Board of Contract Appeals

                 General Services Administration

                      Washington, D.C. 20405







                   ____________________________



                          June 23, 2004

                   ____________________________





                         GSBCA 16406-RELO





                In the Matter of KIMBERLY SHELTON





     Kimberly Shelton, Lakewood, CO, Claimant.



     Scott Shevlin, Manager, Finance and Accounting Division, Bureau of Reclamation,

Denver, CO, appearing for Department of the Interior.



PARKER, Board Judge.



     The Bureau of Reclamation's (BLM's) Finance and Accounting Division has

requested an advance decision on the issue of whether it may pay temporary quarters

subsistence expenses (TQSE) for a day in which one of its employees lodged at a location

that was neither at the employee's old nor new duty stations.  We hold that, in this unusual

case, the agency may pay the claimed expenses.



                            Background



     In connection with her transfer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Grand Junction,

Colorado, Kimberly Shelton was authorized thirty days of TQSE.  Because she was required

to report to her new duty station right away, Ms. Shelton left Albuquerque on January 27,

2004, two days after she was authorized to begin travel.  At that time, Ms. Shelton had not

been provided with the name of the mover she was to use, or any paperwork which would

have allowed her to begin the process of arranging for transportation of her household

goods.  Ms. Shelton arrived in Grand Junction on January 28 and began occupancy of

temporary quarters.



     A short time later, Ms. Shelton was sent on temporary duty to Denver, Colorado.  On

February 20, Ms. Shelton left Denver to return to Albuquerque to meet with the movers,

who were packing her furniture that day.  Ms. Shelton traveled by the usual route used when

mountain passes are snowed in, stopping in Farmington, New Mexico, for one night along

the way.  The distance from Denver to Albuquerque via this route is approximately

500 miles.  The agency does not question Ms. Shelton's choice of route.



     BLM asks the Board whether it may pay TQSE expenses for the day Ms. Shelton

lodged in Farmington, which is located at neither her old nor new duty stations.



                            Discussion



     According to the Federal Travel Regulation, TQSE "is intended to reimburse an

employee reasonably and equitably for subsistence expenses incurred when it is necessary

to occupy temporary quarters."  41 CFR 302-6.3 (2003).  The agency correctly recognizes

that, generally, a transferred employee and his immediate family "may occupy temporary

quarters only within reasonable proximity of [his] old and/or new official stations."  Id.

302-6.9.  The regulation goes on to state, however:



     Neither you nor your immediate family may be reimbursed for occupying

     temporary quarters at any other location, unless justified by special

     circumstances that are reasonably related to your transfer.



Id. (emphasis added).



     Ms. Shelton's lodging for one night in Farmington may be justified as a special

circumstance that was reasonably related to her transfer.  As she points out, she was required

to report early to her new duty station, before she had received any information which would

have allowed her to arrange for transportation of her household goods.  For her to be present

when the movers picked up her furniture, Ms. Shelton had to travel from her temporary duty

station in Denver back to Albuquerque.  Because of weather conditions, she took a

reasonable route that required her to spend the night in Farmington.  Although Farmington

is not within reasonable proximity of either her old or new duty stations, under these special

circumstances, which were clearly related to her transfer, the agency may pay Ms. Shelton

TQSE for the day in which she lodged in Farmington.





                                   ____________________

                                   ROBERT W. PARKER

                                   Board Judge