5 U.S.C. § 5701: Definitions

an Executive agency; a military department; an office, agency, or other establishment in the legislative branch; an office, agency, or other establishment in the judicial branch; and the government of the District of Columbia; a Government controlled corporation; a Member of Congress; or an office or committee of either House of Congress or of the two Houses; “employee” means an individual employed in or under an agency including an individual employed intermittently in the Government service as an expert or consultant and paid on a daily when-actually-employed basis and an individual serving without pay or at $1 a year; “subsistence” means lodging, meals, and other necessary expenses for the personal sustenance and comfort of the traveler; “per diem allowance” means a daily payment instead of actual expenses for subsistence and fees or tips to porters and stewards; “Government” means the Government of the United States and the government of the District of Columbia; and “continental United States” means the several States and the District of Columbia, but does not include Alaska or Hawaii. The Administrator of General Services shall promulgate regulations implementing the amendments made by sections 101, 102, 103, 104, and 106 of this Act [enacting sections 5706a and 5734 of this title and amending this section and sections 5702 and 5707 of this title] not later than 150 days after the date of enactment of this Act [ Jan. 2, 1986 ]. The amendments made by title I of this Act [enacting sections 5706a and 5734 of this title and amending this section, sections 5702, 5707, and 5724a of this title, section 476 of Title 2 , The Congress, section 2396 of Title 22 , Foreign Relations and Intercourse, section 4941 of Title 26 , Internal Revenue Code, section 456 of Title 28 , Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, section 326 of Title 31 , Money and Finance, and section 2477 of Title 42 , The Public Health and Welfare] shall take effect on the effective date of such regulations, or 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [ Jan. 2, 1986 ], whichever occurs first. The amendments made by section 201 of this Act [enacting section 420 of Title 41 , Public Contracts] shall take effect 30 days after the effective date of the amendments made by title I.” Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 2012 Amendment note set out under section 101 of Title 41 , Public Contracts], or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to excuse the head of an executive agency from the responsibilities set out in section 3512 or subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code. Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to require the disclosure of personally identifying information that is otherwise protected from disclosure under section 552a of title 5 , United States Code (popularly known as the Privacy Act of 1974).” The executive agency shall ensure that officials with the authority to approve official travel verify that centrally billed account charges are not reimbursed to an employee. The executive agency shall dispute unallowable and erroneous charges and track the status of the disputed transactions to ensure appropriate resolution. The executive agency shall submit requests to servicing airlines for refunds of fully or partially unused tickets, when entitled to such refunds, and track the status of unused tickets to ensure appropriate resolution. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Oct. 5, 2012 ], the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall review the existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe additional guidance for executive agencies implementing the requirements of subsection (a).” it is in the best interest of the United States to do so; payment through a travel charge card is impractical or imposes unreasonable burdens or costs on Federal employees or Federal agencies; or the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Transportation (with respect to the Coast Guard) requests an exemption with respect to the members of the uniformed services. The head of a Federal agency or the designee of such head may exempt any payment, person, type or class of payments, or type or class of agency personnel from subsection (a) if the agency head or the designee determines the exemption to be necessary in the interest of the agency. Not later than 30 days after granting such an exemption, the head of such agency or the designee shall notify the Administrator of General Services in writing of such exemption stating the reasons for the exemption. The amendment made by paragraph (1) is effective as of October 1, 1983 , and applies to any records created pursuant to the United States Travel and Transportation Payment and Expense Control System or any Federal contractor-issued travel charge card issued for official Government travel. Under regulations issued by the Administrator of General Services and upon written request of a Federal contractor, the head of any Federal agency or a disbursing official of the United States may, on behalf of the contractor, collect by deduction from the amount of pay owed to an employee of the agency any amount of funds the employee owes to the contractor as a result of delinquencies not disputed by the employee on a travel charge card issued for payment of expenses incurred in connection with official Government travel. The amount deducted from the pay owed to an employee with respect to a pay period may not exceed 15 percent of the disposable pay of the employee for that pay period, except that a greater percentage may be deducted upon the written consent of the employee. Collection under this subsection shall be carried out in accordance with procedures substantially equivalent to the procedures required under section 3716(a) of title 31 , United States Code. The term ‘agency’ has the meaning that term has under section 101 of title 31 , United States Code. The term ‘employee’ means an individual employed in or under an agency, including a member of any of the uniformed services. For purposes of this subsection, a member of one of the uniformed services is an employee of that uniformed service. Each of the terms ‘member’ and ‘uniformed service’ has the meaning that term has in section 101 of title 37 , United States Code. make the use of the travel charge card established pursuant to the United States Travel and Transportation System and Expense Control System, or any Federal contractor-issued travel charge card, mandatory for all payments of expenses of official Government travel pursuant to this section; specify the procedures for effecting under subsection (d) a deduction from pay owed to an employee, and ensure that the due process protections provided to employees under such procedures are no less than the protections provided to employees pursuant to section 3716 of title 31 , United States Code; provide that any deduction under subsection (d) from pay owed to an employee may occur only after reimbursement of the employee for the expenses of Government travel with respect to which the deduction is made; and require agencies to promptly reimburse employees for expenses charged on a travel charge card pursuant to this section, and by no later than 30 days after the submission of a claim for reimbursement. The Administrator of General Services shall submit 2 reports to the Congress on agency compliance with this section and regulations that have been issued under this section. The first report under this subsection shall be submitted before the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act [ Oct. 19, 1998 ], and the second report shall be submitted after that period and before the end of the 540-day period beginning on that date of enactment. Each report shall be based on a sampling survey of agencies that expended more than $5,000,000 during the previous fiscal year on travel and transportation payments, including payments for employee relocation. The head of an agency shall provide to the Administrator the necessary information in a format prescribed by the Administrator and approved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In accordance with regulations prescribed by the Administrator of General Services, the head of an agency shall ensure that the agency reimburses an employee who submits a proper voucher for allowable travel expenses in accordance with applicable travel regulations within 30 days after submission of the voucher. If an agency fails to reimburse an employee who has submitted a proper voucher within 30 days after submission of the voucher, the agency shall pay the employee a late payment fee as prescribed by the Administrator. There is a record in each executive agency of each holder of a travel charge card issued on behalf of the agency for official use, annotated with the limitations on amounts that are applicable to the use of each such card by that travel charge card holder. Rebates and refunds based on prompt payment, sales volume, or other actions by the agency on travel charge card accounts are monitored for accuracy and properly recorded as a receipt of the agency that employs the card holder. Periodic reviews are performed to determine whether each travel charge card holder has a need for the travel charge card. Appropriate training is provided to each travel charge card holder and each official with responsibility for overseeing the use of travel charge cards issued by the executive agency. Each executive agency has specific policies regarding travel charge cards issued for various component organizations and categories of component organizations, the credit limits authorized for various categories of card holders, and categories of employees eligible to be issued travel charge cards, and designs those policies to minimize the financial risk to the Federal Government of the issuance of the travel charge cards and to ensure the integrity of travel charge card holders. Each executive agency has policies to ensure its contractual arrangement with each travel charge card issuing contractor contains a requirement that the creditworthiness of an individual be evaluated before the individual is issued a travel charge card, and that no individual be issued a travel charge card if that individual is found not creditworthy as a result of the evaluation (except that this paragraph shall not preclude issuance of a restricted use, prepaid, declining balance, controlled-spend, or stored value card when the individual lacks a credit history or has a credit score below the minimum credit score established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget). The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish a minimum credit score for determining the creditworthiness of an individual based on rigorous statistical analysis of the population of card holders and historical behaviors. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such evaluation shall include an assessment of an individual’s consumer report from a consumer reporting agency as those terms are defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1681a ). Each executive agency uses effective systems, techniques, and technologies to prevent or identify improper purchases. Each executive agency ensures that the travel charge card of each employee who ceases to be employed by the agency is invalidated immediately upon termination of the employment of the employee (or, in the case of a member of the uniformed services, upon separation or release from active duty or full-time National Guard duty). Each executive agency shall ensure that, where appropriate, travel card payments are issued directly to the travel card-issuing bank for credit to the employee’s individual travel card account. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 [ Oct. 5, 2012 ], the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall review the existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe additional guidance for executive agencies governing the implementation of the requirements in paragraph (1). The Inspector General of each executive agency with more than $10,000,000 in travel card spending shall conduct periodic audits or reviews of travel card programs to analyze risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments. The findings of such audits or reviews along with recommendations to prevent improper use of travel cards shall be reported to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Congress. Consistent with the guidance prescribed under paragraph (2), each executive agency shall provide for appropriate adverse personnel actions to be imposed in cases in which employees of the executive agency fail to comply with applicable travel charge card terms and conditions or applicable agency regulations or commit fraud with respect to a travel charge card, including removal in appropriate cases. The term ‘executive agency’ means an agency as that term is defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 5701(1) of title 5 , United States Code. The term ‘travel charge card’ means any Federal contractor-issued travel charge card that is individually billed to each card holder.” The term ‘executive agency’ has the meaning given such term in section 133 of title 41 , United States Code. The term ‘employee’ has the meaning given such term in section 2(d)(3) of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 ( Public Law 105–264 ; 5 U.S.C. 5701 note).”