Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 __________________ September 30, 1998 __________________ GSBCA 14612-RELO In the Matter of JUDY T. BARNETTE Judy T. Barnette, Gulfport, MS, Claimant. Judy Hughes, Travel Policy, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Columbus Center, Columbus, OH, appearing for Department of Defense. PARKER, Board Judge. In September 1994, Judy T. Barnette, a civilian employee of the Department of the Navy, was transferred from Charleston, South Carolina, to Gulfport, Mississippi. Ms. Barnette was offered a choice between having the Government pay for the shipment of her mobile home and having the Government pay for the shipment of her household goods. Ms. Barnette's travel orders (as amended) reflected her choice to have the Government pay for the shipment of her mobile home by commercial carrier. The orders also authorized temporary storage of her household goods for ninety days. Ms. Barnette was reimbursed in the amount of $10,381.19 for expenses incurred in connection with the movement of her mobile home. She has asked the Board to review the agency's decision not to reimburse her for (1) expenses she incurred for shipping some of her household goods to Mississippi, (2) expenses she incurred for temporary storage of some of her household goods, and (3) the amount she paid ($13,239) to a construction company to clear the land (including trees) and prepare the ground on which she would place her mobile home at the new duty station. As explained below, we find that the agency properly denied these portions of Ms. Barnett's claim. 2 Discussion Transportation of household goods An employee who is entitled to movement of household goods may, in lieu of such transportation, be authorized transportation of a mobile home for use as a residence. JTR [Joint Travel Regulations] C10000-1.[foot #] 1 Ms. Barnette was given the option described above and chose to have the Government pay for transportation of her mobile home in lieu of transportation of her household goods. Reimbursing an employee for both types of expenses would be contrary to the JTR and, in Ms. Barnette's case, contrary to the terms of her travel orders as well. See Charles A. Miller, GSBCA 13679-RELO, et al., 97-1 BCA 28,865. The agency was thus correct in denying this aspect of Ms. Barnette's claim. Temporary storage The agency correctly denied Ms. Barnette's claim for reimbursement of temporary storage expenses which, by regulation, go hand-in-hand with transportation of household goods. Section 302-8.5 of the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) provides as follows: Temporary storage of household goods at Government expense may be allowable only when such storage is incident to transportation of the household goods at Government expense. 41 CFR 302-8.5(a) (1994).[foot #] 2 Thus, when Ms. Barnette elected to have the Government pay for transportation of ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 This paragraph number is from the version of the JTR in effect in September 1994, when Ms. Barnette relocated to Gulfport. The current paragraph, which says the same thing, is JTR 10000-A. [foot #] 2 Although this FTR provision does not appear in the JTR, the Department of Defense is required to follow it. Because the FTR is issued under a delegation from the Congress, it is a "legislative rule" which has special weight. The JTR, since they are generally issued without statutory imprimatur and, for the most part, explain and implement the FTR, are "interpretative rules" and therefore deserve less weight. In cases where a provision of the JTR is in conflict with the FTR, we apply the FTR, except where a particular JTR provision implements a statute specific to the Department of Defense and, thus, is not reflected in the FTR. C. Ray Taylor, GSBCA 13688- ______________ TRAV, 97-1 BCA 28,783. ----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS ----------- 3 her mobile home in lieu of transportation of her household goods, she also gave up the possibility of reimbursement for temporary storage expenses. This arrangement makes sense; an employee who transports a mobile home which will be used as his or her residence should not need temporary storage of his or her household goods. The fact that Ms. Barnette's travel orders erroneously authorized such reimbursement, although unfortunate, cannot create a right to reimbursement where no independent statutory or regulatory basis for such reimbursement exists. William C. Ziesenitz, GSBCA 14515-TRAV (July 22, 1998). The agency was thus correct in denying this aspect of the claim. Clearing and preparing land The JTR provide that the allowance for transporting a mobile home includes "costs generally associated with preparing a mobile home at a point of origin . . . for movement and resettling the mobile home at the destination[.]" JTR 10001- 3(f).[foot #] 3 Preparation costs include such things as (1) rental, installation, removal and transportation of axles, (2) labor costs for unblocking and unanchoring the mobile home at origin and blocking and anchoring the mobile home at destination, (3) costs for purchasing blocks in lieu of transporting blocks from the old duty station and cost of replacement blocks broken while the mobile home was being transported, (4) packing and unpacking of household goods associated with the mobile home, (5) disconnecting and connecting utilities, and (6) labor costs for removal and reassembling of skirting. Id. It is evident from reading the above examples that the allowance for transporting a mobile home from one duty station to another includes the common, unavoidable expenses of preparing the home for transport and setting it up at the new station. The allowance is not intended to pay for major construction or renovation of a potential home site chosen by the employee. Ms. Barnette has already been reimbursed for the costs she incurred in preparing her mobile home for shipment and setting it up in Mississippi. Her claim for an additional $13,239 that she paid to a construction company for clearing the land and preparing the ground at her new duty station was properly denied by the agency. __________________________ ROBERT W. PARKER Board Judge ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 3 The current paragraph number is JTR 10001- C.6.