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                            September 11, 1997
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                             GSBCA 14147-RELO


                    In the Matter of PAUL D. BERKOWITZ


     Paul D. Berkowitz, Grand Canyon, AZ, Claimant.

     C. Bruce Sheaffer, Comptroller, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior, Washington, DC, appearing for
Department of the Interior.

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     Claimant who occupied housing within the Grand Canyon National
Park is not entitled to be reimbursed for temporary quarters
subsistence expenses.  Quarters within the park that were suitable
for housing on an indefinite basis were not temporary.

     Paul D. Berkowitz is an employee of the National Park Service,
Department of the Interior (NPS).  In June 1995, the NPS authorized
Mr. Berkowitz to relocate from Herndon, Virginia, to Grand Canyon
National Park, Arizona, in connection with a permanent change of
station.  The travel authorization issued by the NPS states that
Mr. Berkowitz was authorized to incur  necessary expenses in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations,  including
expenses for  temporary quarters [not to exceed] 30 days.   The NPS
later agreed to reimburse Mr. Berkowitz for a total of 120 days of
temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE).

     Before Mr. Berkowitz left for Arizona, the NPS told him that
the Grand Canyon National Park was constructing additional park
housing units and that he would be first on the list to receive one
of those units, due to his seniority.  When Mr. Berkowitz arrived
at Grand Canyon National Park on July 24, 1995, he moved into
dormitory style quarters at the Albright Training Center (the
training center).  The training center is located within the
boundaries of the Grand Canyon National Park, and is administered
by the Washington office of the NPS.  Mr. Berkowitz occupied an
apartment in the training center pursuant to a quarters assignment
agreement that provided that the NPS would deduct rent from
Mr. Berkowitz s paycheck for the quarters, and that the NPS would
maintain the quarters.  The agreement also provided that occupancy
would end when Mr. Berkowitz s employment in the park ended, unless
previously terminated at the option of either Mr. Berkowitz or the
NPS.  Although the NPS expected that a new housing unit would
become available for Mr. Berkowitz in October 1995, construction of
the additional park housing units was delayed.  Mr. Berkowitz
remained in the training center until April 1, 1996, when a housing
unit became available.  

     When Mr. Berkowitz submitted his claim for reimbursement for
120 days of TQSE, the NPS did not process the claim for payment. 
The NPS explains that the employee who prepared Mr. Berkowitz s
travel authorization was not aware that the policy of the Grand
Canyon National Park is not to authorize reimbursement of TQSE for
employees who are waiting for park quarters.  The NPS does not view
the training center as temporary quarters, and so does not believe
that Mr. Berkowitz should be reimbursed for temporary quarters
subsistence expenses.  

     In Charles J. Robinson, GSBCA 13693-RELO, 97-1 BCA  28,692,
we considered a claim for TQSE nearly identical to this one.  In
our decision, we explained that the regulatory definition of
 temporary quarters  includes  lodging obtained from private or
commercial sources for the purpose of temporary occupancy.   41 CFR
302-5.2(c) (1995).  For Grand Canyon National Park employees, this
would be either housing located a great distance from the park, or
a hotel or motel within the park.  We explained that park employees
stay in some type of park housing until their tour of duty at the
park is finished, and so it is not especially meaningful to speak
of a  permanent  residence in park housing.  We decided:

     In the absence of some compelling factor, such as the
     dwelling-space assignment being too small for a family,
     we consider that the Park Service properly viewed any of
     the park s quarters suitable for housing on an indefinite
     basis to be  permanent  for the purposes of the
     regulatory definition of  temporary quarters. 

97-1 BCA at 143,301-02.  If the decision in Robinson applies to
Mr. Berkowitz s claim for TQSE, we must deny the claim.

     Mr. Berkowitz says that his claim and Mr. Robinson s claim are
dissimilar because he moved to Grand Canyon National Park pursuant
to a  change in duty station,  while Mr. Robinson went to the park
due to a  transfer  or  change in position.   Actually, both
Mr. Robinson and Mr. Berkowitz  made permanent changes of station
to the park.  Mr. Berkowitz also says that the training center is
not Grand Canyon National Park housing, because it is administered
by the NPS Washington office.  This makes no difference in the
resolution of Mr. Berkowitz s claim, because our decision in
Robinson was not based upon who administered Mr. Robinson s
housing.

     Mr. Berkowitz contends that his quarters in the training
center were not suitable for housing on an indefinite basis, as
were Mr. Robinson s quarters,  because the training center staff
regularly asked when he would be moving.  Even though the training
center staff asked Mr. Berkowitz when he would be leaving, this
does not mean that the training center quarters were unsuitable for
housing on an indefinite basis.  In fact, Mr. Berkowitz stayed in
those quarters indefinitely, until other quarters became available,
and there is no indication that the quarters were unsuitable for
Mr. Berkowitz.

     Mr. Berkowitz points out that the quarters assignment
agreement states that the NPS assigned quarters to Mr. Berkowitz
and then states (in handwriting)  until permanent housing becomes
available.   Mr. Berkowitz also points to a memorandum that the NPS
wrote in order to extend the time that the agency would pay for
storage of Mr. Berkowitz s household goods; the memorandum called
Mr. Berkowitz s training center quarters  temporary.   Neither the
quarters assignment agreement nor the memorandum suggests that it
was written with TQSE in mind, and so neither document establishes
whether Mr. Berkowitz was entitled to be reimbursed for TQSE.

     We see no material distinction between Mr. Berkowitz s claim
for TQSE and the claim for TQSE presented in Robinson. 
Mr. Berkowitz s training center quarters were suitable for housing
on an indefinite basis and so were  permanent  for the purposes of
the regulatory definition of  temporary quarters.    We agree with
the agency s decision not to pay the claim.




                                   _______________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge