Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _______________________________________________ April 7, 1999 _______________________________________________ GSBCA 14889-RELO In the Matter of ALFRED VOELKELT Alfred Voelkelt, McAlester, OK, Claimant. Ray E. York, Finance Directorate, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN, appearing for Department of Defense. BORWICK, Board Judge. Claimant, a civilian quality assurance specialist with the Department of Defense, seeks reimbursement of transaction expenses for the sale of a residence resulting from his permanent change of station (PCS) from Pueblo, Colorado, to the Republic of South Korea. Claimant incurred the expenses in August 1992, but argues that under the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) he is entitled to reimbursement after his transfer to McAlester, Oklahoma in 1998. The agency denied the claim, since claimant sold his residence in 1992, well before official notification of his transfer from the Republic of South Korea to McAlester, Oklahoma. The agency concluded that, under the JTR, an employee is not entitled to reimbursement for any expenses of a transaction that occurs prior to official notification that the employee's return would be to a permanent duty station (PDS) other than the one from which he/she transferred to the foreign post of duty. We sustain the agency's decision. The facts as indicated in the record are as follows. In 1988, claimant's permanent duty station, the Pueblo Army Depot, Pueblo, Colorado, was placed on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list. On December 10, 1991, the agency authorized claimant's PCS to Camp Humphries, Pyongtaek, Republic of South Korea, for a one-year unaccompanied tour of duty. On May 20, 1992, the agency changed claimant's tour of duty from one year to twenty-four months and authorized reimbursement of the expenses of travel and relocation when claimant's family joined him in the Republic of South Korea. In August 1992, claimant sold his house in Pueblo and incurred certain real estate transaction expenses. Claimant's "twenty- four month" tour of duty lasted until June 1998, when the agency permanently transferred claimant to the Defense Ammunition Center, McAlester, Oklahoma. The agency granted claimant real estate expenses for the purchase of a residence at his new PDS. On October 22, 1998, clamant submitted a reimbursement request for the real estate transaction expenses in selling his residence in Pueblo, Colorado. Claimant maintained that, as an employee returning to a domestic PDS from a foreign one, he is entitled under the JTR to reimbursement for those expenses incurred at his last nonforeign PDS. The agency denied the claim, because he incurred the expenses in 1992, before the agency officially notified him that he would be sent to a domestic PDS (Defense Ammunition Center, McAlester, Oklahoma) other than the one from which he was transferred (Pueblo Army Depot, Pueblo, Colorado). Claimant maintains that under the JTR, since his last domestic PDS was subject to BRAC closing, the requirement of official notification does not apply. The governing statute provides in pertinent part: (2) An agency shall pay to or on behalf of an employee who transfers in the interest of the Government from a post of duty located outside the United States to an official station within the United States (other than the official station within the United States from which the employee was transferred when assigned to the foreign tour of duty) -- (A) expenses required to be paid by the employee for the sale of the residence (or the settlement of an unexpired lease) of the employee at the old official station from which the employee was transferred when the employee was assigned to the post of duty located outside the United States; and (B) expenses required to be paid by the employee for the purchase of a residence at the new official station within the United States. (3) Reimbursement of expenses under paragraph (2) of this subsection shall not be allowed for any sale (or settlement of an unexpired lease) or purchase transaction that occurs prior to official notification that the employee's return to the United States would be to an official station other than the official station from which the employee was transferred when assigned to the post of duty outside the United States. 5 U.S.C. 5724a(d) (Supp. III 1997). The JTR provide in pertinent part: D. Sale of Residence in Anticipation of Transfer 1. Following Announcement of Base Closure. An employee may be reimbursed for real estate expenses incurred before, and in anticipation of, a transfer if a clearly evident administrative intent exists, at the time the expenses are incurred, to transfer the employee (58 Comp. Gen. 208 (1979)). The announcement of a base closure, accompanied by an offer to assist in finding new positions for affected employees, is a clearly evident intent to transfer those employees (B-249451, January 7, 1993). Registering an employee in Priority Placement Program (PPP) constitutes an offer to assist in finding a new position. An employee, registered in the PPP or other placement program, who sells a residence in anticipation of a PCS, may be reimbursed for residence sale expenses when transferred to a new PDS, if otherwise eligible under this Chapter. Employees should be cautioned that they are eligible for reimbursement of real estate expenses only if subsequently employed in a position that involves a PCS. If the PCS is to an OCONUS location, reimbursement for the expenses may be made only after the employee completes a tour of duty at the OCONUS PDS and subsequently is transferred to a different nonforeign location as indicated in subpart C. 2. Employee Officially Notified of Return to a Different Nonforeign Area PDS. An employee who, incident to a PCS to a foreign area from a PDS in a nonforeign area, is officially notified that return will be to a different nonforeign area PDS, may sell the residence at the former nonforeign area PDS and be reimbursed real estate expenses under this chapter, if otherwise eligible, upon completion of a tour of duty in the foreign area and subsequent transfer to a different nonforeign area PDS. Reimbursement shall not be allowed for any real estate transaction that occurs prior to official notification that the employee's return would be to a PDS other than the one from which transferred to the foreign post of duty. Reimbursement may not be made until the employee is transferred back to a PDS in a nonforeign area. Reimbursement may not be made incident to the transfer to the foreign post of duty, even though the employee officially is notified at that time that return will not be to the same PDS after the completion of the foreign assignment. Travel orders ordinarily constitute official notification (B-249184, March 5, 1993). JTR C14000-D. Claimant maintains that as long as he meets the requirements of JTR subsection C14000-D.1, he does not have meet the official notification requirement of subsection C14000-D.2. We do not agree. The two subsections are not independent; claimant must meet the requirements of both. We will not interpret the implementing regulation to have a broader meaning than the governing statute, Glenn S. Podonsky, GSBCA 14207- TRAV, 97-2 BCA  29,229, and the governing statute makes no distinction between BRAC and non-BRAC base closings. Claimant's assumption that a BRAC listing means transfer to another PDS is erroneous. Under the JTR, with respect to entitlements relating to residences, the PDS includes the residence or other quarters from which the employee regularly commutes to and from work. JTR Appendix A. A base closure would not result in transfer to a PDS other than the one transferred from before the foreign tour of duty, if there were another PDS to which an employee could be assigned within the commuting distance of the employee's last domestic residence. The agency correctly denied the claim. __________________________ ANTHONY S. BORWICK Board Judge