Local Travel

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW

12.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? This chapter provides policy and procedures for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) employees who travel locally in and around their permanent duty station for work-related duties.

12.2 What is the scope of this chapter?

A. This chapter applies to local travel in and around a permanent duty station.

B. This chapter does not cover:

(1) Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) (see 265 FW 1 – 10);

(2) Local travel in and around a TDY location (see 265 FW 5);

(3) Permanent Change of Station (PCS) travel (see 266 FW 1); or

(4) Temporary Change of Station travel (see Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), Part 302, Subpart E).

12.3 What are the authorities for this chapter? See 265 FW 1 for a list of the authorities for all the chapters in Part 265.

12.4 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter?

A. Approving officials are supervisors, Directorate members (i.e., Regional Directors; Assistant Directors; Director, National Conservation Training Center (NCTC); Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS)), and other officials who approve local travel-related transactions.

B. Commuting area is the geographic area surrounding a Service worksite that encompasses the localities where people live and reasonably can be expected to travel back and forth daily to work. When an employee's residence is 50 miles or less from a Service-provided worksite, the worksite is within the employee's commuting area (see 5 CFR 550.703).

C. Commuting cost is the primary expense of traveling to and from a permanent duty station or Service-provided worksite. Employees pay their own commuting costs, which may include Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) mileage, tolls, and parking expenditures.

D. Commuting residence is the location where an employee commutes to and from work most of the time. It is not always the location listed on their personnel forms and does not include temporary locations.

E. CONUS is the acronym for the 48 contiguous states in the United States (i.e., all the states except Alaska and Hawaii).

F. Local travel is travel that does not meet the distance requirement for TDY travel (i.e., local travel is 50 miles or less from the permanent duty station and commuting residence). It includes Government and commercial flights to locations 50 miles or less from the employee’s permanent duty station and commuting residence.

G. OCONUS is the acronym for outside the contiguous United States.

H. Permanent duty station, for the purposes of local travel, is the address where the employee regularly performs their duties as determined under 5 CFR 531.605 and is listed on their Notification of Personnel Action (Standard Form (SF)-50). There are permanent duty stations that cover a large contiguous area of more than 50 miles, and that Service employees must regularly maintain or patrol. For such duty stations, traveling from one area to another, regardless of distance, is part of the employee’s regular duty and does not qualify as TDY travel. 

I. Regular employees, as used in this chapter,are employees who report to a Service-provided worksite daily. The Service-provided worksite is listed as the permanent duty station on their SF-50.

J. Remote work is an arrangement under which an employee is scheduled to perform work within or outside the local commuting area of a Service-provided worksite and is not expected to report to a Service-provided worksite on a regular and recurring basis. Typically, remote work is performed from an employee’s residence, but it may be some other facility. There are two types of employees who work remotely—remote employees and local remote employees:

(1) Remote employeeis an employee whose permanent duty station (e.g., employee’s residence) is more than 50 miles from a Service-provided worksite where they could reasonably be expected to perform their work if there wasn’t a remote employee agreement in place.

(2) Local remote employee is an employee whose permanent duty station (e.g., employee’s residence) is 50 miles or less from a Service-provided worksite where they could reasonably be expected to perform their work if there wasn’t a remote employee agreement in place.

K. TDY travel is travel that is performed for official purposes and is over 50 miles from the employee’s permanent duty station and commuting residence.

L. Telework employees include employees on both situational and core telework schedules. The telework employee’s permanent duty station is a Service-provided worksite listed on their SF-50, while their telework location is elsewhere (e.g., their residence or alternate facility). Telework employees are scheduled to report to their permanent duty stations at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular and recurring basis.

M. Travel Management Center (TMC) (i.e., Duluth Travel Incorporated and El Sol Travel, Inc.) is responsible for assisting employees with booking and adjusting travel itineraries. The TMC charges higher fees to assist with booking travel and adjusting reservations than those associated with self-service booking through ConcurGov.

RESPONSIBILITIES

12.5 What are the overall responsibilities related to local travel requirements? See Table 12-1.

Table 12-1: Responsibilities for Local Travel

LOCAL VS. TDY TRAVEL

12.6 What are the basic distinctions between local travel and TDY travel? See Table 12-2.

Table 12-2: Distinguishing Between TDY and Local Travel

WORK SCHEDULE CATEGORIES

12.7 How does an employee’s work schedule impact local travel reimbursement? Employees are assigned a local travel reimbursement category based on their documented work schedule. Those categories impact how we reimburse employees as follows:

A. Regular and telework employees:

(1) Cannot be reimbursed for reporting to their permanent duty station (i.e., commuting), even on days that they are not regularly scheduled to do so, and regardless of the number of miles.

(2) Can be reimbursed for local travel to an alternate worksite that is 50 miles or less from their commuting residence and permanent duty station, when departing from their residence. They must deduct their normal commuting costs from the claim (see section 12.10).

(3) Can be reimbursed for local travel to an alternate worksite that is 50 miles or less from their commuting residence and permanent duty station, when departing from their duty station. Normal commuting costs are not deducted from the claim (see section 12.10).

B. Remote employees: See 265 FW 1 - 11.

C. Local remote employees:

(1) Cannot be reimbursed for reporting to a Service-provided worksite (i.e., commuting) that is 50 miles or less from their permanent duty station (e.g., employee’s residence).

(2) Cannot be reimbursed for local travel to an alternate worksite that is 50 miles or less from their permanent duty station (e.g., employee’s residence), when departing from their permanent duty station (i.e., commuting).

(3) Can be reimbursed for local travel to an alternate worksite that is 50 miles or less from their permanent duty station (e.g., employee’s residence), when departing from a Service-provided worksite.

DOCUMENTATION AND CALCULATIONS

12.8 What documentation is required for local travel?

A. Prior to local travel:

(1) We do not have Servicewide policy for the documentation required to get authorization to travel locally. Requirements are based on Regional, programmatic, or office policy.

(2) Departmental policy prohibits the use of the Travel Authorization form (DI-1020) or electronic travel system for anything other than TDY travel.

B. Cost comparisons: Although there is not a Servicewide requirement for preparing cost comparisons for local travel reimbursements (e.g., POV vs. ride hails/rideshares, such as a taxi, Uber, or Lyft), we recommend them for costs that exceed $100. Regional and local policies may require such comparisons.

12.9 May approving officials dispute the local mileage amount claimed on an OF-1164? Yes, your approving official may:

A. Determine which mileage software tool to use (e.g., Google maps, etc.) to calculate the number of miles to claim. When there are multiple routes available, the approving official normally uses the shortest distance for calculating reimbursement;

B. Limit reimbursement to the authorized mode (e.g., bus, shuttle) when you use your POV instead of that mode; and

C. Follow the Department’s 10% variance rule (see the Department’s Financial Management Memorandum (FMM)-2016-029, 7/11/2016). The Department allows up to a 10% variance between an employee’s claim and what the approving official determines to be the correct mileage for both local travel and TDY. However, an employee cannot use the 10% variance to classify local travel of less than 50 miles as TDY or vice versa.

12.10 How do employees calculate commuting costs to deduct from a local travel claim?

A. Following are scenarios describing how to calculate costs for commuting based on how the employee commutes to their permanent duty station:

(1) POV: Include costs associated with the number of miles driven round trip, tolls, and parking expenditures (if applicable). To calculate the cost of POV mileage, see GSA’s online POV mileage reimbursement rate chart for current rates.

(2) Carpool/vanpool/shuttle: Regardless of whether there is a cost associated with a carpool, vanpool, or shuttle, calculate the commuting cost based on the number of miles that would be driven round trip if the employee used their POV. Use this calculation even if the employee pays some other rate for the carpool, vanpool, or shuttle.

(3) Mass transit: Regardless of whether there is a cost associated with the mass transit option, calculate the commuting cost based on the number of miles that would be driven round trip if the employee used their POV. Use this calculation even if the employee pays some other rate for mass transit.

(4) Bicycle: Calculate the commuting cost based on the number of miles that would be driven round trip if the employee used their POV.

B. See Exhibit 1 for examples.

MULTIPLE RESIDENCES AND DUTY STATIONS

12.11 What if an employee has multiple residences? If an employee’s permanent residence is outside the commuting area of their permanent duty station that is listed on their SF-50, and they have a temporary residence (e.g., trailer, quarters, apartment) from where they normally commute, use the temporary residence to calculate local travel until they return to their permanent residence.

12.12 What if an employee has multiple duty stations? If an employee reports to work at multiple sites (e.g., two different refuges within a National Wildlife Refuge System complex), use the street address of where they report to most of the time as their permanent duty station for local travel purposes.

TRAVEL CHARGE CARD

12.13 May an employee use their Government-issued travel charge card for local travel expenses? An employee may use their Government-issued travel charge card for some expenses, but not all. See Table 12-3 and section 12.14B.

A. Allowable expenses: See Table 12-3.

Table 12-3: Use your travel charge card as follows for these expenses for local travel…

B. Prohibited expenses: Do not use your travel charge card for the following local travel expenses:

(1) ATM cash advances,

(2) Expenses for a person other than yourself,

(3) Fuel or repair services for your POV,

(4) Meeting space rental,

(5) Meals, or

(6) Ride halls or rideshares (e.g., taxi, Uber, Lyft) for commuting to and from your commuting residence, including the tip.

RENTAL CARS

12.14 How does an employee rent a car for local travel?

A. When renting a car for local, non-routine travel, employees must use the same Government car rental program agreement that we use for TDY travel (see the Defense Travel Management Office website for more information).

B. Employees may book a rental car for local travel by either:

(1) Calling their TMC and incurring a service fee.

     (a) Do not use the electronic travel system to book rental cars for local travel; and

     (b) Ask staff at the TMC not to “sweep” the rental car reservation into the electronic travel system; or

(2) Contacting a local rental car company directly, but that company must be able to use the Government car rental program agreement.

     (a) Ensure the rental is booked under the Government’s car rental program agreement and identify yourself as a Federal Government employee.

     (b) If a local rental car company does not offer cars using our Government car rental program agreement, you cannot use their services.

C. Employees must not use third party booking agents.

D. Employees must rent a compact size car unless they get an exception for a larger size car (see 265 FW 5).

E. The Government car rental program agreement does not cover:

(1) Hourly rate “zip” cars,

(2) Recreational vehicles,

(3) Large passenger vans,

(4) Driving off paved roads, or

(5) Routine local travel at or near (i.e., 50 miles or less) the permanent duty station when a GOV is normally used. Our Government car rental program agreement covers non-routine local travel only, such as a meeting or training in the local area.

12.15 May an employee seek reimbursement for renting a car for their commute to/from their permanent duty station when their POV is being shipped because of a PCS move? No. An employee cannot seek reimbursement or use a travel charge card to rent a car to commute from their residence to and from their permanent duty station under any circumstances.

12.16 When employees rent cars for local travel, may they add the rental car company’s collision damage waiver to the contract?

A. No, not in most circumstances. Rental car companies using the Government’s car rental program agreement provide full insurance coverage for property damage and injury or death to third parties resulting from an employee’s use of a rented vehicle within CONUS and most non-foreign, OCONUS areas.

B. The only situation where an employee may add a rental car company’s collision damage insurance is if it is an OCONUS rental car company, it is the only practical vendor, it does not offer vehicles under the Government’s car rental program agreement, and it requires purchase of the collision damage waiver.

12.17 When employees rent cars for local travel over multiple days, may they drive them to/from their commuting residence? Yes, but they must:

A. Obtain prior approval from their approving official, and

B. Reimburse the Government for the cost of their daily commute (see section 12.10) by writing a check payable to the Service and submitting it to a Collection Officer (see 261 FW 1).

VOLUNTEERS

12.18 How does the Service reimburse volunteers for local travel and miscellaneous expenses?

A. Local travel expenses. The Volunteer Service Agreement (OF-301A), signed by both the volunteer and the Service representative, must specify the type of local travel expenses (e.g., mileage, taxis, tolls, parking) that may be necessary and the amount of reimbursement that is allowable (see 150 FW 3).

(1) When reimbursing volunteers for actual expenses, the volunteer must use FWS Form 3-2373, Claim for Reimbursement for Volunteer Expenses, and attach appropriate documentation.

(2) We use the IRS’s volunteer mileage rate for driving in service of charitable organizations to reimburse for travel to and from the permanent duty station.

(3) We may reimburse volunteers for these types of transportation expenses regardless of the volunteer's place of residence and distance to the worksite.

(4) Submit the form to an accounts payable technician for entry into the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS) (see 261 FW 3 for instructions).

B. Miscellaneous expenses. The approving official decides whether to reimburse a volunteer for miscellaneous expenses.

(1) The expenses must be directly related to Service work (see 150 FW 3).

(2) We may reimburse volunteers for miscellaneous expenses regardless of the volunteer's place of residence.

(3) When reimbursing volunteers for actual expenses, use FWS Form 3-2373, and attach appropriate documentation.

(4) Submit the form to an accounts payable technician for entry into FBMS (see 261 FW 3 for instructions).

FIREFIGHTERS

12.19 How does the Service reimburse “casual hire firefighters” for local travel and miscellaneous expenses?

A. The hiring of “casual hire firefighters” is of uncertain and purely temporary duration and must be terminated when we can begin other employment methods.

B. These firefighters should use the Incident Time Report form (OF-288) to claim local travel and miscellaneous expenses. The casual hiring unit must document reimbursement requests on the Approving Official Batch Memo or Travel Worksheet and include it with the OF-288 before sending it to the Casual Payment Center for final processing (see the Department’s FMM 2016-010, Casual Hire Travel Expense Reimbursement Waiver, 2/17/2016).