Board of Contract Appeals

                    General Services Administration

                         Washington, D.C. 20405

 

 

 

                        ________________________

 

                             June 11, 2001

                        ________________________

 

 

                            GSBCA 15390-RELO

 

 

                  In the Matter of BARBARA A. CAVINESS

 

 

        Barbara A. Caviness, Albuquerque, NM, Claimant.

 

        Chris Barned,  Fiscal Specialist, National  Business Center,

   Products  and Services, Department  of the Interior,  Denver, CO,

   appearing for the Department of the Interior.

 

   WILLIAMS, Board Judge.

 

        The  agency  properly  denied  reimbursement  of   temporary

   quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE) and rental car expenses to a

   new appointee, since such benefits are  not authorized by statute

   or regulation.

 

                               Background

 

        Effective July 2, 2000, claimant was  hired as a trust  fund

   investment specialist for  the Department of  the Interior.   Her

   new duty station was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and she lived in

   Little Rock,  Arkansas.     The  agency  agreed  to   fund  costs

   associated  with claimant's en route  travel and the  shipment of

   her household goods for her relocation to Albuquerque.   Claimant

   was  unable to  drive at  the  time of  her relocation  due  to a

   medical condition,  so she flew to  the new duty station  and the

   agency shipped her privately owned vehicle at its expense.

 

        Claimant seeks  reimbursement  of her  lodging  expenses  in

   Albuquerque for twenty-two nights  in the amount of $1340.83,  as

   well as $670.73 for a rental car and $41.18 for gasoline.

 

                               Discussion

 

        The agency acted  correctly in denying  the claim.   Statute

   and  regulation provide only  limited relocation benefits  to new

   appointees; those  limited benefits do not  include reimbursement

   for TQSE or a rental car.  5 U.S.C.   5723 (Supp. V 1999); 41 CFR

   302-1.10(f) (2000); Karen R. Brown,  GSBCA 14871-RELO, 99-2 BCA  

   30,429;  Charles G.  Bakaly,  III, GSBCA 14750-RELO,  99-1  BCA  

   30,249,  reconsideration  denied,  99-1  BCA     30,367;  William

   Archilla, GSBCA 13878-RELO, 97-1 BCA   28,799.

 

 

        Specifically,  according  to the  Federal  Travel Regulation

   (FTR), new  appointees are eligible  for payment of  only certain

   travel and transportation expenses:

 

        (1)  Travel  expenses,  including  per  diem  for   the

             appointee . . . ;

        (2)  Transportation for immediate family of appointee .

             . . ;

        (3)  Mileage if privately owned vehicle is used . . . ;

        (4)  Transportation and temporary  storage of household

             goods . . . ;

        (5)  Nontemporary   storage  of   household  goods   if

             appointed to an isolated location . . . ; and

        (6)  Transportation of mobile homes . . . .

 

   41  CFR  302-1.10(e).   Items  not  specifically  listed in  this

   section are not  allowable.  41 CFR 302-10(f);  Wendy Castineira,

   GSBCA 15090-RELO,  00-1  BCA     30,740.    This  Board  recently

   concluded that  a new appointee  could not be reimbursed  for the

   cost of a rental car.  Thomas Slonaker, GSBCA 15425-RELO (May 31,

   2001).

 

        Claimant  asks the  Board to consider  special circumstances

   that led to  her request for reimbursement.   Claimant's daughter

   was in a  near-fatal automobile  accident on  April 1, 1999,  and

   claimant  has had to care for  her disabled daughter continuously

   since  that time.   Claimant herself developed  a condition which

   required surgery  and prohibited  her from  driving, lifting,  or

   straining.   Claimant  also believes  that she  should have  been

   notified that  her lodging and rental car costs were not going to

   be included in her move.   Although we sympathize with claimant's

   situation, we are not empowered to extend the benefits authorized

   by  statute and  regulation.   Even if  claimant was  erroneously

   advised  that  she was  entitled to  these expenses,  such advice

   cannot create a right to reimbursement in excess of statutory and

   regulatory  entitlements.     Castineira,  00-1   BCA  at151,871;

   Archilla, 97-1 BCA at 143,645.

 

                                Decision

 

        The claim is denied.

   ________________________________

 

                                      MARY ELLEN COSTER WILLIAMS

                                      Board Judge