Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
 
                          ____________________
 
                            August 11, 1998
                          ____________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14589-RELO
 
 
                     In the Matter of TONY M. DAVIS
 
 
        Tony M. Davis, Avondale, AZ, Claimant.
 
        Lisa   D.  Peer,  Chief,  Travel  Pay  Branch,  Rock  Island
   Operating Location,  Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Rock
   Island, IL, appearing for Department of Defense.
 
   DeGRAFF, Board Judge.
 
        An   agency  cannot  reimburse  an  employee  for  temporary
   quarters subsistence expenses  incurred after the employee  moves
   into permanent quarters.  If an agency does not authorize the use
   of  more than  one  privately owned  vehicle  in connection  with
   permanent duty travel, the agency  does not have to reimburse the
   employee for the expense of using more than one vehicle.  
 
                               Background
 
        Tony M.  Davis, an  employee of  the  Department of  Defense
   (DoD), transferred from Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas,
   to  Luke  Air  Force  Base,  Arizona.   On  August 5,  1997,  DoD
   authorized Mr. Davis to  make a ten-day trip to  Arizona in order
   to find a new permanent residence.  DoD also authorized Mr. Davis
   to  use  a  privately  owned  vehicle to  travel  to  Arizona  in
   accordance  with the  Joint Travel  Regulations  (JTR), to  incur
   temporary  quarters subsistence expenses  for him and  his family
   for up to  sixty days, and to  incur a variety of  other expenses
   that are not  at issue here.  DoD gave Mr. Davis a travel advance
   of $8021 to cover the expenses for his house hunting trip, travel
   from Texas  to Arizona,  and the first  thirty days  in temporary
   quarters.
 
        Mr. Davis took  a trip to Arizona, found  an apartment there
   that  he wished  to make  his permanent  residence, and  signed a
   lease to  rent the apartment  beginning September 12, 1997.   Mr.
   Davis and his family traveled in two vehicles to Arizona, arrived
   there on September  11, and stayed in  a motel that night.   They
   moved into their apartment on September 12 because Mr. Davis says
   that he could not afford to stay in the motel while he was paying
   rent for  the apartment.   Mr. Davis  explains that,  although he
   decided to  move out of the motel and  into the apartment, he did
   not have any  dishes and so  he incurred expenses for  meals from
   September 12 through 20.  
 
 
        Mr. Davis asked  DoD to reimburse him for  meals and laundry
   for September 12 through 20, 1997, and for the expense of driving
   a second vehicle from Texas to Arizona.  DoD decided to  deny Mr.
   Davis s  request  for reimbursement,  and  Mr. Davis  asks  us to
   review DoD s decision. 
 
                               Discussion
 
        DoD   correctly  decided  to  deny  Mr.  Davis s  claim  for
   reimbursement for  meals and laundry expenses.   According to the
   relevant statute and regulations, DoD can reimburse Mr. Davis for
   meals and  laundry expenses  that he incurred  only for  the days
   that he was occupying  temporary quarters.  DoD  cannot, however,
   reimburse Mr.  Davis  for  meals  and laundry  expenses  that  he
   incurred after he moved into  his permanent quarters.  5 U.S.C.A.
     5724a(c)  (West Supp.  1998);  41  CFR  302-5.1,  -5.2,  -5.108
   (1997);  JTR  C13001  (Mar.  1, 1996),  C13005  (Apr.  1,  1997).
   Although Mr.  Davis says that he could not  afford to stay in the
   motel  while he  was paying  rent for  the apartment,  the agency
   points out that it provided  Mr. Davis with a substantial advance
   of funds which  should have been sufficient to  pay for temporary
   quarters for up to thirty days.   DoD cannot reimburse Mr.  Davis
   for meals  and laundry expenses  that he incurred after  he moved
   into the apartment which was his permanent quarters.
 
        DoD also  correctly decided  to deny  Mr. Davis s  claim for
   reimbursement for driving a second vehicle from Texas to Arizona.
   According  to  the  relevant regulations,  DoD  can  authorize an
   employee  to use  more  than  one  privately  owned  vehicle  for
   permanent duty travel in some  circumstances.  41 CFR 302-2.3(e);
   JTR  C2157  (Apr.  1,  1995).   DoD  apparently  decided  not  to
   authorize Mr. Davis to use  a second vehicle, and the information
   available to  us  does  not  establish  that  this  decision  was
   arbitrary  or capricious.   DoD  does not  have to  reimburse Mr.
   Davis for  driving more  than one vehicle  from Texas  to Arizona
   because it never authorized him to use a second vehicle.  
 
        We deny the claim.
   __________________________________
 
                                      MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                      Board Judge