SURVEY OF SELECTED ACTIVITIES ment for superintendents. The subcommittee will appreciate receiving, as III The fourth paragraph of your August 15 letter states that the matter of reduced rates to employees traveling to the parks on official business "presents quite a different issue," and your letter states that the reduced rates charges for such employees "have been revised upward so that they relate reasonably to the maximum per diem allowance permitted under Federal travel statutes." Your letter then states that the new instructions provide that meals and lodging shall be furnished at rates which will not exceed four-fifths of the authorized per diem allowance on an American plan basis, and that the Park Service authorizes $14 per diem in such cases. (a) The subcommittee would appreciate receiving two copies of the instructions referred to. (b) The subcommittee agrees with you that it would be unreasonable to expect an employee to absorb the extra expense of traveling in the high-cost national parks. But we question whether the only alternative is requiring concessionaires to provide meals and lodging at rates below the concessionaire's cost of doing business, to Government employees who supervise or regulate the concessionaire, thereby subsidizing the employee as well as the Government, and creating a possible conflict-of-interest situation. Indeed, it would seem that the Park Service ought to strive to lower the prices for the general public, rather than merely for the Government employee. In any event, the act of August 14, 1961 (Public Law 87-139), authorizes the Department to pay per diem up to $16 or reimburse actual expenses up to $30 per day, thereby enabling the Department to eliminate or minimize the possibility of any employee having to absorb the extra expense of traveling in the high-cost national parks. The subcommittee would appreciate your views on this point. (c) Please state the amount (and the basis for computing it) by which the Department's annual travel costs would increase if the Department increased per diem up to $16, or made actual expense reimbursements up to $30 per day, to employees traveling in the parks on official business in those instances where the concessionaires' charges for meals and lodging on the American plan basis exceeded four-fifths of $14. The subcommittee is pleased to see that you are giving full and serious attention We welcome to eliminating the potential conflicts of interest inherent in the free meals and other accommodations situation we are here discussing with you. your positive efforts and hope that with your cooperation the matter will be resolved satisfactorily in the near future. Sincerely, JACK BROOKS, Chairman. APPENDIX I. LIST OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CONCESSION CONTRACTS IN EFFECT AT ANY TIME FROM JANUARY 1, 1947, TO AUGUST 15, 1962, HAVING A PROVISION REQUIRING THE CONCESSIONAIRE TO PROVIDE FREE SERVICES TO ANY EMPLOYEES OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE OR THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT 1. Name of concessionaire. 2. Park. 3. Date when contract containing such provision became effective. 4. Date when such contract expired. 5. Does present contract contain such provision? Hon. JACK BROOKS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., November 6, 1962. Chairman, Government Activities Subcommittee, Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. BROOKS: We are pleased to provide herewith the additional information requested in your letter of August 17 in connection with accommodations and meals furnished Federal employees by concessioners regulated by the National Park Service. I As requested in part I of your letter there are enclosed: (a) Two copies of pages 8 through 15 of the National Park Service Concessions Management Handbook covering free and reduced rate accommodations effective prior to June 7, 1962. (b) Two copies of revised pages of the above, effective as of June 7, 1962. (c) Two copies of the information requested in appendix I of your letter which has been prepared to cover lodging and meals. II (a) The National Park Service Handbook was revised to eliminate free accommodations to all officials in a travel status. The travel status provision of course does not apply to the park superintendent whose official duty requires him to inspect food services. Accordingly, free meals will continue to be required for inspection purposes. This is covered in chapter 3, page 12, of the revised pages of the handbook. (b) and (c) Public health authorities can determine the adequacy of sanitary and other health safeguards without eating the food served by a food concessioner, but the superintendent or other inspector of the overall aspects of a concessioner's food service necessarily must eat the same food the park visitor eats to determine the concessioner's compliance with quantity and quality of food and efficiency of service. It is not essential that these meals be free but it is not reasonable to require the inspector to suffer a financial penalty by paying for the meals from his own funds. Thus it has been determined that when the superintendent in the course of duty makes such an inspection, and is not entitled to reimbursement from the Government for the expense involved, he should receive the service without charge. Provisions could be made for the Government to reimburse him. The National Park Service points out, and convincingly, that such a course would unavoidably mean additional Government expense. The bookkeeping and other costs of paper handling would run the expenses up. We think there are precedents for financing free meals to Government food service inspectors in a number of areas, including cafeterias operated in Government office buildings and military establishments. (d) The feasibility of food inspections by "various persons," presumably from outside the Service, seems to us to be quite limited. The very mechanics involved would appear to make such an arrangement complicated. In addition, since the superintendent approves rates charged to the public, it is necessary that he have firsthand knowledge of quality, quantity, and type of service provided by the concessioner. (e) The Solicitor of the Department of the Interior has not been requested to render an opinion on the Comptroller General's suggestion to Chairman Dawson that the furnishing of free meals to, and acceptance thereof by, Interior Department officials could conceivably violate the criminal provisions of title 18, United States Code, section 1914. You will be interested to know, however, that the question of the concessioner's furnishing reduced rate and free accommodations to Federal and State employees visiting the areas on official business was presented to the Comptroller General by letter of June 10, 1960. His reply of October 24, 1960 (B-143189) was silent as to any possible violation of the criminal provision of title 18, United States Code, section 1914. He stated that "*** you are advised that the practice adopted by the Department of the Interior requiring concessioners operating businesses in the national park areas under contract with the National Park Service to provide meals, lodging, and transportation, either free of charge or at reduced rates, to Federal and State officers and employees who visit the parks on official business, was and is within the statutory authority of the Secretary of the Interior, subject, of course, to administering the practice in accordance with the views and conclusions expressed hereinabove." Additionally the Comptroller General stated that "a contract may not be modified prejudicially to the interest of the United States without adequate consideration therefor, [and that] it follows that the Secretary of the Interior may not, in the absence of adequate consideration, prohibit a concessioner from supplying such accommodations or services at free or reduced rates to officers and employees of the United States, to Members of Congress and their staffs, and to officers and employees of State governments, while a contract in the form currently in use remains in effect." In view of this advice received from the Comptroller General and the opinion of the Attorney General (reported in 33 Op. Atty. Gen. 273), it has not been considered necessary to seek a further legal opinion. (f) We shall be pleased to provide the subcommittee with a report on our review of administrative control of the use of free meal inspections by the park superintendents, promptly upon its completion. III (a) The instructions referred to in connection with reduced rates for meals and lodging not to exceed four-fifths of the authorized per diem, American plan, are to be found in chapter 3, page 9, of the revised pages of the National Park Service Handbook enclosed as (b) of part I above. (b) The present travel regulations generally permit an employee to receive a $16 per diem rate in lieu of subsistence or to be reimbursed on an actual subsistence expense basis up to $30 per day. It is the policy of the Department of the Interior that the approving official shall authorize such rates within the maximum allowable as are justified by the circumstances surrounding the particular travel with the objective of allowing the traveler to receive an amount which will cover his necessary traveling expenses. While departmental approval is required before reimbursement up to $30 per day on an actual expense basis can be made, it is contemplated that such requests from the various bureaus will be the exception and not the rule. There are occasional instances, however, when allowances above the $16 per diem rate are fully justified and approved. We are opposed to granting a higher allowance for trips in the national parks where the use of concession facilities is involved. However, we have no strong objection to authorizing the maximum $16 per diem rate in the parks provided that a control in the form of reduced rates continues to be maintained so that the rates charged the traveler by the concessioners would not exceed four-fifths of the $16 per diem rate. Since the reduced rates are less than those charged the general public, it is obvious there can be instances where they are "below the concessionaire's cost of doing business" as referred to in your letter. For example, if a concessioner's overnight accommodations and food service justify a rate of $20 per day, a reduced rate of $11.20 (four-fifths of $14) would most likely be less than the concessioner's cost of doing business. We can foresee no possibility that rates for the general public could be affected if it were decided to eliminate the reduced rate requirements of the concessioner. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that it is a customary practice with many hotels in metropolitan areas to solicit on the basis of reduced rates the patronage of Government employees traveling on official business. (c) Exact figures are not available as to the amount by which the Department's annual travel costs would be increased if the $16 per diem rate were paid or if actual subsistence expenses up to $30 were authorized where the use of concession facilities in the parks is involved. Based on field reports, which were previously furnished for another purpose, we estimate that there are approximately 10,000 man-days of travel at the $14 per diem rate in the parks where the use of concession facilities is involved. Based on a $16 per diem rate, or a $2 per day increase over the $14 rate, the estimated annual increased cost to the Department would be approximately $20,000. Assuming that the reimbursement on an actual expense basis would average about $20 per day, and perhaps less, or an increase of $5 to $6 per day over the $14 rate, the estimated annual increased cost to the Department would be approximately $50,000 to $60,000. We hope the above fully answers the questions raised in your letter. Sincerely yours, JOHN A. CARVER, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Interior. APPENDIX I.-List of National Park Service concession contracts in effect at any time from Jan. 1, 1947, to Aug. 15, 1962, having a provision requiring the concessioner to provide free service, exclusive of transportation, to any employees of the National Park Service or the Interior Department 1, 1936 Dec. 31, 1955.. SURVEY OF SELECTED ACTIVITIES 1 The operator will furnish available accommodations free of charge, or at reduced rates, 2 That it will furnish accommodations (including transportation) free of charge or at That it will furnish accommodations free of charge to employees of the Department 4 That it will furnish available accommodations including transportation free of charge That it will furnish accommodations free of charge to employees of the Department That it will furnish accommodations free of charge to employees of the Department |