CEQ revises 

this section to describe the purpose of 

the Office of Environmental Quality 

Management Fund as well as the 

purpose of part 1518, which is to set 

forth CEQ’s procedures for 

administering the Management Fund. 

Section 1518.2—Definitions. CEQ 

revises this section to define key terms 

that appear throughout part 1518. In 

particular, CEQ removes the definitions 

of the terms ‘‘advance payment,’’ which 

the prior regulations defined but did not 

use elsewhere in part 1518, and 

‘‘source,’’ which no longer appears in 

the regulations as revised. CEQ adds 

definitions for ‘‘environmental project’’ 

and ‘‘study contract’’ to clarify the 

meaning of those terms. These 

definitions are consistent with CEQ’s 

authorities under National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) and the Environmental Quality 

Improvement Act of 1970. CEQ also 

adds a definition of ‘‘personnel costs’’ to 

clarify the types of expenditures that 

CEQ may make from the Management 

Fund. Finally, CEQ adds definitions for 

‘‘payment’’ and ‘‘reallocation’’ to clarify 

how the regulations use those terms to 

describe the movement of funds to and 

from the Management Fund. 

Section 1518.3—Policy and general 

requirements. CEQ revises this section 

to more clearly explain the internal 

policies and procedures by which CEQ 

administers the Management Fund, 

including the types of expenditures that 

CEQ may make from the Management 

Fund, and to eliminate outdated 

provisions that no longer reflect CEQ’s 

business processes. 

Section 1518.4—Charters. CEQ 

revises this section, which describes the 

purpose of charters for environmental 

projects and study contracts that receive 

support from the Management Fund, to 

more clearly set forth what a charter 

must contain and to better explain the 

roles of the Director and the Project 

Officer in approving and amending a 

charter. 

Section 1518.5—Finances and 

accounting. CEQ moves the provisions 

on Management Fund finances and 

accounting from the previous 40 CFR 

1518.4(b) to § 1518.5. This section 

explains how agencies make payments 

into the Management Fund and 

specifies procedures for making 

expenditures from the Management 

Fund. CEQ makes clarifying changes to 

this section to improve its readability 

and better reflect current practices. 

Paragraph (a) requires the Project Officer 

for each environmental project or study 

contract receiving support from the 

Management Fund to prepare a budget 

estimate and update it annually. CEQ 

adds a new provision in paragraph (c)(1) 

that, consistent with longstanding 

practice, requires the Director to 

transmit a letter to an agency when 

requesting a payment into the 

Management Fund. 

III. Regulatory Analysis and Notices 

A. Administrative Procedure Act 

This rule relates to a matter of agency 

management or personnel and is a rule 

of agency organization, procedure, or 

practice. As such, this rule is exempt 

from the usual requirements of prior 

notice and comment and a 30-day delay 

in effective date. See 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), 

(b), and (d). The rule is effective upon 

signature. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Executive Order 13272, Proper 

Consideration of Small Entities in 

Agency Rulemaking 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 

as amended, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., and 

E.O. 13272, Proper Consideration of 

Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking,4

require agencies to assess the impacts of 

rules on small entities. Under the RFA, 

small entities include small businesses, 

small organizations, and small 

governmental jurisdictions. An agency 

must prepare a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis unless it determines 

and certifies that a final rule, if 


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3704 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 

5See E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, 58 FR 51735, 51737 (Oct. 4, 1993); E.O. 

14094, Modernizing Regulatory Review, 88 FR 

21879, 21879–80 (Apr. 11, 2023); E.O. 13563, 

Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,76 FR 

3821, 3822 (Jan. 21, 2011). 

6 61 FR 4729 (Feb. 7, 1996). 

7 40 CFR 1501.4(a). 

8 Id. § 1501.5(a). 

9 Id. § 1501.6. 

10 40 CFR part 1502. 

promulgated, would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 5 

U.S.C. 605(b). 

This rule relates to a matter of agency 

management or personnel and is a rule 

of agency organization, procedure, or 

practice. Accordingly, CEQ hereby 

certifies that the rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Section 201 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 

104–4, 2 U.S.C. 1531), requires Federal 

agencies to assess the effects of their 

regulatory actions on state, local, and 

Tribal governments, and the private 

sector to the extent that such regulations 

incorporate requirements specifically 

set forth in law. Before promulgating a 

rule that may result in the expenditure 

by a state, Tribal, or local government, 

in the aggregate, or by the private sector 

of $100 million, adjusted annually for 

inflation, in any 1 year, an agency must 

prepare a written statement that assesses 

the effects on state, Tribal, and local 

governments and the private sector. 2 

U.S.C. 1532. This rule relates to a matter 

of agency management or personnel and 

is a rule of agency organization, 

procedure, or practice, and accordingly 

will not result in expenditures of $100 

million or more for state, local, and 

Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or 

the private sector in any 1 year. This 

rule also does not impose any 

enforceable duty, contain any unfunded 

mandate, or otherwise have any effect 

on small governments subject to the 

requirements of 2 U.S.C. 1531 through 

1538. 

D. Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

E.O. 12866, as supplemented and 

affirmed by E.O. 13563 and amended by 

E.O. 14094, provides that the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs will 

review any regulatory action that 

qualifies as a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ within the meaning of the E.O.5

The rule does not qualify as a significant 

regulatory action. 

E. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform 

Under section 3(a) of E.O. 12988,6

agencies must review their regulations 

to eliminate drafting errors and 

ambiguities, draft them to minimize 

litigation, and provide a clear legal 

standard for affected conduct. Section 

3(b) provides a list of specific matters 

that agencies must consider when 

conducting the review required by 

section 3(a). CEQ has conducted this 

review and determined that this rule 

complies with the requirements of E.O. 

12988. 

F. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule does not impose any new 

information collection burden that 

would require additional review or 

approval by OMB under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 

seq. 

G. National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) 

The National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 (NEPA) (Pub. L. 118–5, 42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and 

the CEQ regulations that implement 

NEPA, 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508, 

require consideration of the 

environmental effects of proposed 

actions in agency decision making. 

NEPA provides for three levels of 

review. First, agencies may establish in 

their agency-specific NEPA procedures 

categorical exclusions (CEs) for 

categories of actions that normally do 

not have a significant effect on the 

human environment, individually or in 

the aggregate, and apply CEs to 

individual actions, as appropriate.7 If an 

agency proposes to take an action that 

does not fall within a CE but is not 

likely to have significant environmental 

effects (or the significance of whose 

effects is unknown), CEQ’s NEPA 

regulations direct the agency to prepare 

an environmental assessment (EA).8 If, 

as a result of this assessment, the agency 

determines that the proposed action will 

not have significant effects, the agency 

may make a finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI), in which case the 

agency may proceed with the action.9

Otherwise, the agency must prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS).10

CEQ has not established a CE for the 

preparation, revision, and adoption of 

regulations generally. Accordingly, CEQ 

has prepared an EA to determine 

whether the revisions to the 

Management Fund regulations would 

have a significant effect on the human 

environment. Because, as set forth 

below, the regulation will likely have no 

discernable effect on the use of 

resources in CEQ’s administration of the 

Management Fund, CEQ finds that the 

regulation will have no significant 

impact on the human environment and 

that it is therefore unnecessary to 

prepare an EIS. 

1. Environmental Assessment 

Purpose and Need: As set forth in the 

Background (part I of this preamble) and 

Summary of the Final Rule (part II of 

this preamble), CEQ adopted its 

Management Fund regulations in 2010 

and has not updated them to reflect 

developments in CEQ’s practices in 

administering the Management Fund 

since then. Furthermore, clarifying the 

regulations and making administrative 

changes will make the regulations easier 

to understand and use. 

Proposed Action and Alternatives: A 

summary of the proposed action is set 

forth above in the Summary of the Final 

Rule. Under a ‘‘no action’’ alternative, 

CEQ would continue to operate under 

its current regulations, resolving 

ambiguities and addressing 

inconsistencies between the regulations 

and current CEQ practices on a case-bycase basis. CEQ has decided that this 

approach is undesirable because it 

requires CEQ staff to address 

ambiguities and inconsistencies that 

CEQ can obviate by updating the 

regulation. 

CEQ’s preferred alternative is to 

amend its regulations as set forth in this 

Final Rule, for the reasons set forth in 

part II of this preamble. 

Environmental Effects of Alternatives: 

CEQ’s administration of the 

Management Fund affects the 

environment primarily through CEQ’s 

use of energy and other office resources. 

CEQ’s use of resources for these 

purposes has remained within the range 

typical of the operations of a small 

office. CEQ anticipates that the 

amendments set forth in this rulemaking 

will have minimal or no discernable 

effects on its use of resources in 

administering the Management Fund. 

List of Agencies and Persons 

Consulted: CEQ’s NEPA staff reviewed 

and commented on this EA and this 

final rulemaking. 

2. Finding of No Significant Impact 

Based on the foregoing EA, CEQ finds 

that implementation of the regulations 

in this notice would have minimal or no 

discernable effects on CEQ’s use of 

energy and other office resources in 

CEQ’s administration of the 

Management Fund. Thus, there would 

be no significant effects associated with 

implementation of the proposed action, 

and it is not necessary for CEQ to 

prepare an EIS. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 3705 

CEQ further finds that the action is 

not one that normally requires the 

preparation of an EIS, closely similar to 

such an action, or an action without 

precedent. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 1518 

Accounting, Administrative practice 

and procedure, Environmental impact 

statements and Environmental Quality 

Office. 

Brenda Mallory, 

Chair, Council on Environmental Quality, and 

Director, Office of Environmental Quality. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Council on 

Environmental Quality amends 40 CFR 

part 1518 by revising and republishing 

it to read as follows: 

PART 1518—OFFICE OF 

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 

MANAGEMENT FUND 

1518.1 Purpose. 

1518.2 Definitions. 

1518.3 Policy and general requirements. 

1518.4 Charters. 

1518.5 Finances and accounting. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4375. 

§ 1518.1 Purpose. 

(a) The purpose of the Office of 

Environmental Quality Management 

Fund is to finance: 

(1) Study contracts that the Office of 

Environmental Quality and at least one 

other Federal agency jointly sponsor; 

and 

(2) Federal interagency environmental 

projects (including task forces) in which 

the Office of Environmental Quality 

participates. 

(b) The purpose of the regulations in 

this part is to set forth policies and 

procedures for operation of the 

Management Fund, in order to support 

its effective administration and to set 

forth the Office of Environmental 

Quality’s internal procedures and 

practices with respect to the 

Management Fund. 

§ 1518.2 Definitions. 

Council on Environmental Quality, as 

used in this part, includes the Office of 

Environmental Quality. 

Director means the Director of the 

Office of Environmental Quality (or 

delegate). The Environmental Quality 

Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C. 4372(a), 

specifies that the Chair of the Council 

on Environmental Quality serves as the 

Director of the Office of Environmental 

Quality. 

Environmental project means an 

official activity pertaining to the 

environment that requires coordination 

by or the involvement of the Council on 

Environmental Quality and other 

Federal agencies, such as an interagency 

task force. 

Interagency agreement means a 

document jointly executed by the Office 

of Environmental Quality and at least 

one other Federal agency that sets forth 

the details of a jointly sponsored study 

contract or environmental project and 

the funding arrangements for such a 

study or project. 

Management Fund means the Office 

of Environmental Quality Management 

Fund. 

Payment means a transfer of funds 

from an agency or another account to 

the Management Fund. 

Personnel costs include an 

employee’s salary or wages and benefits 

and other direct expenses of 

employment, such as administrative 

costs associated with an official 

background investigation of the 

employee. 

Project Officer means the Federal 

employee responsible for direct 

supervision of a study contract or 

environmental project that receives 

support from the Management Fund. 

Reallocation means a transfer of funds 

from the Management Fund to another 

account or between subaccounts of the 

Management Fund. 

Study contract means an agreement 

with a public or private agency, 

institution, organization, or individual 

(including, without limitation, an 

agency, committee, or official of the 

Federal Government) to prepare or 

support the development of a report, 

analysis, or recommendation. 

§ 1518.3 Policy and general requirements. 

(a) To receive support from the 

Management Fund, an environmental 

project or study contract must advance 

the purposes and goals of the National 

Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq., or the Environmental 

Quality Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C. 

4371 et seq. 

(b) When the Director accepts agency 

funds for payment into the Management 

Fund, the interagency agreement must 

specify the permissible uses of the 

funds, and any restrictions relating 

thereto, such as a limitation on the 

funds’ period of availability, consistent 

with § 1518.5 of this part. 

(c) The Director may authorize the 

Project Officer to make expenditures to 

support Management Fund study 

contracts and environmental projects, 

including: 

(1) Acquisition of office space, 

equipment, supplies, and other goods 

and services, whether by purchase, 

lease, or otherwise; 

(2) Personnel costs; 

(3) Official travel; 

(4) Publication of documents; 

(5) Services of consultants, experts, or 

contractors; 

(6) Conferences, public meetings, and 

events; 

(7) Access to information, such as 

scientific and technical data; 

(8) Public engagement activities; and 

(9) Other necessary expenses. 

(d) The Director must not authorize 

expenditures from the Management 

Fund that would solely benefit the 

Council on Environmental Quality or 

another Federal agency or that would 

reimburse the Council on 

Environmental Quality or another 

Federal agency for expenses not related 

to an environmental project or a study 

contract. For example: 

(1) The Director may authorize 

expenditures pursuant to paragraph 

(c)(2) of this section for the personnel 

costs of an employee whose duties are 

limited to carrying out the objectives of 

a study contract or an environmental 

project, but not for the personnel costs 

of an employee who carries out duties 

unrelated to a study contract or an 

environmental project. 

(2) If a portion of an employee’s 

duties will carry out the objectives of an 

environmental project or a study 

contract, the Director may authorize 

expenditures pursuant to paragraph 

(c)(2) of this section for a proportional 

share of the employee’s personnel costs. 

(e) In carrying out the purposes of the 

Management Fund, 42 U.S.C. 4372(e) 

authorizes the Director to contract with 

public or private agencies, institutions, 

organizations and individuals, by 

negotiation, without regard to 31 U.S.C. 

3324(a) and (b), 41 U.S.C. 6101. 

§ 1518.4 Charters. 

(a) The Director must not authorize 

expenditures from the Management 

Fund for an environmental project or a 

study contract until the Director has 

approved a charter for the 

environmental project or study contract. 

(b) The Project Officer must prepare a 

charter for each environmental project 

or a study contract and obtain the 

Director’s approval of the charter. 

(c) The charter must: 

(1) Describe the environmental project 

or study contract; 

(2) Clearly explain how the 

environmental project or study contract 

is consistent with the goals, purposes, 

and statutory authority of the Office of 

Environmental Quality; 

(3) Identify the Federal agency or 

agencies (and any State, Tribal, or local 

agencies) participating in the 

environmental project or study contract; 

and 


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3706 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 15, 2025 / Rules and Regulations 

(4) Provide the names, titles, and 

contact information of the Project 

Officer and an administrative point of 

contact. 

(d) The Project Officer may amend a 

charter in writing with the Director’s 

approval of the amended charter. 

(e) The Office of Environmental 

Quality must provide the Office of 

Administration in the Executive Office 

of the President with a copy of each 

charter and amendment that the 

Director approves. 

§ 1518.5 Finances and accounting. 

(a) The Project Officer for each 

environmental project or study contract 

receiving support from the Management 

Fund must prepare a budget estimate as 

part of the charter and update the 

budget estimate annually following the 

charter’s approval. The Office of 

Environmental Quality must provide 

copies of these budget estimates to the 

Office of Administration. 

(b) The Council on Environmental 

Quality may make a payment into the 

Management Fund by a letter of 

transmittal that specifies the particular 

environmental project or study contract 

it is funding. The Office of 

Environmental Quality will provide a 

copy of each such transmittal letter to 

the Office of Administration. 

(c) Agencies other than the Council on 

Environmental Quality may make 

advance payments to the Management 

Fund using the following procedure: 

(1) The Director must provide the 

agency with a letter that specifies the 

particular environmental project or 

study contract to which the Director 

will apply the payment. 

(2) The Director and the agency must 

enter an interagency agreement for the 

payment. The interagency agreement 

should indicate any statutory authority 

appropriate to the transaction, including 

42 U.S.C. 4375(a). 

(d) The Management Fund is a noyear appropriations account, which can 

accept funds with any period of 

availability or funds that remain 

available until expended (i.e., ‘‘oneyear,’’ ‘‘multiple-year,’’ or ‘‘no-year’’ 

funds). Appropriated funds that an 

agency pays into the Management Fund 

expire under the terms of the 

appropriation under which they 

originated. The Office of Environmental 

Quality must account separately for 

each payment of funds into the 

Management Fund and track when each 

such payment will expire. 

(e) In addition to or in lieu of an 

advance payment into the Management 

Fund, any agency, including the 

Council on Environmental Quality, may 

support an environmental project or 

study contract by providing technical 

expertise, physical resources, facilities, 

equipment, or other assets; performing 

support or administrative services; or 

assigning detailees or agency 

representatives. 

(f) The Office of Environmental 

Quality must maintain a separate 

subaccount within the Management 

Fund for each environmental project or 

study contract. 

(g) The Director or the Project Officer 

must approve all of the expenditures for 

a particular environmental project or 

study contract. The Management Fund 

may only accept payments in advance of 

expenditure; accordingly, the Director 

or the Project Officer may only approve 

expenditures for which the Management 

Fund has received adequate payments 

in advance. 

(h) The Director may approve the 

reallocation of funds from the 

Management Fund to another Federal 

account (or from one Management Fund 

subaccount to another) provided that: 

(1) The agency that originally made 

the payment of the funds in question to 

the Management Fund approves the 

reallocation in writing; 

(2) The reallocation would promote 

the statutory mission of the Office of 

Environmental Quality; and 

(3) The Director determines the 

reallocation is in the best interest of the 

Federal Government. 

(i) The Office of Environmental 

Quality must classify each financial 

transaction involving a Management 

Fund subaccount in sufficient detail to 

meet the Office of Environmental 

Quality’s management planning, fiscal 

control, and financial audit 

requirements. 

[FR Doc. 2025–00473 Filed 1–14–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3325–FA–P 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

41 CFR Part 302–16 

[FTR Case 2022–04 Docket No. GSA–FTR– 

2023–0017, Sequence No. 2] 

RIN 3090–AK65 

Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); 

Relocation Allowances— 

Miscellaneous Expenses Allowance 

AGENCY: Office of Government-wide 

Policy (OGP), General Services 

Administration (GSA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The United States (U.S.) 

General Services Administration (GSA) 

is issuing a final rule amending the 

Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) to 

remove the relocation miscellaneous 

expenses allowance (MEA) lump sum 

amounts from the FTR. These lump sum 

amounts will be published in FTR 

Bulletins on an intermittent basis, much 

like what is done for per diem and 

mileage rates. The relocation MEA 

actual expense (as opposed to lump 

sum) amounts are unchanged and will 

remain in the FTR. This final rule also 

updates the types of expenses that may 

or may not be reimbursed by relocation 

MEA when employees itemize under 

actual expense. Additionally, this final 

rule updates and clarifies other 

relocation MEA regulatory sections and 

rearranges them into a more sequential 

order. 

DATES: Effective January 15, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

clarification of content, contact Mr. 

Rodney (Rick) Miller, Program Analyst, 

Office of Government-wide Policy 

(OGP), at 202–501–3822 or 

travelpolicy@gsa.gov. For information 

pertaining to status or publication 

schedules, contact the Regulatory 

Secretariat Division at 202–501–4755 or 

GSARegSec@gsa.gov. Please cite FTR 

Case 2022–04. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

GSA published a proposed rule at 89 

FR 4268 on January 23, 2024, which 

proposed FTR changes to relocation 

MEA. This rule finalizes those proposed 

changes as summarized above, and as 

set forth in greater detail below. 

Pursuant to 5 United States Code 

(U.S.C.) 5738, the Administrator of 

General Services is authorized to 

prescribe regulations necessary to 

implement laws regarding Federal 

employees when assigned a temporary 

change of station (TCS) or when 

otherwise transferred in the interest of 

the Government. The overall 

implementing authority is the FTR, 

codified in title 41 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations, chapters 300 

through 304. 

GSA’s OGP continually reviews and 

adjusts policies and regulations under 

its purview to address Government 

relocation needs and to incorporate best 

practices, where appropriate, as a part of 

its ongoing mission to provide policies 

for travel by Federal civilian employees 

and others authorized to travel at 

Government expense. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5724a(f) and 

5737(a)(6), an employee transferred in 

the interest of the Government from one 

official station to another, assigned to a 

TCS location, or who has completed a 

TCS assignment and returned to their 


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