Board of Contract Appeals

                    General Services Administration

                         Washington, D.C. 20405

 

 

 

                         ______________________

 

                             March 24, 2000

                         ______________________

 

 

                            GSBCA 15246-RELO

 

 

                   In the Matter of LAWRENCE M. CASON

 

 

        Lawrence M. Cason, Jacksonville, FL, Claimant.

 

        Gino  J. Andreoletti,  Management Administrative  Department

   Head,  Navy Public Works  Center Jacksonville, Department  of the

   Navy, Jacksonville, FL, appearing for Department of the Navy.

 

   DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

 

        In September  1998, the Department of the Navy issued travel

   orders  to Lawrence  M. Cason  in connection  with his  permanent

   transfer from the Jacksonville  Naval Air Station to  the Mayport

   Naval  Station.    Both  of   these  duty  stations  are  in  the

   Jacksonville, Florida  area.   The travel  orders authorized  Mr.

   Cason  to incur  sixty days  of  reimbursable temporary  quarters

   subsistence expenses (TQSE) in connection with his transfer.  The

   Navy made  an advance of funds to Mr.  Cason for the first thirty

   days of  TQSE, and  Mr.  Cason occupied  temporary quarters  from

   January 4 through February 28, 1999.  

 

        The authorization contained in Mr. Cason s travel orders was

   based  upon  paragraph  C13006 of  the  Joint  Travel Regulations

   (JTR),  which provided  that an  employee  was eligible  for TQSE

   reimbursement  if the  one-way commuting  distance  from the  old

   residence  to the  new duty  station  was more  than forty  miles

   greater   than  the  one-way  commuting  distance  from  the  old

   residence to the  old duty station.   Mr. Cason says that  he was

   eligible for TQSE reimbursement according to this standard.  When

   the Navy  issued Mr. Cason s  travel orders, however,  JTR C13006

   had been superseded  and the regulation  in effect provided  that

   the  Navy could  authorize  reimbursement for  TQSE  only if  the

   employee's old  and new  duty stations were  forty miles  or more

   apart.  JTR C13110-A.1.c (Aug.  1, 1998).  The Jacksonville Naval

   Air Station  and the Mayport  Naval Station are  thirty-one miles

   apart.

 

        Shortly before Mr. Cason s time in temporary quarters ended,

   the Navy  determined that  it made a  mistake when  it authorized

   reimbursement  of TQSE.   It  agreed  to waive  repayment of  the

   advance that it gave Mr. Cason for the first thirty days of TQSE,

   but it decided  that it could not authorize  reimbursement of the

   remainder of Mr. Cason s TQSE.   Mr. Cason asks us to review  the

   Navy s   decision.[foot #] 1     Mr.   Cason  asserts   that  his

   travel orders  authorized reimbursement  and were not  erroneous,

   and so he should be reimbursed.  

 

        The Navy correctly  decided not to  reimburse Mr. Cason  for

   his TQSE.  The regulations are the source of the Navy's authority

   to  reimburse Mr. Cason  and, as explained  above, the applicable

   regulations did not authorize the Navy to reimburse Mr. Cason for

   his TQSE because  his old duty station is not forty miles or more

   away from his new duty station.  The September 1998 travel orders

   do not  provide the Navy  with a basis for  reimbursing Mr. Cason

   for  his TQSE  because the  orders contained an  authorization of

   reimbursement for  TQSE that was  contrary to the  regulations in

   effect when the orders were issued.  

 

        The claim is denied.

   ___________________________________

 

                                      MARTHA H. DeGRAFF

                                      Board Judge

 

                                                                    

                   ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS ---------

 

        [foot #] 1     Although  Mr. Cason is  a member of  a union,

   the  grievance procedure contained  in the  collective bargaining

   agreement  excludes his  claim  for  reimbursement of  relocation

   expenses.  Therefore, we have  the authority to review his claim.

   See John B. Courtnay, GSBCA 14508-TRAV, 98-2 BCA   29,791.

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