Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
 
                      ____________________________
 
                             March 12, 1998
                     _____________________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14484-RELO
 
                   In the Matter of EZZAT ASAAD, M.D.
 
 
        Ezzat Asaad, M.D., Fredericksburg, VA, Claimant.
        Lee  Lofthus,  Chief,  Finance  Branch,  Federal  Bureau  of
   Prisons,  Department of  Justice, Washington,  DC,  appearing for
   Department of Justice.
   DeGRAFF, Board Judge.
 
        When an employee transfers from one official duty station to
   another, the employing agency can  reimburse the employee for the
   expenses of selling  a residence from which the employee commutes
   daily to  and from work.   If an  employee is not eligible  to be
   reimbursed  for  residence  sale expenses,  the  employee  is not
   eligible to participate in an agency s home sale program.
 
                               Background
        In May 1995, Dr. Ezzat  Asaad, an employee of the Department
   of  Justice  (DoJ),  transferred  from  Petersburg,  Virginia  to
   Beckley, West  Virginia.  At  that time, Dr.  Asaad and  his wife
   purchased a house in Fredericksburg, Virginia,  approximately 240
   miles away from Beckley.      Dr. Asaad s wife lived in the house
   in Fredericks-burg, and Dr. Asaad rented  an apartment in Beckley
   and made his  daily commute to and  from that apartment.   On the
   weekends  and at  other  times for  personal  reasons, Dr.  Asaad
   traveled between Fredericksburg and Beckley.
        In late 1997, Dr. Asaad  accepted a transfer from Beckley to
   Edgefield,  South Carolina.   Dr.  Asaad asked  DoJ  to determine
   whether he will  be eligible to be reimbursed for the expenses he
   will incur when he sells his house in Fredericksburg.   Dr. Asaad
   also  asked to  participate  in  DoJ s home  sale  program.   DoJ
   decided that Dr. Asaad would not be eligible to be reimbursed for
   his residence  sale expenses and  could not participate  in DoJ s
   home sale program because his house in Fredericksburg was not the
   quarters from  which he  regularly commuted to  and from  work in
   Beckley.  Dr. Asaad asks that we review DoJ s decision.
 
                               Discussion
 
        The  statutory authority to  reimburse an employee  for real
   estate expenses  incurred in the  sale of a  residence at  an old
   official station incident to a  transfer is contained in 5 U.S.C.
     5724a(d)(1) (West  Supp. 1997).   The  implementing regulations
   provide that the  residence being sold must be  at the employee's
   old "official station."  41  CFR 302-6.1 (1997).  The regulations
   also provide  that, with  respect to  reimbursement of  residence
   sale  expenses, "official station"  means the residence  or other
   quarters from  which the employee "regularly commutes to and from
   work."   41 CFR  302-1.4(k).  A  home sale  program is a  form of
   relocation service.   An agency may pay for  a relocation service
   if  the service  is a  substitute for  a reimbursable  relocation
   allowance for which an employee  is eligible.  Home sale services
   are a substitute for residence sale expenses.  41 CFR 302-12.1, -
   12.3, -12.102.   Thus,  if   an employee  is not  eligible to  be
   reimbursed for residence  sale expenses, neither is  the employee
   eligible to participate in an agency s home sale program.
 
 
        Both  the Board  and  the  General  Accounting  Office  have
   consistently  held  that  the regulation s  requirement  that  an
   employee regularly commute  to and from a  residence contemplates
   commuting on a daily basis,  not just on weekends or occasionally
   during the  month.    Where  an  employee  commutes  from  living
   quarters in the  near proximity of  his duty station  on a  daily
   basis and only travels on  weekends and holidays, for example, to
   a residence where his family  lives, the weekend commute does not
   satisfy the  regulation's  requirement  of  "regular"  commuting.
   David M.  Whetsell, GSBCA 14089-RELO (Feb. 26,  1998); Malcolm L.
   Jowers, GSBCA 13727-RELO, 97-1 BCA   28,800;  Jesse Jackson, Jr.,
   B-251559 (Mar.  31, 1993); Johnny  W. Reising, B-238086  (June 8,
   1990); Donald R. Stacy, 67 Comp. Gen. 395 (1988).
 
        Because Dr.  Asaad made  his daily commute  to and  from his
   apartment in Beckley, and  not from the house  in Fredericksburg,
   he is not eligible to be reimbursed for the expenses he incurs in
   selling his house in Fredericksburg.   Because he is not eligible
   to be reimbursed for residence  sale expenses, he is likewise not
   eligible to participate in DoJ s home sale program.
        We agree with DoJ s decision to deny Dr. Asaad s claim.
   _______________________________
 
                                      MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                      Board Judge