(a) General. Supplemental assistance in the form of subsistence and transportation payments must be provided to a trade-affected worker whose training program has been approved under § 618.610 (Criteria for approval of training), to defray reasonable subsistence and transportation expenses while the worker attends training at a facility outside the worker's commuting area. The need for such subsistence and transportation payments must be documented on the worker's IEP, if available, or in the worker's case file. Subsistence and transportation payments may also be documented on a training approval form, or other such form as the State chooses, to ensure that the supplemental assistance is documented in the worker's case file.

(b) Applications for supplemental assistance. A trade-affected worker must submit an application for subsistence or transportation payments in accordance with subpart H of this part and processes established by the State. A determination on an application submitted under this section is subject to §§ 618.820 (determinations of eligibility; notices to individuals) and 618.828 (appeals and hearings).

(c) Subsistence payments—(1) General. Subsistence payments must be made for the reasonable costs of meals and incidental expenses, and of separate maintenance, which means maintaining temporary living quarters, when the training facility is located outside the trade-affected worker's commuting area.

(2) Requirements for subsistence payments. (i) A trade-affected worker must be reimbursed for subsistence only for the period when the worker is not receiving or authorized to receive reimbursement or separate payments for such costs from any other source.

(ii) Subsistence payments must not be made for any day such worker receives a daily commuting transportation payment from TAA Program funds or from any other source, except as specified in paragraph (e) of this section.

(iii) Subsistence payments must not be made for any day of unexcused absence from the training program, as certified by the training provider.

(3) Amount of subsistence payments. The State may make a subsistence payment to a trade-affected worker only for the lesser of:

(i) The worker's actual per diem expenses for subsistence; or

(ii) 50 percent of the prevailing per diem allowance rate authorized under the FTR (see 41 CFR chapters 300 through 304) for the location of the training facility.

(4) Timing of subsistence payments. The State must make subsistence payments upon a worker's completion of a week of training, but may advance a subsistence payment for a week if the State determines that such advance is necessary to enable the worker to participate in the approved training.

(d) Transportation payments. A trade-affected worker must be reimbursed for transportation expenses when commuting to and from a training facility located outside the worker's commuting area. Transportation expenses, funded by the TAA Program, are payable only for the actual days traveled. Mileage eligible for reimbursement is, round-trip, from the first mile outside the boundary of the worker's commuting area to the location of the training facility.

(1) Transportation payments must not be paid when:

(i) Transportation is arranged and paid for by the State for one or more workers;

(ii) Such payments are being provided under any other law; or

(iii) The worker is authorized to be paid or reimbursed for such expenses from any other source.

(2) The daily transportation payment may not exceed the amount of a daily subsistence payment that would be payable under paragraph (c)(3) of this section if the worker resided temporarily in the area of the training.

(3) In addition, while other forms of transportation may be used, transportation payments to a worker may not exceed the cost per mile at the prevailing personal vehicle mileage rate authorized under the FTR. See http://www.gsa.gov.

(4) A worker must receive transportation payments promptly after completion of a week of approved training, but at a minimum on a monthly basis. These payments also may be made in advance in order to facilitate the worker's attendance at the training.

(e) When payment can be made for both subsistence and transportation. A trade-affected worker receiving subsistence payments may also receive transportation payments only:

(1) At the beginning of the training that the worker is attending outside the worker's commuting area and at the end of the training for travel back to the worker's commuting area; or

(2) When the worker fails, for justifiable cause, as described in § 618.780(b)(3)(iii), to complete the training outside the worker's commuting area, and must return home before the scheduled end of the training.

(f) Adjustments to subsistence and transportation payment advances. If the State advances subsistence or transportation funds, the State must adjust subsequent subsistence and transportation payments to take into account the amount of the advance that is more or less than the amount that the trade-affected worker is entitled to receive under paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section.

(g) Worker evidence. The trade-affected worker must provide receipts for all lodging, purchased transportation expenses, and meals.