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                              July 14, 1997
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GSBCA 14215-RELO


In the Matter of MARY E. PLUMB


     Mary E. Plumb, Miami, FL, Claimant.

     C. Bruce Sheaffer, National Park Service, Department of the
Interior, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of the Interior.

BORWICK, Board Judge.

     The National Park Service (NPS), a bureau of the Department of
the Interior, requests a decision pursuant to 31 U.S.C.  3529
(section 3529 decision) in the matter of Mary E. Plumb.  The agency
asked the Board whether the costs for one hundred eighty days
storage of household goods (HHG) may be paid as an administrative
expense.  The agency has already paid expenses for the employee's
first one hundred eighty days temporary storage of HHG associated
with her permanent change of station (PCS) transfer.  The agency is
asking whether such expenses may be reimbursed on a basis other
than the statutes and regulations governing travel and relocation
of federal employees.  We conclude that question does not come
within our delegated authority pursuant to 31 U.S.C.  3529 to
render decisions on matters relating to reimbursement of expenses
incurred by federal civilian employees in connection with
relocation to a new duty station. 

     The employee--Mary E. Plumb--was transferred from Arizona to
the Everglades National Park (ENP), Florida, pursuant to PCS
orders.  She was authorized a total of one hundred eighty days
temporary storage allowance for her household goods (HHG).  Her
work at the new duty station commenced on February 26, 1996, with
her storage allowance eligibility expiring on August 24, 1996.  Ms.
Plumb secured a small apartment which was inadequate for the
storage of her HHG, and she put most of her HHG in storage. The
agency paid all incurred HHG storage charges for that period. 
 
      Upon expiration of the storage allowance period, Ms. Plumb
had not yet secured adequate housing.  On July 18, 1996, ENP
officials issued a written authorization for a second one hundred
eighty day period of temporary storage allowance.  Upon learning of
the written authorization, the NPS Accounting Operations Center
(AOC) advised ENP officials of the one hundred eighty day statutory
limitation for storage expenses, and advised that the additional
time was unauthorized.  

     ENP notified the storage company that the agency would not pay
additional storage beyond the original one hundred eighty day
period.  The employee's HHG remain in storage, and the storage
company considers the employee personally responsible for payment
of the additional charges.  The storage company has threatened to
seize the employee's HHG if the charges are not paid.  

     The agency recognizes that regulation bars a second one
hundred eighty day period of temporary storage, but requests a
section 3529 decision on "whether the costs for the additional [one
hundred eighty days'] storage may be paid as an administrative
expense to the agency."  The agency relies on a case from the
General Accounting Office holding that when an agency orders an
employee to move from quarters off-post to Government-owned
quarters within a federal facility, the expenses of such a move may
be reimbursed as costs of maintaining a facility rather than a
reimbursement expense.  E.W. Milot, B-163088 (Feb. 28, 1968).

     We cannot render a section 3529 decision on that matter since
the subject matter is beyond our delegated authority.  Section 204
of the General Accounting Office Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-316,
110 Stat. 3826, 3845 (1996), provides that the section 3529
decisions involving certain functions of Government shall be issued
not by the Comptroller General, but by the head of the agency which
settles claims of or against the Government with regard to those
functions.  The Administrator of General Services settles claims
involving expenses incurred by federal civilian employees for
relocation expenses incident to transfers of official duty station. 
Pub. L. No. 104-316,  202(n), 110 Stat. 3826, 3843 (1996).  Thus,
on the effective date of the Act, October 19, 1996, all requests
for section 3529 decisions involving such expenses were transferred
to the Administrator of General Services.  The Administrator has
delegated to the General Services Board of Contract Appeals the
authority to issue:

     [section 3529] decisions requested by a disbursing or
     certifying official . . . when such decision relates to
     reimbursement of expenses incurred by Federal civilian
     employees . . . in connection with relocation to a new
     duty station.  

Delegation of Authority from Administrator of General Services
(November 19, 1996).  Here, the agency seeks an opinion on a matter
of appropriation law which is unrelated to a relocation claim--
whether the expenses can be reimbursed on the basis that the
expense was not in connection with an employee s relocation to a
new duty station.   We did not previously have and do not now have 
authority as to appropriations matters of this type.  We therefore
decline to answer the agency's question. 





                                   __________________________
                                   ANTHONY S. BORWICK
                                   Board Judge