DOE O 552.1, Travel Policy and Procedures

DISTRIBUTION: INITIATED BY: All Departmental Elements Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation/Chief Financial Officer U.S. Department of Energy ORDER Washington, D.C. Approved: 09-04-02 This directive was reviewed and certified as current and necessary by Bruce M. Carnes, Director, Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation/Chief Financial Officer, 9-18-02. SUBJECT: TRAVEL POLICY AND PROCEDURES 1. OBJECTIVES. a. To supplement the Federal Travel Regulation (41 CFR, Parts 300-304), which is the principal source of policy for Federal employee travel and relocation matters. b. To establish DOE M 552.1-1, U.S. Department of Energy Travel Manual, dated 09-04-02, as the repository for supplementary travel requirements information for the Department of Energy (DOE). 2. CANCELLATION. DOE 1500.2A, Travel Policy and Procedures, dated 6-7-89, and DOE 1500.4A, Travel Charge Card Program, dated 4-2-91. Cancellation of a directive does not, by itself, modify or otherwise affect any contractual obligation to comply with the directive. Cancelled directives incorporated by reference in a contract remain in effect until the contract is modified to delete the references to the requirements in the cancelled directives. 3. APPLICABILITY. a. DOE Elements. To ensure sound financial management and overall consistency in exercising the financial management statutory authorities that vest in the Departmental Chief Financial Officer (CFO) under the CFO Act of 1990 (P.L.101- 576) or in the Secretary as head of Agency, the Departmental policy and procedural guidance established in this Order are applicable to all Departmental elements listed in Attachment 1, including the Bonneville Power Administration and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). b. Contractors. This Order does not apply to contractors. c. Exclusions. This Order does not apply to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an independent commission. 4. REQUIREMENTS. For specific requirements, see DOE M 552.1-1 (hereafter the Travel Manual). DOE O 552.1 2 DOE O 552.1 09-04-02 5. RESPONSIBILITIES. a. Director, Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation/Chief Financial Officer (OMBE/CFO). (1) Ensures implementation of statutes, Executive Orders, and regulations related to official travel, transportation, and relocation. (2) Establishes policies relative to the payment of expenses for official travel, transportation, and relocation. (3) Ensures travel-related training is made available when needed. (4) Approves use of first-class and business-class accommodations for employees under the cognizance of a Headquarters organization. (5) Approves emergency cash purchases of common carrier transportation in excess of $100 made by employees or invitational travelers under the cognizance of a Headquarters organization. (6) Acts as the DOE liaison to the General Services Administration for all policy issues relating to employee travel and relocation. (7) Provides oversight for the DOE travel management program involving use of travel management services (travel agencies), passenger transportation services (contract air fares), and travel payment systems (travel charge cards). (8) Approves exceptions to requirements in the Travel Manual. (9) Approves requests for exemption from mandatory use of the travel charge card from employees under the cognizance of a Headquarters organization.

(10) Designates an employee to serve as the Agency program coordinator for travel charge card issues. b. Heads of Departmental Elements (including Deputy Administrator, NNSA). (1) Approve their own travel and official travel of employees and other persons traveling for DOE in accordance with the requirements set out in the Travel Manual. Approval authority may be shared with subordinates. DOE O 552.1 3 09-04-02 (2) Approve actual expense reimbursement not to exceed 300 percent of locality per diem under special or unusual circumstances as identified in the Federal Travel Regulation. Redelegation of this authority is limited to two levels below the head of the Departmental element. Requests for exceptions to this policy will be forwarded to the Director, OMBE/CFO. (3) Ensure employees are fully informed of official travel rules and regulations and, as needed, are provided access to prescribed travel management services. (4) Distribute travel charge card delinquency and misuse reports to supervisory personnel to ensure supervisors are aware of noncompliant cardholders. c. Heads of Field Elements. In addition to responsibilities listed in paragraph 5b, heads of field elements will do the following. (1) Approve the use of first-class or business-class air transportation for employees under the cognizance of the respective field element. (2) Approve emergency cash purchases made by employees or invitational travelers for transportation expenditures in excess of $100. (3) Designate an employee and an alternate to serve as the field element’s travel charge card program coordinators for travel charge card issues. (4) Approve field employees’ requests for exemption from use of the travel charge card. (5) Report approval of exemptions from use of the travel charge card to the Office of Financial Policy within 5 working days of approval. d. Assistant General Counsel for General Law. (1) Establishes policies and procedures for DOE acceptance of travel payments from non-Federal sources. (2) Approves employee acceptance of payments for travel expenses made by sources outside the Federal Government. (3) Provides advice, as necessary, regarding invitational travel under 5 U.S. Code 5703 (see 10 CFR Part 1060, “Payment of Travel Expenses of Persons Who Are Not Government Employees”). 4 DOE O 552.1 09-04-02 e. Personnel Directors. When appropriate, concur with travel authorizations for interview travel of potential employees (invitational travel) initiated by the organizational elements requesting the interviews and, for current Federal employees, authorizations issued at the request of other DOE organizations wishing to interview. f. Supervisors. (1) Authorize the issuance of travel charge cards, as needed, to subordinate employees. (2) Counsel employees who are delinquent in paying their travel charge card bills or have questionable or inappropriate charges to their accounts; allow employees the opportunity to explain delinquencies or questionable charges and maintain records of the meetings and the explanations. (3) Contact the servicing personnel office for determinations of appropriate disciplinary actions if explanations for delinquencies or other questionable charges/activities are inadequate, and take the appropriate actions. At the discretion of the supervisor, the travel charge card may be cancelled at this time. (4) Notify the travel charge card program coordinator to suspend the travel

charge card if there is a second instance of inappropriate use and reactivate the card on an as needed basis. (5) Notify the travel charge card program coordinator to cancel the travel charge card if there is a third instance of inappropriate use, an explanation for delinquency is inadequate, or the employee is leaving the Department. (6) On an annual basis, identify those employees who have not traveled for 1 year or more and determine, based on the employees’ future travel requirements, whether their individual travel charge cards should be cancelled. For those travel charge cards that should be cancelled, notify the travel charge card coordinator to cancel the cards. g. Agency Travel Charge Card Program Coordinator. (1) Manages the Agency travel charge card program. (2) Serves as the primary contact point for the travel charge card contractor. (3) Monitors Agency summary reports of delinquent activity for centrally billed travel accounts and individually billed travel accounts and as necessary, consults with travel charge card program coordinators for improving delinquency performance. DOE O 552.1 5 09-04-02 (4) Notifies travel charge card program coordinators of changes in the travel charge card program. h. Travel Charge Card Program Coordinators. (1) Ensure completeness of information on travel charge card applications. (2) Complete Agency information and authorization sections of travel charge card applications. (3) Forward original applications to the contractor and maintain copies of applications with employee acknowledgment statements. (4) Monitor pre-suspension reports and delinquency reports and notify employees and heads of Departmental elements of the status of accounts. (5) Periodically, but no less than quarterly, review account activity reports for charges that are not travel-related and notify the employees and heads of Departmental elements of inappropriate charges. (6) Coordinate increases or decreases in individual employee charge limits with the travel charge card vendor. (7) Cancel an employee’s travel charge card when notified to do so by the employee’s supervisor, when an employee has resigned, retired, transferred to another agency, or transferred to another DOE duty station and the account has not transferred within 30 days of the employee’s transfer. (8) Contact the gaining organization’s travel charge card program coordinator when an employee transfers to another geographic location within the Department and initiate transfer of responsibility for oversight of the travel charge card account. (9) Obtain the new supervisor’s signed approval before transferring-in an employee’s travel charge card account at the new duty station. (10) Monitor the individual travel charge card account listing to ensure all open accounts are for current employees and all accounts for employees who resigned, retired, transferred to another Agency, or otherwise left the employ of the Department have been cancelled. 6 DOE O 552.1 09-04-02 (11) Forward travel charge card vendor requests for salary offset of delinquent account balances to the appropriate payroll office. i. Employees. (1) Meet travel charge card obligations in a proper and timely manner pursuant to 5 CFR, Part 2635, “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” or be subject to appropriate disciplinary action such as reprimand, suspension, or dismissal. (2) Report lost or stolen travel charge cards to the travel charge card contractor

and local travel office or travel charge card program coordinator immediately. (3) Notify the local travel office or travel charge card program coordinator when they resign, retire, or transfer to another Agency. (4) Immediately upon transferring to another duty station within DOE, obtain the new supervisor’s signed approval to transfer the travel charge card account to the new duty station and forward the approval to the travel charge card program coordinator at the new duty station. 6. CONTACT. For information about this Order, contact the Office of Financial Policy at 202-586-4860. SPENCER ABRAHAM Secretary of Energy DOE O 552.1 Attachment 1 09-04-02 Page 1 DOE OFFICES/ELEMENTS TO WHICH DOE O 552.1 IS APPLICABLE Office of the Secretary Chief Information Officer Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Office of Counterintelligence Departmental Representative to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Office of Economic Impact and Diversity Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy Information Administration Office of Environment, Safety and Health Office of Environmental Management Office of Fossil Energy Office of General Counsel Office of Hearings and Appeals Office of Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance Office of the Inspector General Office of Intelligence Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation\Chief Financial Officer National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology Office of Policy and International Affairs Office of Public Affairs Office of Science Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Office of Security Office of Worker and Community Transition Bonneville Power Administration Southeastern Power Administration Attachment 1 DOE O 552.1 Page 2 09-04-02 Southwestern Power Administration Western Area Power Administration 1. Objectives 2. Cancellation 3. Applicability 4. Requirements 5. Responsiblities 6. Contact Attachment 1