ML19294B453
| ML19294B453 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 01/16/1980 |
| From: | Barry L NRC OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER |
| To: | Ryan R NRC OFFICE OF STATE PROGRAMS (OSP) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19294B451 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8002280423 | |
| Download: ML19294B453 (6) | |
Text
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MEMORANDUM FOR:
Robert D. Ryan, Director Office of State Programs FROM:
Learned W. Barry Controller
SUBJECT:
RICHARD, WILSON'S V0UCHER FOR DECOMt11SSIONING WORKSHOP This is in response to your December 12, 1979, memorandum to me concerning a travel voucher for Richard Wilson,~an invitational traveler.
Although I understand your concerns for Mr. Wilson, the Federal Travel Regulations, 1-7.6a, and numerous Comptroller General Decisions such as B-182586, dated 12/17/74, (attached) clearly state that subsistence expenses, such as meals and lodging, incurred at a traveler's duty station are not reimbursable regardless of the unusual circumstances. The General Services Administration has verified that these regulations and CG Decisions apply to all Government employees including invitational travelers. FTR 1-2.3e(6) states that the term " employee" includes "... individuals serving without pay or at $1 a year." i.e., invitational travelers.
Based upon the above mentioned regulations and CG Decisions, there is no statutory authority to permit reimbursenent of Mr. Wilson's meal expenses. The original travel authorization was correctly prepared, approved, and authorized to provide for reimbursement of local travel mileage only, and to specifically state that per diem was not allowed.
Mr. Wilson's travel voucher will be reimbursed accordingly.
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Learned W. Barry Controll er Attachments:
As stated 8002280 f23
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FFMR 101-7
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1-J.ce 7.6d(2) i s
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ci o f volun t,ry r.+o n o f a '.r evele
'or nonuri4,jn 'o hi, u f fici,1 e n tion or hir p1 xo of
, M h-f tem which he n nuten daily to hia o f fic t il at, tion, the reimuu rn--"q t allowaM e for the cu tvate ti not cEced the par dia-und any tinval rm w'-t rip t ran por t i' lon,nd po r di"*
exp-re which sould hve teen,llow,ble MJ
- .ha tr,veler remained at his te:rporary duty station.
d.
fmiirac*-routa or in+ar.
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Where for 2 traveler's peruor.al convanience or
- N unch the b a nc of le ne there la iriterruption of travel or deviation from the direc t route, i
the t er diem allowed m,y not exceed tht which wouli i< ave been incurred on uninterrupted travel by a acu.dl/ travaled route. (rece 1-2.~r u:d 1-11."=( 3).)
e.
Tim -Hnem du ria.-
,1-tr, vel.
Wu,n irdi n t:al tr,veln dire:t betwaen duty p3tu' which we cer, r' t.a j bj ecveral tima mno n t at le,nt one of the duty point; is outside the..,n te rmi:te'.a 'Ini ta l ha tes, per dion en t, tl~n t in no' tnte rrt.p ted by re,nen o f a rest p-tisd 'llowed the injivi bial en route or at de * ;n, tion un te r appstp riate 'gency rule:.
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- Pa r it a s n-r i *,
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"o,i lt * * ' t re t - m '
i ntv et,*i Per iien in lieu of subalntence may not be
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'd in c plojee 1*har at his par-,nant a'ation 3r it hiq place of 1bcde from uhich he
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' en daily to hin o f f t-in t.s ta tion.
If a Mro r iry 1:.;.t gnment at s part tcular pla:? is a
p os t g ed beyond a poeiod of 20 day,. t eriel vou - rs a dmittal hefere return chall state the j
'f f - ximato period t.o be covered Lj 'he +1tj vi -"-on t T t 7ach pl,ce, or 'he acproxi?.a te date o f o
rotm n to of ficial heliparter u. or t th, u well u,ny o ther pertinent fa:ta which will tend to +ow that dity at a,:b placa is o f s te po rn ry n,* ure.
b.
"-a of i ml
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Eer diem may te allowed whan the t ravele r i
ta por,ry assign ent away f rom his of ficial u.e e t t ruel trular o r c,r pind vehicl" Nh t l en Gtit'on.
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c.
Tima det,rmin, tion, w
I Th dite and nour of depa rtu re f rarit and arrivnl g
(1)
Du*y to rac o rd ra rt iaan*
- in at *be of ficial station or any other pbre at wrich of ficial travel begins or enda and points at j
l w h t. 's te t or,ry Juty to perfor ed st,ll be attown on the tr, vel voucnce wnen ruch arrival or
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l t-i t u re a f f ac ts t!.. por di-m in liau o f m.i n e ec 'llonnce or other travel expences. Ctner rm n' visitad shoul1 31:0 9 lo*.cn but the t2-a of arrival and departure need not be entered.
d (2)
Ua of9,",H t im Tha ours a f dara rture and a rr ivril reco rded un er b7.>c(1) chall be ' ' we o f %e at and: rd tima than curraa tly in ef fect at the pla..
involved.
( S n.. 15 15.C "Q.)
( 3) (nj y,*ic"1 dit" lina In cora tinc par diem in caseu.here the traveler croaces t h.
tn t.e em tion,1 dM eline (1:Oth me ridi,n).
- e 1 tual el,psed ti-e 9,11 te uaed rathe r than
- ,lr ' ia r dayc.
f d.
Carrut'*1nn o f 5,-t e an t t*lamm *
(1)
Tr,-1 o f $4 %.r er la 7.
For :ontinnons travel Jf 2f noura or leS3, the 6
tr real period st n11 he regarued as en cing with the bacinning of the travel and ending with t*n ompt"*wn, and h r evh 6-hour po rtion o f *ha pa ru d, o r f rac tion o f such pertion, ene-fourth' u t' '
- e pe r t i m ra t a fo r, :al"n.hr day will bo,lloved.
Ho weve r, por diam sh,ll not be allowed wh. n the t i vt. l pe r tad 1, 10 hou rt o r lo;. dota rc t he cine calenda r day, except *ihen the travol pm :4 i: 6 hou m ar moic,nd begin; bafot a 6 rt.:. or ter::iratan after 3 p.m.
(The proviso does f
net typly in the c:tre of travel incidcat to 2 chance cf offici'l statien.)
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'f r, vel o f -o re th,n A "ou r - In co puting the per diam in lieu of subnistence l
for 'on
- inuoua tr, val o f mo re ti.an % tcu r:. tha e, lend,r lay (nidnight to midnight) shall be the I
unt*.,nd for f rac t i"nal pa rts o f a 4,y it tha ~m~nc-ent or anding of auc h cont inuous
- rwel conn *i tuting a trw l r^rlod. one-fourt h o f the rate for a calendar day srall ha allowed for e3cn rrr md of 6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br /> or f raction theraof. When choce in per dien rite la made luring a day, the r,'
o f par dtom in o f re t a t the hecinutnt' of tu,r*cr in which the change occurs chall en*inue to tha and o f th1 L qu,rter.
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/pQT'9} Ts e c a M pT A ta s.L E A C EN E A A L
. D E C I S I O N i. 2.~'./1 )., OF THE U N ITE D STATGS
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y DATE:
B-IS2585 k.
December 17, 1974 MATTER OF:
9.
. General Services Administration--ceals and i
. lodging at headquarters incident to attendance OlGEST:
' at meeting Employee who incurred subsistence and lodging expenses
\\, at his headquarters incident to his attendance at l
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' e' Annual Meeting Exhibition of the President's Co=mittee e,on E=ployment of the i!andicapped is not entitled to J,reicbursenent therefor, notwithstanding such expenses were incurred at cirection of Goverment of ficials,
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since Co=ptroller General has consistantly hold that, p-in absence of specific statutory authority, c=ployee is not entitled to subsistence at headquarters, regardless of unusual working conditions, and Govern-l e
ment is neither estopped nor bound by unauthoriced t
y acts of its agents.
L Hr. Gary E. Schroeder, Chief, Financial Services Branch, Cencral f
Services Ad=inistration (G2A), an authoriced certifying officer, by l
letter of Jctober 31, 1974, requested a decision as to the legality of a payment =ade to ;Ir. Albert F. Petrillo, a C3A c=ployee, in I
reicbursemant for the expenses of lodging and ceals incurred at his headquarters ut. der the circusstances stated below.
Under the autnvrity contained in 31 U.S.C. S2d(1970), the Comptroller General is required to reader a decision to a certifying officer on a question of law involved in pay =ent on a specified voucher that has been presented to him for certification prior to payment of the voucher.
In the instant case, the voucher in question has alrecdy been paid. ' tile, normally, we tauld not render a deci-sion in such a situation, inasmuch as the problem involved in the instant case is of a recurring nature, we are renderin3 our decision to the Acainistrator, GSA, uncer the broad authority of 31 U.S.C. 74 (1970), hich authorices us to provide decisions to the heads of depart =ents on any question involved in payments which may be made by that depar t=ent.
See 5.1 Co=p. Gen. 71 (1973);
51 M. 79 (1971).
The record indicates that Mr. Petrillo was invited by the President's Cc=ittee on Employnent of the Handicacped to partici-pate as an exhibitor at its Annual Meeting Exhibitun to be held l
at the k'ashington Hilton Hotel on May 1-3, 1974.
Pursuan; to a j
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B-182386 I
me:orandu:s dated April 30, 1974, frem the Director of Personnel, Mr. Petrillo was designated to represent GSA.
5~ nile in atten-dance he expended $37 from personal funds to cover the costs of
!l two banquets a luncheon held during the course of the meeting.
i Additionally, it is stated that on !!ay 1 Ur. Pctrillo attended certain conferences and activities which lasted until 11 that evening.
Since ceetings and activities were scheduled to resume at 7r30 the following uorning, and in view of the fact that his ho=e uas in Centerville, Virginia, Mr. Petrillo was directed by the Director, Central Offico Operations Division, to secure
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lodging at the ho tel.
He did so at a cost of $26.50.
The certifying officer states that he is aware of our deci-sions precluding reimbursement to an employee for ceals and lodging
-1 secured at headquarters.
However, he requests the decision since both expenses were incurred at the direction of Gover := cat officials who were apparently unaware of such restriction.
In addition, it is suggested that equity would not be served by denying pay =ent in this situation.
We have consistently held that in the absence of specific statutory authority, the Covernment may not pay subsistence expen-ses or per dies to civilian ceployees at their headquarters, regardless of any unusual condition involvad.
See Federal Travel Regulations (??.fA 101-7) para. 1-7.6a (May 1973); 42 Ccap. Gen. 149
- (196 2 ); B-130506, August 21,1974; B-169235, April 6,1970; B 169163, Sep te=ber 11, 1970.
f, While it is unfortunate that officials of the CSA advised
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i' Mr. Petrillo that he would be entitled to rei=bursement for the sh expenses incurred, the rule is well established that the United f
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States can be neither bound nor estoppdd by the unauthorized acts of its agents.
See Federal Cron Insurance Cor oratica v. Merrill, l
332 U.S. 333 (1947).
- . acre a covern= cat otticial approves anc promises rel=bursement beyond that alloucd by applicable law, any
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payments made under such unauthorized actions are recoverable by p
the Governacnt.
it. Penn. !!arolo-ical Ins t.
Inc. v. United States, o
146 Ct. C1. 540 (19 w).
Thus, it is cicariy est blir,nec that no administrative official can enlarge rights created by statute and regulations by misinforming persons concerning their entitle =ent, regardless of the equities involved.
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B~182586
.Accordingly, the paycent of the items in question to Mr. Petril h
were i= proper and collection action should be ef fected to recoup t e erroneous payment.
py vn i FA Ig5E'pl Co=ptroller General of the United States O
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March 8, 1978 FPMR Temp. Reg. A-11, Supp. 5 (s
Attachment A CilANGES TO FEDERAL TRAVEL REGULATIONS, FPMR 101-7
- 1. Paragraph 1-1.3c(6) is revised as follows:
f 1-1.3. General rules.
h c.
O (6) Employee. As used in this chapter, " employee" means the head of an agency, an agency official, er any other individual employed in or under an ngency. This definition also 1 icludes an individual employed inter-mitt'ently in the Government service as an expert or cohsultant and paid on a daily when-actually-employed (WAE) t asis and an individual serving without i
pay or at $1 a year (5 U.S.C. 5701(2))
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- 2. Paragraph 1-3.3 is revised as follows:
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1-3.3. Travel policy. class of service authorized, and reports.
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a.
General policy. It is the policy of the Government that less-than-first-class accommodations shall be used for all modes of passenger transpor-tation. Common carrier accommodations shall be as specifically provided in b, c, and d, below, and shall apply to both domestic and international travel of civilian employees while on official business for the Government.
I
- b. Train accommodations.
(1) Sleeping car accommodations. When overnight travel is 3
involved, the lowest first-class sleeping accommodations available shall be I
allowed. Iligher cost accommodations may be authorized or approved upon certification by the employee on the travel voucher that lowest first-class accommodations were not available or that use of superior accommodations were authorized or approved by the head of the agency concerned, or his designee, as being required for security purposes. When practicable, through sleeping accommodations shall be obtained if they are more economical to the l
Government.
l (2) Parlor car and reserved coach accomrrodations. One seat in a parlor car may be allowed when the duration of the train travel exceeds 4
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