Per Diem Entitlement

An enrollee in the Forest Service's Young Adult Conservation Corps claimed entitlement to per diem allowance for a period during which she and eight other enrollees were assigned to Forest Service camps. The claimant contended that, because the camps did not provide shower and laundry facilities, a request initiated by the Staff Director of State and Private Forestry after the enrollees' assignments were completed should be approved. The Forest Service determined that the camps provided subsistence for the enrollees and denied the request. The authority to establish a special per diem rate is permissible rather than mandatory, and regulations require the exercise of discretion by individual agencies. Where an employee incurs no additional expenses, the agency may and should properly refuse to authorize any per diem, since such payments cannot be authorized to compensate for inconveniences that may be occasioned by the travel. Thus, the enrollees were not entitled to per diem for the period of their assignment to the Forest Service camps.