Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 __________________________ November 9, 1998 __________________________ GSBCA 14714-RELO In the Matter of JOSEPH A. SOTO Joseph A. Soto, Ann Arbor, MI, Claimant. Ronald L. Page, Manager, External Relations Branch, Office of Financial Services, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of Transportation. DeGRAFF, Board Judge. An agency can pay for temporary storage of a transferred employee's household goods for up to 180 days. If an agency authorizes fewer than 180 days of temporary storage, the agency is responsible for paying storage charges only for the number of days that it authorizes. Background On February 22, 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized the transfer of Joseph A. Soto from Long Beach, California, to Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Soto's travel orders provided that the FAA would use the Government Bill of Lading (GBL) method to ship his household goods to his new duty station. When the FAA uses the GBL method to ship an employee's household goods, it provides the employee with a letter that attaches a copy of the GBL. The letter states: Transportation and up to 90 days of temporary storage for your household goods are allowed. Under certain conditions, up to 90 additional days of temporary storage may be approved. After 180 days temporary storage automatically converts to permanent storage. The Government Bill of Lading expires after 180 days, if you stay in storage longer you will be responsible for any permanent storage charges upon delivery of shipment. In early April 1996, Mr. Soto had Stevens Van Lines pack his household goods and store them with a company in California. Mr. Soto and the FAA agree that the FAA initially authorized him to store his household goods for ninety days, although there is no documentation of this in our file. In late May 1996, Mr. Soto asked the FAA to authorize ninety days of storage, because he was having difficulty finding housing in Michigan. On June 15, 1996, the FAA amended Mr. Soto's travel orders to authorize storage of his household goods for thirty days. Mr. Soto and the FAA interpret this amendment as authorizing thirty days in addition to the initial ninety days of temporary storage. In October 1996, when Mr. Soto's household goods had been in storage for 180 days, Stevens Van Lines asked the FAA to authorize payment for the permanent storage of Mr. Soto's household goods. The FAA notified Stevens that Mr. Soto was responsible for paying his own permanent storage charges, although our record is not clear as to when the FAA provided Stevens with this notice. In early March 1997, Stevens told Mr. Soto that his household goods had been in permanent storage since October 5, 1996, which meant that he, and not the FAA, was responsible for the storage charges that had accrued since then. Mr. Soto says that this notice was the first he received regarding his responsibility for storage charges after October 5, 1996. Mr. Soto paid approximately $3600 for the storage charges that accrued after October 5, 1996, and arranged to have his household goods shipped to Michigan. Mr. Soto claims that the FAA should be responsible for the $3600 of storage charges that accrued after October 5, 1996. The FAA disagrees. In addition, upon review of Mr. Soto's claim, the FAA determined that it paid for 180 days of storage charges, even though it had authorized only 120 days for the storage of Mr. Soto's household goods. The FAA asked Mr. Soto to repay approximately $1500 for the sixty days of storage charges that were unauthorized, and informed Mr. Soto that he could ask the FAA to waive repayment of this amount. Mr. Soto asks us to review the FAA's decisions. Discussion Agencies are authorized to pay the expenses of temporarily storing a transferred employee's household goods. Although the time limit for temporary storage is not supposed to exceed ninety days, agencies may, in certain circumstances, approve an extension of the time limit for up to an additional ninety days. Agencies are not permitted to pay for temporary storage for more than 180 days. 5 U.S.C. 5724(a)(2) (1994); 41 CFR 302- 8.2(d)(1995). Agencies are authorized to pay the expenses of non-temporary storage for an employee assigned to a permanent duty station within the continental United States only if the duty station is at an isolated location. 5 U.S.C. 5726(c) (1994); 41 CFR 302-9(1995). The FAA correctly decided that it is not responsible for the $3600 in storage charges that accrued after October 5, 1996. Because Mr. Soto's new duty station in Michigan is not at an isolated location, the FAA could pay only for temporary storage, and not for permanent storage, of his household goods. Agencies are permitted to pay for temporary storage for no more than 180 days, and so the FAA could not pay for the storage charges that accrued after October 5, 1996, when Mr. Soto's household goods had been in storage for 180 days. Mr. Soto says that if he had learned of his liability for these charges sooner, he would have removed his goods from storage and avoided having to pay the $3600. Although we do not doubt what Mr. Soto says, the fact remains that the agency lacks the authority to pay for temporary storage after 180 days, just as the FAA states in the letter that it uses to transmit GBLs to its employees. The FAA also correctly decided that it is responsible for paying for 120 days, and not 180 days, of temporary storage. The regulations authorize the agency to pay for up to 180 days of temporary storage, but permit the agency to pay for fewer days of storage. In Mr. Soto's case, the FAA authorized only 120 days of temporary storage, and not 180 days. Mr. Soto has not established that the FAA's decision to pay for 120 days of temporary storage was an abuse of discretion by the agency. Because the FAA decided to authorize only 120 days of temporary storage and because that decision was not an abuse of discretion, the FAA is not responsible for paying for 180 days of temporary storage. If Mr. Soto wishes to do so, he may ask the FAA to waive the amount that he owes for the unauthorized sixty days of storage charges. The decision as to waiver is the FAA's alone; it may not be reviewed by the Board. We deny the claim. __________________________________ MARTHA H. DeGRAFF Board Judge