________________________

                               April 3, 1997
                         ________________________


                             GSBCA 13816-RELO


                    In the Matter of KAILASH N. MATHUR


     Kailash N. Mathur, Elmhurst, IL, Claimant.

     Al LaBombard, Chief, Employee Accounts Division, Austin
Finance Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Austin, TX,
appearing for Department of Veterans Affairs.

PARKER, Board Judge.
                                     
     In March 1996, Mr. Kailash N. Mathur, an employee of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), was transferred from
Washington, D.C. to Hines, Illinois.  Mr. Mathur had his personal
automobile shipped to his new duty station at a cost of $598.50. 
He had the car shipped (instead of driving it himself) because his
doctor recommended that he avoid driving long distances due to
"knee and foot physical conditions."  Mr. Mathur has asked the
Board to review the VA's denial of his claim for reimbursement of
the shipping costs.

     The transportation of privately-owned automobiles within the
continental United States at Government expense is prohibited by
statute:

          (a) Except as specifically authorized by
          statute, an authorization in a statute or
          regulation to transport the effects of an
          employee or other individual at Government
          expense is not an authorization to transport
          an automobile.

5 U.S.C.  5727(a) (1994).  Paragraph (b) of the above-quoted
section goes on to authorize, in limited circumstances,
transportation of privately-owned automobiles between the
continental United States and posts of duty outside the continental
United States.

     The only statutory authority of which we are aware which
arguably authorizes transportation of an employee's privately-owned
automobile within the continental United States at Government
expense is found in 5 U.S.C.  5702, which authorizes reimbursement
of travel expenses in the event an employee is forced to "abandon[]
the travel assignment prior to its completion" because of an
incapacitating illness or injury, or because of a personal
emergency.  5 U.S.C.  5702(b)(1).  The General Accounting Office
(GAO) has held that this section authorizes transportation of a
privately-owned automobile in the described situations.  Richard L.
Green, 59 Comp. Gen. 57 (1979).  We need not decide here whether
GAO's ruling was correct because Mr. Mathur was not forced to
abandon a travel assignment prior to its completion.

                                 Decision

     Because no authority exists for the Government to pay to ship
his car from Washington, D.C. to Hines, Illinois, Mr. Mathur's
claim for reimbursement of the expenses he incurred in doing so is
denied.





                                   _____________________
                                   ROBERT W. PARKER
                                   Board Judge