BNUMBER:  B-276601 
DATE:  June 26, 1997
TITLE: Central Intelligence Agency--Availability of Appropriations,
B-276601, June 26, 1997
**********************************************************************

Matter of:Central Intelligence Agency--Availability of Appropriations 
          to Purchase Refrigerators for Placement in the Workplace

File:     B-276601

Date:June 26, 1997

DIGEST

Should the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) administratively 
determine that   equipping the workplace with the refrigerators is 
reasonably related to the efficient performance of agency activities, 
and not just for the personal convenience of individual employees, it 
may use appropriated funds to purchase refrigerators for the 
workplace. 
 
DECISION

The Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Central Intelligence 
Agency (CIA) requests our opinion on the propriety of using 
appropriated funds to purchase refrigerators for placement in the 
workplace.  For the reasons stated below, should the CIA 
adminstratively determine that equipping the workplace with the 
refrigerators is reasonably related to the efficient performance of 
agency activities, and not just for the personal convenience of 
individual employees, we would not object to the CIA using 
appropriated funds to purchase refrigerators for the workplace. 

According to the submission, the CIA headquarters facility is somewhat 
isolated and relatively distant from private eating establishments.  
The facility has an on-site cafeteria that is open only for breakfast 
and lunch.  The nearest commercially available eating facility is 
10-15 minutes away.  Having food delivered for dinner requires a 15-20 
minute commute from the headquarters facility to the Visitors Center 
because the delivery service may not enter the headquarters compound.  
The Principal Deputy General Counsel believes that providing 
refrigerators will bolster employee morale by giving employees a real 
choice in their eating arrangements, and will increase productivity, 
not just as a result of improved morale, but by permitting employees 
to spend less time away from the workplace to eat. 

The issue here is whether the purchase of refrigerators may be 
considered a "necessary expense" of operating the facility.  The 
general rule is that where an appropriation is not specifically 
available for a particular item, its purchase may be authorized as a 
"necessary expense" if there is a reasonable relationship between the 
object of the expenditure and the general purposes for which the funds 
were appropriated and the expenditure is not otherwise prohibited.  
B-210433, April 15, 1983.  This rule of reason recognizes an agency's 
discretion in using its appropriation to fulfill its purpose.  Id. 

We have addressed situations analogous to the one presented here.  In 
47 Comp. Gen. 657 (1968), we objected to the purchase of a coffee 
maker and related items because a purpose of the purchase was to 
enable the agency to provide coffee at meetings to its employees and 
others.  We reached a different result where the agency determined 
that the purchase was necessary to compensate for a lack of available 
eating facilities.  For example, when an agency location operating on 
a     7 days a week, 24-hour basis determined that eating facilities 
were not readily accessible to all its employees, we did not object to 
the Naval Medical Command, Department of the Navy purchasing a 
microwave oven for use by its duty section and crypto center employees 
(B-210433, April 15, 1983) or the Federal Aviation Administration 
purchasing cooking utensils for its air traffic control facility         
(B-173149, August 10, 1971).  In each case, we required a proper 
agency official to determine that the purchase was reasonably 
necessary for the proper and efficient performance of the facility for 
which the food related equipment was being purchased.

The Principal Deputy General Counsel points out that the cafeteria 
serving the CIA headquarters facility can serve only a portion of the 
headquarters population and is not open for dinner, the facility is 
relatively distant from private eating establishments, and even 
deliveries to the facility require the employees to spend considerable 
time away from the office because of security precautions.  These 
factors are similar to those found in B-210433 and B-173149, noted 
above.  We also have allowed agencies to use appropriated funds to 
subsidize an employee's cafeteria upon a finding that the expenditure 
was necessary to the efficiency of operations and in promoting 
employee morale.  E.g., B-216943, March 21, 1985.  In the context of 
appropriations law, we see little substantive difference between using 
appropriated funds to subsidize or even expand cafeteria operations 
and using those funds to purchase equipment that allows the employees 
to prepare their own food.  In either case, the burden on the agency 
is the same--to make the determination that the expenditure is 
reasonably related to the purpose of the appropriation to be charged.

Accordingly, we would not object to the purchase of refrigerators 
should CIA administratively determine that equipping the headquarters 
facility with refrigerators is reasonably related to the efficient 
performance of agency activities, and not just for the personal 
convenience of individual employees. 

/s/Robert P. Murphy
for Comptroller General
of the United States