Determination of Applicable Rate for Per Diem Allowance

An Army employee appealed a settlement which denied his claim for per diem based upon the rate applicable to the locality he resided in while on temporary duty. The employee resided in a more expensive locality than that of his temporary duty station, and claimed that the accomodations there were the closest he could find to his station. It was held that reimbursement of per diem is limited to the rate for the locality of the duty station unless the agency determines that suitable accommodations were not available at the place of temporary duty. Since the agency made no such determination, the previous disallowance was affirmed.