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                             October 31, 1997
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                             GSBCA 13891-RELO


                    In the Matter of WILLIAM M. WALKER


     William M. Walker, Anchorage, AK, Claimant.

     Barbara Blessing, Director, Administrative Center, Office of
Finance, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Dallas, TX,
appearing for Department of Justice.

HYATT, Board Judge.

     Claimant, an employee of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS), received permanent change of station (PCS) orders in
April 1995 transferring him, with his family, from Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, to Anchorage, Alaska.  He was authorized temporary
quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE) in connection with the
transfer.  At issue is reimbursement for approximately $7,000 in
meal expenses incurred while Mr. Williams and his family occupied
temporary quarters in Alaska from May 2 through June 16, 1995.  INS
has denied Mr. Walker's claim in full for this period because he
did not keep receipts for meals during the period in question.  Mr.
Walker has requested our review of this decision.  For the reasons
explained below, we return this matter to the agency for an
evaluation of the reasonableness of Mr. Walker's claimed meal
expenses and for further action consistent with this decision.  

                                Background

     Mr. Walker states that at the time he accepted the transfer,
in April 1995, he received a PCS package which he reviewed in
connection with the move.  The package he received, which was
submitted with his claim for review, did not clearly specify that
receipts were required for meals.  That package, which was dated
April 1995, did state that receipts for meals would be required for
TQSE in the Continental United States (CONUS) and for temporary
quarters subsistence allowance (TQSA) applicable to moves overseas. 
Mr. Walker points out that Alaska is neither CONUS nor overseas. 
The instruction sheet for the travel voucher required to be
submitted for reimbursement required receipts only for lodging and
cleaning.  Mr. Walker asked his supervisors in Alaska for guidance
and was advised that he did not have to keep receipts for meals. 

     Mr. Walker and his family traveled to Alaska and moved into
temporary quarters on May 2, 1995.  The first temporary location
occupied by the Walker family did not allow for the preparation of
meals.  On June 8, 1995, claimant and his family moved to another 
temporary location with sufficient kitchen facilities to permit
some meal preparation.  On June 16, Mr. Walker was advised for the
first time that he was required to keep receipts to be reimbursed
for meals.  As of that date, claimant began to retain receipts for
meal costs.  

     Although he did not keep receipts, Mr. Walker maintained a
record of his daily TQSE expenses, which he submitted on an AD-616
form attached to his travel voucher.  The instruction sheet for
form AD-616 simply states that the employee should:

          Record actual subsistence expenses on a daily
          basis for (1) lodging, (2) meals, and (3) all
          other items of subsistence expenses.  Receipts
          must be obtained to support lodging, laundry,
          and cleaning expenses (except when coin-
          operated facilities are used).

The expense record submitted for the thirty-day period from May 2
through May 31 itemizes three categories on a daily basis: lodging,
meals, and other (includes tips and coin operated laundry).  INS 
reimbursed Mr. Walker for his lodging in the amount of $2,250, but
rejected the remainder of his claim, totaling $5,169 in meals and
other.  A similar expense record form was filed for the period from
June 1 through June 30.  Mr. Walker was fully reimbursed except for
$2,079 in meals and other expenses incurred from June 1 through
June 15, for which he kept no receipts.  Although Mr. Walker cannot
produce receipts, he does point out that a comparison of the last
two weeks of June's meal expenses, for which he kept receipts, with
the first two weeks of that month yields a difference of only $215
dollars more for the first two week period.  This variation is
explained by the fact that the initial TQSE location did not allow
for preparation of meals.  For the latter part of June, expenses
decreased because claimant's family prepared some of their own
meals.  

     The INS Administrative Center in Dallas rejected Mr. Walker's
voucher seeking reimbursement of meals solely on the ground that no
receipts were provided for these expenses.  It is the agency's
position that the PCS materials provided to him did explain that
receipts were required under the agency's internal rules, and that
in the absence of receipts no reimbursement would be made.  INS has
submitted a set of PCS materials dated May 1995.  These materials
advise that receipts are required for meals.  It appears from a
comparison of Mr. Walker's submissions and that of the agency, that
Mr. Walker did not receive the same package referred to by the
Administrative Center, however.  The PCS package contained in the
materials provided to the Board by Mr. Walker does not state
clearly that receipts for meals are required.     

                                Discussion

     When an agency transfers an employee from one permanent duty
station to another in the interest of the Government, it shall
reimburse the employee for the subsistence expenses incurred by the
employee and his family while they occupy temporary quarters.  5
U.S.C.  5724a(a)(3) (1994).  The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR),
which implements this statutory provision, provides that agencies
shall reimburse transferred employees "only for actual subsistence
expenses incurred provided these are . . . reasonable in amount." 
Employees are required to itemize their actual expenses in a manner
that permits the agency to review the amounts spent daily for
lodging and meals.  Although the FTR does not require employees to
submit receipts for meals, the FTR permits agencies to prescribe
the manner in which employees must itemize actual expenses.  41 CFR
302-5.4 (1995).  

     In this case, the Department of Justice (DOJ), of which the
INS is a component agency, has an internal regulation,
supplementary to the FTR, that provides that the employee should
keep receipts for meals while eligible for TQSE.  This regulation,
which applied at the time of Mr. Walker's PCS, refers to a form
OBD-41 (or other appropriate bureau form), to be submitted with
claims for reimbursement of subsistence expenses and states that
the employee shall:

          Complete Form OBD-41 for the itemization of
          subsistence expenses described in this part. 
          The actual expenses shall be itemized in a
          manner that will permit a review of the
          amounts spent daily for (a) lodging, (b)
          meals, and (c) all other items of subsistence
          expense.  Receipts shall be required for all
          expenses claimed.  Claims for coin-operated
          laundry expenses may be made by written
          certification by the traveler.

Department of Justice Supp., ch. 302, Relocation Allowances, pt.
302-5.4(b)(1).  

     The DOJ regulation quoted above serves as the basis for the
agency's determination that Mr. Walker should not be reimbursed for
meals and other expenses for which receipts have not been provided. 
Thus, on the record before us, the absence of receipts is the sole
justification for denying Mr. Walker's claim for meal expenses for
the period from May 2 through June 15, 1995.  INS has not suggested
that the expenses claimed do not reflect the actual costs of the
family's meals, nor has it asserted that the itemization provided
on the expense records submitted is inadequate aside from the fact
that receipts are not available.  Mr. Walker has explained that
because he was not informed that he needed to keep receipts, or
otherwise document his claim other than through the daily expense
record, which he maintained and provided, he cannot submit any more
detailed information now. 

     As the Board has pointed out, "the purpose of the statute is
to make Government employees whole for reasonable subsistence
expenses they incur while occupying temporary quarters" incident to
a move that is in the interest of the Government.  Kevin S. Foster,
GSBCA 13739-RELO, 97-1 BCA  28,688, at 143,294 (1996).  In
reviewing this claim, our task is to interpret and apply the
relevant statutory provision, the implementing regulation set forth
in the FTR, and DOJ's supplementary internal provision calling for
receipts.  Neither the statute nor the FTR, which has the force and
effect of law, mandates receipts for meal expenses incurred by an
employee on TQSE.  Further, the instruction sheet accompanying the
expense forms provided to claimant makes no mention of a
requirement for receipts.  Although DOJ's internal regulation
states that receipts are required for all expenses, it should not
in these circumstances be construed to suggest that recovery of
actual expenses is forfeited if receipts are not available.  This
interpretation is further corroborated by the agency's subsequent
action in eliminating altogether the requirement for keeping
receipts for meals while on TQSE with respect to moves authorized
after September 1995. 

     The Board has recently had occasion to address a claim for
TQSE expenses in which a claimant's failure to maintain receipts or
keep contemporaneous records of expenditures was similarly due not
to lack of diligence on the employee's part but to the failure of
others to provide accurate guidance.  Here, the Board observed:

          [I]t would be fundamentally unfair to hold the
          claimant to the rigorous standard normally
          applied in cases such as this.  Given these
          circumstances, we do not consider the absence
          of the requisite documentation to be a fatal
          deficiency.  There are in the record other
          persuasive indications that the amount sought
          does, in fact, represent actual costs
          associated with the claimant's TQSE.

Stanley E. Rought, GSBCA 13687-RELO, slip op. at 4 (Aug. 15, 1997).


     We find that the expense records maintained by Mr. Walker meet
the requirement of the FTR to provide an adequate itemization of
expenses such that the agency may properly review the expenditures
made for reasonableness.  INS has not yet considered the
reasonableness of Mr. Walker's claimed amounts with respect to
meals.  This review function is one that must be exercised by the
agency in the first instance.  Accordingly, we return this matter
to INS for the performance of such a review.  Mr. Walker should be
reimbursed those amounts which the agency deems to have reasonably
been incurred while the claimant and his family were on TQSE for
the period from May 2 through June 16.  





                                   _______________________________
                                   CATHERINE B. HYATT
                                   Board Judge