(a) Acting in his or her own name and title, the Under Secretary, the General Counsel, and each Assistant Secretary, within his or her sphere of responsibility, is authorized to identify and define the requirements for, and to recommend to the Secretary, new or revised departmental policies, plans, and proposals. Each of these officers is authorized to issue departmental standards, criteria, systems and procedures that are consistent with applicable laws, Executive Orders, Government-wide regulations and policies established by the Secretary, and to inspect, review, and evaluate departmental program performance and effectiveness and advise the Secretary regarding the adequacy thereof.

(b) Except for nondelegable statutory duties including those that transfer as a result of succession to act as Secretary of Transportation, each Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy General Counsel is authorized to act for and perform the duties of his or her principal in the absence or disability of the principal and as otherwise directed by the principal.

(c) The Deputy Secretary, the Under Secretary, the General Counsel, and the Assistant Secretaries for Administration, Budget and Programs, and Governmental Affairs are delegated authority to:

(1) Redelegate and authorize successive redelegations of authority granted by the Secretary within their respective organizations, except as limited by law or specific administrative reservation, including authority to publish those redelegations in appendix A of this part.

(2) Authorize and approve official travel (except foreign travel) and transportation for themselves, their subordinates, and others performing services for, or in cooperation with, the Office of the Secretary.

(3) Establish ad hoc committees for specific tasks within their assigned staff area.

(4) Establish, modify, extend, or terminate standing committees within their specific areas of responsibility when directed or authorized to do so by the Secretary.

(5) Designate members of interagency committees when such committees are specifically concerned with responsibilities of direct interest to their office.

(6) Exercise the following authorities with respect to positions in the Senior Executive Service and Senior Level within their respective areas of responsibility:

(i) Determine how executive level positions will be filled; i.e., by reassignment, promotion, or appointment.

(ii) Establish selection criteria to be used in identifying eligible candidates.

(iii) Confer with the Administrators on selection criteria and candidates for an executive level position that is a counterpart of an activity or position in the Office of the Secretary.

(iv) Recommend final selection for executive level positions, subject to review by the Executive Committee of the Departmental Executive Resources Board and approval by the Secretary and the Office of Personnel Management.

(7) Enter into inter- and intra-departmental reimbursable agreements other than with the head of another department or agency (31 U.S.C. 686). This authority may be redelegated only to office directors or other comparable levels and to contracting officers.

(8) Administer and perform the functions described in their respective functional statements.

(9) Exercise the authority of the Secretary to make certifications, findings and determinations under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-354) with regard to any rulemaking document for which issuance authority is delegated by other sections in this part. This authority may be redelegated to those officials to whom document issuance authority has been redelegated.

(10) Exercise the authority of the Secretary to resolve informal allegations of discrimination arising in or relating to their respective organizations through Equal Employment Opportunity counseling or the Alternative Dispute Resolution process and to develop and implement affirmative action and diversity plans within their respective organizations.

(11) Exercise the authority vested in the Secretary by 49 U.S.C. 326(a) and 31 U.S.C. 1353 to accept, subject to the concurrence of the Designated Agency Ethics Official, the following: Gifts of property (other than real property) not exceeding $1,000 in value, gifts of services (in carrying out aviation duties and powers) not exceeding $1,000 in value, and reimbursement of travel expenses from non-federal sources not exceeding $3,000 in value. Acceptance of gifts or travel reimbursement that exceed these limits in value or are otherwise significant may only take place with the additional concurrence of the General Counsel. This delegation extends only to the acceptance of gifts or travel expenses and does not authorize the solicitation of gifts, which is reserved to the Secretary at § 1.21.