This letter from SARA is to issue a waiver for grantees attending AGU Fall Meeting Fall Meeting in Washington D.C. allowing them to be reimbursed out of their grants for their actual lodging (within limits, see below), although it's expected to be above the approved GSA amount. Note, I have specified grants (including cooperative agreements). This may also apply to those traveling on NASA contracts, but they should communicate with their contracting officers.

The GSA allowed daily lodging expenses for Washington DC is $181 for November 2018. However, if one refers to the Hotel information for this meeting at https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2018/housing/ one will see that the cost of the vast majority of the hotels exceed the GSA lodging allowance. Thus, most grantee travelers to AGU will need a waiver to cover lodging in excess of the GSA value, depending on the travel policy of your organization. This waiver does not supersede the travel policy of your institution if it is more restrictive.

By the power invested in me by the NSSC to issue approval of the actual lodging costs for a conference in "bulk" instead of individual approvals, I hereby affirm that for grantees attending the AGU Fall Meeting Fall Meeting in Washington D.C. SMD grants may be charged the actual cost up to $239/night plus tax, consistent with many of the nearby hotels (e.g., Fairfax at Embassy Row and Grand Hyatt Washington), even though this exceeds the $181 allotted for lodging by GSA for November 2018.

- Max Bernstein, SMD lead for research