Board of Contract Appeals

                 General Services Administration

                      Washington, D.C. 20405







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                        September 22, 2005

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                         GSBCA 16707-RELO





                 In the Matter of DAVID M. DAWOOD





     David M. Dawood, Annapolis Junction, MD, Claimant.



     Brenda Mixon, Chief, Travel Divison, Finance Center, United

States Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, Millington,

TN, appearing for Department of the Army.



DeGRAFF, Board Judge.



     Regulations permit no exception to the requirement that a

transferred employee's old and new duty stations must be at least

fifty miles apart in order for an agency to reimburse the

employee's temporary quarters subsistence expenses.  However, when

an agency mistakenly authorizes reimbursement and advances funds to

cover such expenses, it can consider waiving repayment of the

advance.  



                            Background



     In late 2004, the United States Army Corps of Engineers

transferred David M. Dawood from one permanent duty station to

another.  In connection with the transfer, the Corps authorized Mr.

Dawood to incur sixty days of temporary quarters subsistence

expenses (TQSE) and issued him an advance of $2184.  The Corps

subsequently extended Mr. Dawood's TQSE period by an added sixty

days.  



     Mr. Dawood spent approximately seventy days in temporary

quarters.  When he submitted a claim for reimbursement of his TQSE,

the Corps determined Mr. Dawood was not eligible for reimbursement

because his old and new duty stations were less than fifty miles

apart.  When the Corps denied the claim, Mr. Dawood submitted it to

us for review.



                            Discussion



     When a federal agency transfers a civilian employee from one

permanent duty station to another, it may choose to reimburse the

employee for TQSE.  Eligibility for reimbursement is governed by

the Federal Travel Regulation, which applies to all civilian

employees, and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), which apply to

civilian employees of the Department of Defense.  As in effect when

Mr. Dawood transferred, both sets of regulations provided an

employee was eligible for reimbursement of TQSE if the old and new

permanent duty stations were fifty miles or more apart as measured

by a map distance along a usually traveled surface route.  41 CFR

302-6.4 (2004); JTR C13115-A.3.  According to www.mapquest.com, Mr.

Dawood's old and new duty stations are less than fifty miles apart,

just as the Corps says.  Mr. Dawood does not dispute this fact.  



     We recently considered a similar claim submitted by another

Corps employee.  In Virgil G. Hobbs III, GSBCA 16625-RELO (Sept.

15, 2005), as here, the Corps led an employee to believe he would

be reimbursed for TQSE and the employee incurred a large expense in

reliance upon the Corps' mistaken authorization.  As we explained

in Hobbs, the regulations which govern eligibility for the

reimbursement of TQSE do not permit any exception to be made to the

requirement that the two permanent duty stations must be at least

fifty miles apart.  Several years ago, we reached a similar result

in resolving the claim of another Department of Defense employee. 

Lawrence M. Cason, GSBCA 15246-RELO, 00-1 BCA   30,883.  



     The Corps correctly decided not to reimburse Mr. Dawood for

his TQSE.  The regulations do not permit the Corps to pay his claim

because his old and new duty stations were less than fifty miles

apart.  Although Mr. Dawood no doubt relied upon the authorization

he received from the Corps before he entered into temporary

quarters, erroneous advice and actions by agency officials do not

create the authority for the Corps to spend public funds in a way

not authorized by the regulations.  Richard P. Crane, GSBCA 15782-

RELO, 02-2 BCA   31,996.  



     We are not sure what the Corps intends to do about the $2184

it advanced to Mr. Dawood.  As we pointed out in Hobbs, the agency

can consider waiving repayment of this amount.  Other Department of

Defense agencies have waived repayment of advances when they later

determined the employees were not eligible for TQSE.  Jerome A.

Dosdall, GSBCA 16244-RELO, 04-1 BCA   32,464 (2003); Cason.  If the

Corps is considering whether it ought to collect the advance from

Mr. Dawood, it might also want to consider whether this is an

appropriate case for waiver.  



     We deny the claim.









                                   

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                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF

                                   Board Judge