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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 155 / Monday, August 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
days in Washington, DC. Similarly, the per diem rates for meals and incidentals on the first and last day is $41 and $55
for the other days outside of Washington, DC.29
The U.S. Department of Transportation DOT provides information on the price of domestic airfare.30 According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the annual unadjusted cost of an average domestic flight within the United States, the average airfare was $355 roundtrip in 2019.31 The total travel costs for applicants attending hearings in Washington, DC that typically last 3
nights and 4 days would be $1,269 per
person $355 average airfare + $216
hotel in Washington, DC 3 nights +
$76 meals and incidentals 2 days of stay + $57 meals and incidentals 2
travel days = $1,269.
Expert Witnesses FEMA assumes that each party would make use of expert witnesses to support their case. The expert witnesses would be required to travel to the hearing at the expense of the party that hired them.
Based on historical experience, preparing for the hearing is estimated to take 20 hours, the duration of the hearing is estimated to be 16 hours and the travel time is estimated at 11 hours
for a total of 47 hours for a hearing in Washington, DC. Therefore, the opportunity costs of time for one expert witness to attend a hearing would be $3,325 $70.74 engineers wages 47
hours. Thus, the total cost for one expert witness travel and opportunity cost of time is $4,594 $1,269 + $3,325.
Table 2 shows the detailed costs per expert witness to attend a hearing in Washington, DC. To provide a range of estimates since cases vary, a hearing at the applicants location for an expert witness would cost $2,547 $70.74
engineers wages 36 hours 32. This total assumes the expert witness is local and therefore incurs no travel costs.

TABLE 2ESTIMATED COST PER EXPERT WITNESS, WASHINGTON, DC HEARING
2019$

Round trip flight
Three nights of lodging at $219 per night
Meals and incidentals
Total travel expenses
Opportunity costs of time for a hearing in Washington, DC

Total expert witness cost
A

B

C

D = A + B + C

E

D + E

$355

$648

$266

$1,269

$3,325

$4,594

Cost for the Applicant The typical total cost for the applicant includes travel expenses round trip flight, three nights of lodging, and meals and incidentals and opportunity costs of time for the applicant, the applicants representatives, and the expert witnesses. The total travel expenses for the applicant and the representative would be $2,538 $1,269 2 personnel = $2,538, if the hearing is held in Washington, DC. As previously discussed in this analysis, costs include
47 hours for hearing preparation, attending the hearing, and post hearing work, plus 11 hours of travel time for applicants and the applicants representative. FEMA notes that an applicant can choose not to bring a representative or an applicants representative could be one attorney or in some cases more than one attorney.
To provide a range of costs, FEMA
analyzes the typical case where one attorney or no attorneys are present. If the applicants representative is an attorney, the opportunity costs of time
would be $10,925 $102.00 per hour wages for a lawyer 58 hours + $86.36
per hour wages for a general and operations manager 58 hours =
$10,925. If the applicant does not use an attorney as their representative, the opportunity costs of time would be $10,018 2 general and operations managers at $86.36 each 58 hours =
$10,018. Table 3 shows the range of total costs to the applicant which include the opportunity costs of time and the travel costs.

TABLE 3RANGE OF APPLICANT COSTSWASHINGTON, DC HEARING
2019$
Opportunity cost of time
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1

1 Attorney and 1 Non-Attorney
2 Non-Attorneys

Travel
$10,925
10,018

$2,538
2,538

Total $13,463
12,556

The total cost to the applicant if they were to travel to Washington, DC for a hearing with a representative and two expert witnesses, ranges from $21,744

2 expert witnesses at a cost of $4,594
each + $12,556 applicant cost if the representatives are 2 non-attorneys to $22,651 2 expert witnesses at $4,594

each + $13,463 applicant and attorney cost if the representatives are 1 attorney and 1 non-attorney.

www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates/miebreakdown. Per GSA, first and last travel days meals and incidentals expenses M&IE for the first and last calendar day of travel is calculated at 75
percent of the total M&IE.
29 U.S. General Service Administration. FY 2019
Per Diem RatesEffective October 1, 2018.
Accessed on May 24, 2021. Standard CONUS rate used for lodging and MI&E. https www.gsa.gov/
cdnstatic/FY2019_PerDiemRatesMasterFile_0.xls.

Per diem rates are calendar year instead of fiscal year.
30 Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Annual Fares 19952019 4Q 2019 .xlsx March 23, 2020.
U.S. Department of Transportation. https
www.bts.gov/sites/bts.dot.gov/files/Annual%20
Fares%201995-2020%201Q2020.xlsx.
31 Unadjusted 2019 dollars. Excludes airline tickets under $50.

32 FEMA deducts the 11 hours of travel time from the total of 47 hours used for a hearing in Washington, DC to come up with the total time for a hearing at the applicants location assuming the expert witness is also local. Therefore, 36 hours is derived from the 20 hours estimated for preparing for the hearing and 16 hours for the duration of the hearing.

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