Travel policies temporarily loosened in Southern California

Federal employees traveling for work near the scene of the almost two-dozen wildfires raging through Southern California no longer have to worry as much about how much money they spend on lodging and meals or the type of gas they put in their car.

On Wednesday, the General Services Administration temporarily relaxed the per diem and purchasing policies for workers in the seven counties that President Bush has declared a federal disaster area: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

A travel waiver authorizes federal agencies to reimburse employees the cost of hotel rooms in affected areas, even if the cost is higher than the standard per diem rate and the location is further from the job than is normally allowed. Similar policies will apply for meals.

Nonetheless, the reimbursements will be limited to 300 percent of the maximum per diem rate, which is determined based on the location of the hotels and restaurants.

"It is expected that finding lodging facilities and/or adequate meals in the affected areas may be difficult, and distances involved may be great resulting in increased costs for per diem expenses," wrote Kevin Messner, acting associate administrator of GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy.

Reports indicate that hotel rooms are hard to find in Southern California as roughly 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

The waiver also recommends that agencies consider delaying the relocation of nonessential temporary-duty employees to the areas affected by the fires for at least the next 90 days.

"This is especially important with relocation travel because the 120-day maximum for temporary quarters subsistence expense cannot be extended due to statutory restrictions," Messner wrote.

A second waiver allows federal employees to purchase premium gasoline for government-owned and leased vehicles if cheaper, lower-grade fuel is not available. Current restrictions prohibit the purchases of high-grade gasoline.

The changes will remain in effect through Jan. 24, 2008, though GSA can extend or rescind them.

The federal emergency declaration for Southern California also will allow for more expedient purchasing of supplies needed in the recovery.

Recent changes to the GSA Multiple Awards Schedules now allow state and local governments to purchase products and services needed to recover from a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Federal emergency procurement regulations also give preference for small businesses located in badly damaged areas.

As was the case directly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, emergency purchasing can limit competition among contractors.

Federal Acquisition Regulations state that if there is "unusual and compelling urgency, agencies may limit the number of sources and full and open competition need not be provided for contracting actions."

Richard White, president of Fedmarket.com, a Web portal for government vendors, said emergency procurement regulations allow contracting officials to use their judgment in making essential purchases.

"The regulations dance around the issue of whether a buyer can make a sole-source decision because sole sourcing is a distasteful concept to bureaucrats and Congress," White said. "Our interpretation is that using less than full and open competition means that a federal buyer can sole-source a contract if doing so will mitigate the disaster."