§491. Motor vehicle pools and transportation systems

(a) Establishment

In order to carry out the policy, expressed in section 471 of this title, to provide for an economical and efficient system for transportation of Government personnel and property, it is further intended by the Congress in enacting this section to (1) provide for the proper identification of Government motor vehicles; (2) establish effective means of limiting their use to official governmental purposes; (3) reduce the number of Government-owned vehicles to the minimum necessary for transaction of the public business; (4) provide wherever practicable for centrally operated interagency pools or systems for local transportation of Government personnel and property; and (5) establish procedures to insure safe operation of motor vehicles on Government business.

(b) Determinations by Administrator

Subject to regulations issued by the President pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the Administrator shall in respect of executive agencies, and to the extent that he determines that so doing is advantageous to the Government in terms of economy, efficiency, or service, after consultation with and with due regard to the program activities of the agencies concerned, (1) consolidate, take over, acquire, or arrange for the operation by any executive agency of, motor vehicles and other related equipment and supplies for the purpose of establishing motor vehicle pools and systems to serve the needs of executive agencies; and (2) provide for the establishment, maintenance, and operation (including servicing and storage) of motor vehicle pools or systems for transportation of property or passengers, and for furnishing such motor vehicle and related services to executive agencies. Such motor vehicle services may be furnished, as determined by the Administrator, through the use, under rental or other arrangements, of motor vehicles of private fleet operators, taxicab companies, local or interstate common carriers, or Government-owned motor vehicles, or combinations thereof. The Administrator shall, so far as practicable, provide any of the services specified in this subsection to any Federal agency, mixed ownership corporation (as defined in chapter 91 of title 31), or the District of Columbia, upon its request.

(c) Regulations

The President shall, within ninety days after the effective date of this section, issue regulations under this section to establish procedures for the taking effect of determinations made by the Administrator pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Such regulations shall provide for adequate notice to executive agencies of any determinations affecting them or their functions; for independent review and decision as directed by the President of any determination not mutually agreed upon between the Administrator and the agency concerned, including exemption of any agency, in whole or in part, from any determination; and for enforcement of determinations becoming effective under such regulations. No determination made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall be binding upon any agency except as provided in such regulations.

(d) Payment of costs; fixing of prices

(1) The General Supply Fund provided for in section 756 of this title shall be available for use by or under the direction and control of the Administrator for paying all elements of cost (including the purchase or rental price of motor vehicles and other related equipment and supplies) incident to the establishment, maintenance, and operation (including servicing and storage) of motor vehicle pools or systems for the transportation of property or passengers, and to the furnishing of such motor vehicles and equipment and related services pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(2) Payments by requisitioning agencies so served shall be at prices fixed by the Administrator at levels which will recover, so far as practicable, all such elements of cost, and may, in the Administrator's discretion, include increments for the estimated replacement cost of such motor vehicles, equipment, and supplies. Such increments may, notwithstanding section 756(e) of this title, be retained as part of the capital of the General Supply Fund, but shall be available only for replacement of such motor vehicles, equipment, and supplies. The purchase price, plus such increments for the estimated replacement cost, of such motor vehicles and equipment shall be recovered only through charges for the cost of amortization. Such costs shall be determined in accordance with the accrual accounting method; and financial reports shall be prepared on the basis of such accounting.

(e) Justification for each vehicle pool and system

Any determination made by the Administrator pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall set forth in writing an analytical justification for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of each such motor vehicle pool and system. Such justification shall include a detailed comparison of estimated costs of present and proposed modes of operation, and a showing that savings can be realized by the establishment, maintenance, and operation of such pool or system.

(f) Maintenance records; discontinuance of vehicle pool or system

Whenever any such motor vehicle pool or system has been established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the Administrator shall maintain accurate records of the cost of its establishment, maintenance, and operation. If, during any reasonable period, not exceeding two successive fiscal years, no actual savings are realized on the basis of the accounting for costs provided in subsection (d) of this section the Administrator shall discontinue such motor vehicle pool or system, and shall return to the agency or agencies involved motor vehicles and related equipment and supplies similar in kind and of a value reasonably comparable to the value of the motor vehicles and related equipment and supplies theretofore received by the Administrator from such agency or agencies.

(g) Reimbursement for equipment

Whenever the Administrator takes over pursuant to subsection (b) of this section any motor vehicle or other related equipment or supplies from any Government corporation, or from any other agency if such vehicle, equipment or supplies have been acquired by such agency through expenditures made from, and not theretofore reimbursed to, any revolving or trust fund authorized by law, the Administrator shall reimburse such corporation or fund by an amount equal to the fair market value of the vehicle, equipment or supplies so taken over. If thereafter, pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, the Administrator returns to such corporation or agency any motor vehicle, equipment or supplies, the Administrator shall be reimbursed by the payment to him, by such corporation or from such fund, of an amount equal to the fair market value of the vehicle, equipment or supplies so returned.

(h) Additions to General Supply Fund capital

When reimbursement is not required under subsection (g) of this section, the value, as determined by the Administrator, of any motor vehicle or other related equipment or supplies taken over under authority of subsection (b) of this section may be added to the capital of the General Supply Fund, and in the event that property similar in kind is subsequently returned pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, the value thereof may be deducted from the General Supply Fund.

(i) Scrip, tokens, tickets

The Administrator, in the operation of motor vehicle pools or systems, may make provision for the furnishing, sale, and use of scrip, tokens, tickets, and similar devices for the making of payment by using agencies for services rendered by the Administrator in the transportation of property or passengers.

(j) Operating regulations

The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall issue regulations to govern executive agencies in authorizing civilian personnel to operate Government-owned motor vehicles for official purposes within the States of the Union, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the possessions of the United States. Such regulations shall prescribe standards of physical fitness for authorized operators and may require operators and prospective operators to obtain such State and local licenses or permits as would be required for the operation by them of similar vehicles for other than official purposes. The head of each executive agency shall issue such orders and directives as may be necessary to comply with such regulations and shall make appropriate provision therein for periodically testing the physical fitness of operators and prospective operators and for the suspension and revocation of authorizations to operate.

(k) Identification of vehicles

Under regulations prescribed by the Administrator, every motor vehicle acquired and used for official purposes within the United States, its Territories, or possessions, by any Federal agency or the District of Columbia shall be conspicuously identified by showing thereon either (1) the full name of the department, establishment, corporation, or agency by which it is used and the service in which it is used, or (2) a title descriptive of the service in which it is used if such title readily identifies the department, establishment, corporation, or agency concerned, and the legend "For official use only": Provided, That the regulations issued pursuant to this section may provide for exemptions from the requirement of this section when conspicuous identification would interfere with the purpose for which a vehicle is acquired and used.

(l) Violations

Whenever, during the regular course of his duties, there shall come to the knowledge of the Administrator any violation of the provisions of sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of title 31 or of section 641 of title 18 involving the conversion by a Government official or employee of a Government-owned or leased motor vehicle to his own use or the use of others, the Administrator shall report such violation to the head of the agency in which the official or employee concerned is employed, for further investigation and either appropriate disciplinary action under sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of title 31 or, where appropriate, referral to the Attorney General for prosecution under section 641 of title 18.

(June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title II, §211, as added Sept. 5, 1950, ch. 849, §5(c), 64 Stat. 580 ; amended Sept. 1, 1954, ch. 1211, §2, 68 Stat. 1126 ; Pub. L. 86–624, §27(b), July 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 418 ; Pub. L. 87–649, §14b, Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 500 ; Pub. L. 95–506, Oct. 24, 1978, 92 Stat. 1756 ; 1978 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §102, eff. Jan. 1, 1979, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783.)

References in Text

The effective date of this section, referred to in subsec. (c), means the effective date of this section as amended by act Sept. 1, 1954, ch. 1211, §2, 68 Stat. 1126 , which was approved Sept. 1, 1954.

Codification

In subsecs. (b) and (l), "chapter 91 of title 31" substituted for "the Government Corporation Control Act [31 U.S.C. 841 et seq.]", and "sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of title 31" substituted for "section 5 of the Act of July 16, 1914, as amended [31 U.S.C. 638a]" and "such section 5", respectively, on authority of Pub. L. 97–258, §4(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1067 , the first section of which enacted Title 31, Money and Finance.

Section was formerly classified to section 239b of Title 41, Public Contracts.

Amendments

1978-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–506 inserted provision permitting Administrator to include in price increments for estimated replacement costs of motor vehicles, equipment, and supplies.

1962-Subsec. (m). Pub. L. 87–649 repealed subsec. (m) which related to travel of members of the uniformed services between duty stations. See section 408 of Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services.

1960-Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 86–624 substituted "States of the Union, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the possessions of the United States" for "continental United States, its Territories, and possessions".

1954-Act Sept. 1, 1954, amended section generally to establish and operate motor pools and transportation systems.

Transfer of Functions

"Director of the Office of Personnel Management" substituted for "United States Civil Service Commission" in subsec. (j) pursuant to Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1978, §102, 43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783, set out under section 1101 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, which transferred all functions vested by statute in United States Civil Service Commission to Director of Office of Personnel Management (except as otherwise specified), effective Jan. 1, 1979, as provided by section 1–102 of Ex. Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055, set out under section 1101 of Title 5.

Obligations for Multiyear Agreements for Lease or Other Acquisition of Motor Vehicles Entered Into by Administrator of General Services

Pub. L. 101–136, title IV, §9, Nov. 3, 1989, 103 Stat. 803 , provided that:

"(a) In General.-Subject to subsection (b), obligations of funds for multiyear agreements for the lease or other acquisition of motor vehicles entered into by the Administrator of General Services for the purposes of section 211 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 491) shall be limited to the current fiscal year for which payments are due, without regard to any termination or cancellation costs, and without regard to section 1341(a)(1)(B) of title 31, United States Code.

"(b) Affected Agreements.-This section shall apply to multiyear agreements which-

"(1) are entered into by the Administrator during the 4-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 3, 1989]; and

"(2) provide for the lease of motor vehicles for a period of not more than four years."

Executive Order No. 10579

Section 9 of Ex. Ord. No. 10579, Dec. 1, 1954, 19 F.R. 7925, set out as a note under section 486 of this title, provides that any motor vehicle, the conspicuous identification of which as a Government vehicle would interfere with the purpose for which it was acquired, is exempt from inclusion in interagency pools.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 906 of this title; title 42 section 7588.