[BLM Employee's Entitlement to Tour Renewal Travel Expenses]

The Bureau of Land Management requested a decision concerning whether an employee was entitled to tour renewal travel under the law in effect at the time he: (1) signed a service agreement; or (2) commenced travel to his new duty station. GAO held that: (1) amended regulations restricted tour renewal travel entitlements for an employee assigned to Alaska, based on the date the employee first commenced any period of consecutive tours of duty in Alaska; and (2) the employee's date of assignment was the date he commenced his travel, which was subsequent to the amendment. Accordingly, the employee was limited to two round trips within a 5-year period from the date he commenced his travel to Alaska.