371 FW 1, Policies and Responsibilities

1.2 Policy. Quarters are housing units supplied by the Service to its employees, contractors, volunteers, and others when it has been determined that they are essential to providing service or protection. Housing may also be provided when there is an inadequate supply of suitable private housing. Rents are set in accordance with the provisions of this part.

1.3 Authorities.

A. Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978, Public Law 95-616, 92 Stat. 3113, dated November 8, 1978,

B. Departmental Quarters Handbook (400 DM). (400 DM) is the addition to the Interior Property Management Regulations and is provided to all Service Quarters Officers by the National Quarters Officer.

1.4 Responsibilities and Duties.

A. The Assistant Director - Policy, Budget and Administration.

(1) Approves all requests for the construction and acquisition of new, additional, or replacement housing (including house trailers and/or mobile homes for temporary use) and requests for use of facilities as Government Furnished Quarters (GFQ), as submitted on a Justification for New or Replacement Quarters, Form DI 1871.

(2) Establishes employee grievance procedures involving determinations of required occupancy.

(3) Annually reviews and approves the continued use of obsolete or energy inefficient housing as GFQ if recommended and justified by the Regional Director. Continued use will be authorized for a period not to exceed 1 year.

B. The National Quarters Officer is located in the Washington Office, Division of Contracting and General Services, Branch of Property Management and carries out the following responsibilities on behalf of the Assistant Director:

(1) Reviews all Justifications for New or Replacement Quarters, Form DI-1871, for compliance with Departmental policy. Those which are in compliance will be submitted through the appropriate Washington program office (Refuges or Hatcheries) for review and concurrence prior to submission to the Assistant Director - Policy, Budget and Administration for final approval.

(2) Updates quarters base and net rent computer programs to implement new Regional Surveys, as well as annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments, and transmits these programs to the Regional Quarters Officers for implementation on a timely basis.

(3) Prepares official notification for the implementation of Quarters Regional Surveys and CPI adjustments and distributes Departmental Regional Surveys to the Regional Quarters Officers on a timely basis.

(4) Interprets Service and Department Quarters policy for employees in the Regional Offices and field stations.

(5) Coordinates all Service contacts with Departmental Quarters officials.

C. Regional Directors.

(1) Review and recommend for the Director's approval Justifications for New or Replacement Quarters, Form DI-1871.

(2) Approve Certifications of Required Occupancy, Form DI-1872.

(3) Review the Regional Quarters Maintenance Management program annually to ensure correction of program deficiencies.

(4) Review all expenditures from the Regional Quarters account funds to ensure they are authorized by public law, and that negative balances in such accounts are eliminated before the end of each fiscal year.

(5) Review employee grievances involving required occupancy of GFQ.

(6) Appoint a Regional Quarters Officer. Regions may not assign the quarters operations or policy functions specified in Part 371 to program divisions whose employees reside in quarters.

D. Assistant Regional Directors responsible for GFQ ensure that the biennial station inspections include a review of quarters management and quarters maintenance expenditures.

E. Regional Quarters Officers (RQO).

(1) Review all Justifications for New or Replacement Quarters and Certifications of Required Occupancy to ensure compliance with Service regulations and transmittal through Regional channels to National Quarters Officer. The RQO sends a Quarters Inventory Form, DI 1875, to the Station Manager for all new or replacement quarters.

(2) Review Requests for Reconsideration of rental rates and makes the final determination of facts for the Service relating to inventory or comparable rental data. The RQO ensures that Requests for Reconsideration are supported by at least three comparable rentals using the Private Rental Survey Form, DI-1873. Private comparable rentals should be independently collected by either Regional Realty personnel, contract real estate agents, or appraisers. Any comparable rentals originally collected by a tenant must be reverified.

(3) Update the Quarters database inventory and tenant data to facilitate computation of new net rents for the Quarters Regional Surveys and Consumer Price Index adjustments.

(4) Assign every quarters unit a unique organization code-quarters number combination. This provision applies even if two different station names share the same organization code. Quarters numbers are six characters long, and can contain numbers and capital letters. Whenever possible quarters numbers should be the same as the real property number. Numbers will be right-justified and zero-filled. Once established, they should not be changed without good cause. A written notice of any changes must accompany the submission of copies of the Quarters database(s) to the National Quarters office.

(5) Determine and grant or disallow deductions based upon the documentation provided by the Station Managers and in accordance with the following guidance in (400 DM):

(a) 12.3 Site Amenity Adjustments

(b) 12.4 Loss of Privacy/Restricted Use

(c) 12.5 Excessive Size

(d) 12.6 Inadequate Size

(e) 12.7 Temporary Quarters - Maintenance of Two Households

(f) 12.8 Administrative Review

(g) 12.9 Changes in Administrative Adjustments

(6) Ensure that deductions are specific and current, and that deductions are substantiated with documentation. Documentation must be kept for the 5 years. Copies of supporting documentation are to be submitted to the National Quarters Officer on request.

(7) Calculate the electricity and fuel used by GFQ based on the Regional Survey tables or computer programs for those non-dormitory units which have unmetered electricity or fuel included in the rent. The RQO ensures that GFQ have the required Departmental approval for non-installation of meters.

(8) Prepare the rent implementation forms. The Notice of Rental Adjustment, Form DI-1882, shall be sent to each affected tenant at least 40 days before the rent change is scheduled to go into effect, so that the tenant may have the required 30 day notice. Copies of the rent implementation forms shall be sent to the station manager as well as the tenant. New Regional Quarters Officers should avail themselves of the Departmental Regional Survey training as soon as possible. A copy of the updated Quarters database, including the new net rents, is to be sent on disk to the National Quarters Officer within 2 weeks of sending out the tenant rent notices. A GFQ listing of bedrooms used, date occupied, date vacated, the new CPI net rent, and the implementation date of the rent notices (Quarters Assignment Agreement, Form DI-1881, or Notice of Rental Adjustment, Form DI-1882) shall be signed by the Regional Quarters Officer, and is to accompany the submission of the Quarters database disk to the National Quarters Office. A list of quarters disposed or converted in the past 12 months containing the station name, quarters number, and the date and method of conversion and disposal shall also accompany the Quarters database.

(9) Produce and verify the Bureau of Reclamation, Division of Payroll Operations Deduction Input Form 7-2209 and transmit it to the payroll office so that rents and revisions thereto are implemented when scheduled. The automated rent computation system is to be used, if available. Introductory operating system and software training should be obtained if available locally or on disk.

(10) Interpret Quarters policy for Regional and field station personnel.

F. Regional Personnel Officers ensure that:

(1) An employee's status as a required occupant is properly documented in the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action;

(2) A position's occupancy requirement is included in the position description and the vacancy announcement for each position having such a requirement.

(3) Unions with exclusive recognition are contacted and collective bargaining impact and implementation obligations are satisfied in accordance with Chapter 71, Title 5, United States Code.

G. Station Managers with GFQ:

(1) Assign available Quarters in accordance with Chapter 8 of 400 DM.

(2) Initiate Quarters Justifications (Form DI 1871) and Certifications of Required Occupancy (Form DI 1872). These forms are to be sent to the Regional program office for initial screening and recommendation for approval or rejection.

(3) Ensure notification of the servicing personnel office (SPO) of any position that requires an employee to live in quarters.

(4) Provide all tenants, including volunteers and non-Service employees, with Quarters Assignment Agreements, Form DI-1881. The appropriate form for other Federal tenants is GSA Form 1583, Permit for Use of Real Property by Federal Agency (DQH, Appendix 10). Non-Federal are covered by GSA Form 1582, Revocable License for Non-Federal Use of Real Property (DQH, Appendix 11). Delivers Notices of Rental Adjustment, Form DI-1882, to all paying tenants as soon as the forms are provided by the Regional Quarters Officer. Ensures that the applicable forms are signed by the tenants and the station manager and sent to the Regional Quarters Officer. If the tenant is also the station manager, the agreement should be cosigned by his/her superior. See 400 DM 5.3.

(5) Ensure that documentation for lack of amenities, loss of privacy, excess or inadequate size, excess heating and cooling costs and poor condition deductions is updated annually. Documentation is to be signed and dated by the station manager. Such documentation is to be sent to the Regional Quarters Officer (RQO) by November 30 of each year. Housing inventory changes resulting from maintenance work is to be sent to the RQO within 30 days of completion.

(6) Ensure that any major quarters maintenance project ($1000+) is documented on a maintenance work order as found in the Maintenance Management System (form 3-2113). This form includes a description of the project, quarters number, dates started and completed, project cost, materials cost, contractor involvement and/or staff hours expended. A review of quarters expenditures will be included in biennial station inspections conducted by the Regional Office program managers.

(7) Ensure that an employee affected by a required occupancy determination is apprised of his/her right in accordance with 3.6, Procedures for Requesting Reconsideration and/or Appeal of Required Occupancy of Quarters; and 4.1, Procedures for Requests for Reconsideration and Appeals of Quarters Rental Rates.

H. Tenants.

(1) Certify yearly in writing that any bedrooms or other rooms that are claimed to be not used are shut off and not used for any purpose.

(2) Provide a list of family members giving names, ages, and gender if claiming inadequate size or that not all rooms are used. See 400 DM 12.6 A. (1).

(3) Annually provide the Regional Quarters Officer by November 30th with a log of the date, time, and nature of repeated public visits or calls during non-duty hours if claiming a loss of privacy deduction. See 400 DM 12.4.