Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/12/05/2013-28741/federal-travel-regulation-ftr-agency-requirements-for-payment-of-expenses-connected-with-the-death
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 22:59:43
Document Index: 521580060

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 303', 'art 303', 'art 303', 'art 303', 'art 303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303', '§\u2009303']

Federal Register :: Federal Travel Regulation (FTR); Agency Requirements for Payment of Expenses Connected With the Death of Certain Employees and Family Members
A Rule by the General Services Administration on 12/05/2013
Effective: This final rule is effective January 6, 2014.
73104-73109 (6 pages)
FTR Amendment 2013-02
FTR Case 2013-302
Docket Number 2013-0010,Sequence 1
3090-AJ37
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2013-28741 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2013-28741
Applicability date: This final rule as addressing FTR part 303-70, subparts A through F, H and I is applicable January 6, 2014. This final rule as addressing FTR, part 303-70, Subpart G, is applicable to travel relating to employees who died on or after January 28, 2008.
For clarification of content, contact Rick Miller, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Travel and Relocation Policy Division at 202-501-3822 or email at rodney.miller@gsa.gov. Contact the U.S. General Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20405-0001, 202-501-4755, for information pertaining to status or publication schedules. Please cite FTR Amendment 2013-02, FTR Case 2013-302.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5707, the Administrator of General Services is authorized to prescribe necessary regulations to implement laws regarding Federal employees who travel in the performance of official business away from their official stations. Similarly, 5 U.S.C. 5738 mandates that the Administrator of General Services prescribe regulations relating to official relocation. In addition, Executive Order 11609, as amended, delegates to the Administrator of General Services the authority to issue regulations under 5 U.S.C. 5742(b) relating to the payment of expenses when an employee dies.
Also, the Presidential Memorandum, “Delegation Under Section 2(a) of the Special Agent Samuel Hicks Families of Fallen Heroes Act,” dated September 12, 2011, and published in the Federal Register (76 FR 57621), delegates to the Administrator of General Services the authority to issue regulations under Public Law 111-178, the Special Agent Samuel Hicks Families of Fallen Heroes Act, codified at 5 U.S.C. 5724d, relating to the payment of certain expenses when a covered employee dies as a result of injuries sustained in the performance of his or her official duties. The overall implementing authority is the FTR, codified in Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapters 300-304 (41 CFR Chapters 300-304).
This final rule incorporates language based on Public Law 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2008, Section 1103 and codified in 5 U.S.C. 5742, to allow agencies to provide for relocation of dependents and household effects of a employee whose death occurred while performing official duties outside the continental United States (OCONUS) or in transit thereto or therefrom, or for an employee whose death occurred while subject to a mandatory mobility agreement OCONUS and was supporting an overseas contingency operation or overseas emergency as declared by the President. This final rule allows the agency to relocate the dependents and household goods to the covered employee's former actual residence or such other place as is determined by the head of the agency concerned. The term “contingency operation” has the meaning given in 10 U.S.C. 101(a)(13), to include a military operation that:
Pursuant to this authority, this final rule amends and updates FTR part 303-70 regarding the authority to relocate dependents and household goods of an employee on a service agreement or mandatory mobility agreement who dies at or while in transit to or from an official station OCONUS. This final rule amends and updates the FTR to clarify no death-related expenses are authorized to relocate the immediate family to another location for an employee who dies while at the permanent official station except when the employee dies while performing duties under the provisions of Subparts F, G, and H of Chapter 303.
This final rule amends and updates the FTR to allow transportation of the remains to the place of interment and shipment of a POV from the TDY location or from an official station OCONUS when the agency previously determined that use of POV was in the best interest of the Government. This final rule also amends the household goods temporary storage timeframe in Subpart H, and allows the agency to authorize additional storage not to exceed a total of 150 days, which is the same as an employee with relocation entitlements. This final rule reorganizes FTR part 303-70 to make it easier to understand. Finally, this final rule amends the part heading by adding the words “and family members”.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives, and if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. This final rule has not been designated as a “significant regulatory action” and not economically significant, under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. Accordingly, the rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
This final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., because the revisions are not considered substantive. This final rule is also exempt from Administrative Procedure Act per 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), because it applies to agency management or personnel. However, this final rule is being published to provide transparency in the promulgation of Federal policies.
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the changes to the FTR do not impose recordkeeping or information collection requirements, or the collection of information from Start Printed Page 73106offerors, contractors, or members of the public that require the approval of the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
This final rule is also exempt from Congressional review prescribed under 5 U.S.C. 801, since it relates solely to agency management and personnel.
Agency requirements for payment of expenses connected with the death of certain employees
For the reasons set forth in the Preamble, 41 CFR part 303-70 is revised to read as set forth below:
303-70.1
303-70.2
303-70.3
303-70.4
303-70.5
303-70.100
303-70.101
303-70.102
303-70.200
303-70.201
303-70.202
303-70.300
303-70.301
303-70.302
303-70.303
303-70.400
Must we pay transportation costs to return the deceased employee's baggage from an official TDY location?
303-70.401
303-70.402
303-70.500
303-70.501
303-70.502
303-70.503
What relocation expenses must we authorize for the immediate family under §§ 303-70.501 and 303-70.502?
303-70.600
303-70.601
What relocation expenses must we authorize for the immediate family under § 303-70.600?
303-70.602
Must we pay transportation costs to return the deceased employee's POV from the TDY location or from a official station OCONUS for deceased employees under § 303-70.600?
Must we pay transportation costs to return the deceased employee's privately owned vehicle (POV) from the temporary duty (TDY) location or from a official station OCONUS under § 303-70.700?
303-70.800
303-70.801
(d) In direct support of or directly related to a military operation, including a contingency operation, or an Start Printed Page 73107operation in response to an emergency declared by the President as provided in § 303-70.600; or
§ 303-70.2
Yes, provided the requirements in § 303-70.1 are met.
§ 303-70.3
Must we pay death-related expenses for an employee who dies when on leave, or who dies on a non-workday, while on temporary duty (TDY) or stationed OCONUS?
Yes, provided the requirements in § 303-70.1 are met. However, payment cannot exceed the amount allowed if death had occurred while on duty at the TDY station or at the official station OCONUS.
§ 303-70.4
§ 303-70.5
§ 303-70.100
Yes, in accordance with §§ 303-70.101 and 303-70.102.
§ 303-70.101
(b) Transportation of remains by common carrier (that is normally used for transportation of remains), hearse, other means, or a combination thereof, from the TDY station, OCONUS location, or CONUS location covered by § 303-70.1(e), to the employee's residence, official station, or place of interment, including but not limited to:
Note to § 303-70.101:
§ 303-70.102
§ 303-70.200
§ 303-70.201
§ 303-70.202
Note to § 303-70.300:
The employee must reimburse you for all furnished mortuary facilities and supplies.
§ 303-70.301
§ 303-70.302
§ 303-70.303
Yes, you must furnish transportation if requested by the employee. You must follow the guidelines in § 303-70.301 for transportation expenses. You must furnish mortuary services only if the conditions in § 303-70.300 are met.
§ 303-70.400
Yes, you must pay transportation costs to return the deceased employee's baggage to his/her official station or Start Printed Page 73108residence. However, you may not pay insurance of, or reimbursement for, loss or damage to baggage.
§ 303-70.401
§ 303-70.402
§ 303-70.500
§ 303-70.501
Yes, if the immediate family chooses to continue the relocation, you must continue payment of relocation expenses for the immediate family, provided the immediate family was included on the employee's relocation travel orders. (See § 303-70.503.)
§ 303-70.502
§ 303-70.503
§ 303-70.600
§ 303-70.601
§ 303-70.602
Must we pay transportation costs to return the deceased employee's POV from the TDY location or from an official station OCONUS under § 303-70.600?
(a) TDY location to the employee's permanent official station, if the agency had authorized the use of the employee's POV at the TDY location as more advantageous to the Government than other means of transportation; orStart Printed Page 73109
§ 303-70.800
§ 303-70.801
[FR Doc. 2013-28741 Filed 12-4-13; 8:45 am]