The following definitions apply to this part:

Agency head means the highest official of a Federal agency.

Clear and present danger means highly unusual circumstances that present a threat to the physical safety of the employee or their property when the danger is:

(1) Real; and

(2) Immediate or imminent, not merely potential; and

(3) The use of a Government passenger carrier would provide protection not otherwise available.

Compelling operational considerations means those circumstances where home-to-work transportation is essential to the conduct of official business or would substantially increase a Federal agency's efficiency and economy.

Emergency means circumstances that exist whenever there is an immediate, unforeseeable, temporary need to provide home-to-work transportation for those employees necessary to the uninterrupted performance of the agency's mission. (An emergency may occur where there is a major disruption of available means of transportation to or from a work site, an essential Government service must be provided, and there is no other way to transport those employees.)

Employee means a Federal officer or employee of a Federal agency, including an officer or enlisted member of the Armed Forces.

Federal agency means:

(1) A department (as defined in section 18 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (41 U.S.C. 5a));

(2) An executive department (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101);

(3) A military department (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102);

(4) A Government corporation (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 103(1));

(5) A Government controlled corporation (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 103(2));

(6) A mixed-ownership Government corporation (as defined in 31 U.S.C. 9101(2));

(7) Any establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the President);

(8) Any independent regulatory agency (including an independent regulatory agency specified in 44 U.S.C. 3502(10));

(9) The Smithsonian Institution;

(10) Any nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States; and

(11) The United States Postal Service.

Field work means official work requiring the employee's presence at various locations other than his/her regular place of work. (Multiple stops (itinerant-type travel) within the accepted local commuting area, limited use beyond the local commuting area, or transportation to remote locations that are only accessible by Government-provided transportation are examples of field work.)

Home means the primary place where an employee resides and from which the employee commutes to his/her place of work.

Home-to-work transportation means the use of a Government passenger carrier to transport an employee between his/her home and place of work.

Passenger carrier means a motor vehicle, aircraft, boat, ship, or other similar means of transportation that is owned (including those that have come into the possession of the Government by forfeiture or donation), leased, or rented (non-TDY) by the United States Government.

Work means any place within the accepted commuting area, as determined by the Federal agency for the locality involved, where an employee performs his/her official duties.