Board of Contract Appeals
                 General Services Administration
                      Washington, D.C. 20405
         _______________________________________________
                                 
                          June 14, 2001
         _______________________________________________
                                 
           GSBCA 15548-TRAV, 15549-TRAV, 15550-TRAV,
        15551-TRAV, 15552-TRAV, 15553-TRAV, 15554-TRAV, 
         15555-TRAV, 15556-TRAV, 15557-TRAV, 15558-TRAV
          In the Matters of LEO McMANUS, NATALIE FUNK,
            CHRISTA BUCKS, NELDA LEVY, STACEY SYES,
         MARIA ARREDONADO, JUDY ASHTON, REGINA BOWDEN,
     BILL JOHNSON-BEY, JENNIFER DeBOY, and REGGIE SAJAUSKAS
     Leo McManus, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15548-TRAV.
     Natalie Funk, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15549-TRAV.
     Christa Bucks, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15550-TRAV.
     Nelda Levy, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15551-TRAV.
     Stacey Syes, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15552-TRAV.
     Maria Arredonado, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15553-TRAV.
     Judy Ashton, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15554-TRAV.
     Regina Bowden, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15555-TRAV.
     Bill Johnson-Bey, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15556-TRAV.
     Jennifer DeBoy, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15557-TRAV.
     Reggie Sajauskas, Baltimore, MD, Claimant in GSBCA 15558-TRAV.
                              
     J. Patrick O'Toole, Director, Division of Travel, Social Security Administration,
Baltimore, MD, appearing for the Social Security Administration.
     
BORWICK, Board Judge.
     In this matter eleven employees of the Social Security Administration (SSA or agency)
incurred subsistence expenses when, at the agency's direction, they attended a conference and
stayed overnight within the designated area of their permanent duty station (PDS).  The
agency then refused to pay the subsistence expenses of two of the employees and has
announced its intention to seek refunds from the remaining nine whom the agency had paid. 
The agency's actions are in accord with statute and the implementing Federal Travel
Regulation (FTR) since there is no entitlement to subsistence expenses within the designated
area of the PDS.  
     The facts indicated by the record are as follows.  On or about November 11, 2000, the
agency's Office of Employment Support Programs (OESP) issued travel orders to eleven of
its insurance specialists to attend a State Partnership Initiative (SPI) conference in Annapolis,
Maryland.  Each travel order authorized lodging at $90 per day and per diem of $42 for meals
and incidental expenses (M&IE).  On each travel order, the agency justified the  expense on
the ground that "staying overnight [was] required due to early morning and late night
meetings."  The agency authorized lodging on an actual expense basis because, it explained,
no rooms were available at the Government rate.  
     Baltimore, Maryland, was the duty station for nine of the eleven conference attendees;
Ellicott City, Maryland, and Pikesville, Maryland, were the official stations for the remaining
two attendees.
     According to the agency, the purpose of the conference was to "allow the State project
managers to inform each other and the [agency] about progress being made on their projects
with cooperative agreement funding."  The agency also explained that it had a contract with
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to provide technical support and assistance in
monitoring SPI projects.  An important meeting between SSA and VCU had to be scheduled
between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. on the night of December 12, because there was no time in the
working day to schedule that meeting.  Also, all but two the attendees were new to the OESP
team, and it was useful for the new members to meet with VCU and gain an understanding
of the projects for which the new team members would be responsible.  Had the new team
members not stayed the night, the agency says OESP employees would have had to make
separate trips to Richmond or for orientation with VCU.  By staying overnight in Annapolis,
the employees saved the Government the cost of separate orientation trips.  
     Three SSA staff members also stayed the night of December 13 to prepare the next
morning for a meeting with VCU and several state SPI representatives to discuss fulfilling
a separate legislative requirement involving SPI states.  This meeting was scheduled to
follow the SPI project conference because meeting with the state officials present at the SPI
meeting was more sensible than holding a separate conference at another place and time. 
     After the conference, the agency paid the subsistence costs for nine of the attendees,
but did not pay the subsistence costs for two of them (Ms. Regina Sajauskas and Ms. Stacey
Syes).  The agency then determined that reimbursement of subsistence expenses could not
be allowed:
     Although travel authorizations were issued for these employees to receive
     subsistence expenses within the metropolitan area of the official station, in the
     absence of [a] specific, statutory authority for approval, we believe we cannot
     authorize reimbursement of subsistence expenses within the official station. 
     Even though early morning/late night sessions were scheduled, we believe this
     does not provide a legal basis for reimbursement of per diem at the official
     station.
The agency has stated that it intends to seek refunds from the nine attendees at the conference
who were paid subsistence expenses and not pay those who have not received payment for
such expenses.
     Statute provides that an employee is entitled to per diem and subsistence expenses
when the employee is "traveling on official business away from the employee's designated
post of duty."  5 U.S.C.   5702(a) (1994).  The implementing FTR provides that an employee
is eligible for a travel allowance when the employee "perform[s] official travel away from
your official duty station, or other areas defined by your agency."  41 CFR 301-11.1(a)
(2000).  Here, the agency has defined the official station for all employees in the
metropolitan Baltimore area as including the City of Baltimore and all of the Maryland
counties of Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford, and Howard.  SSA Administrative
Instructions Manual   07.13.02 (C)(1).  The City of Annapolis is in Anne Arundel County. 
41 CFR Ch. 301 app. A.  Ellicott City is in Howard County, and Pikesville is in Baltimore
County.  Consequently, the employee's travel from Baltimore (or from Ellicott City or
Pikesville) to Annapolis was not "official travel away from [the employee's] official duty
station or other areas defined," as required by statute and the FTR.  
     The General Accounting Office long recognized that employees are not entitled to
reimbursement of subsistence costs at the official station even when reimbursement was
authorized by the agency because of unusual working conditions, such as--here--the necessity
of attending meetings at odd times.  William Perkette, 71 Comp. Gen. 517 (1992); Nancy
Blustein, 68 Comp. Gen. 46 (1988).  Our decisions are consistent with these rulings.  Ollice
C. Holden, GSBCA 15175-TRAV, 00-1 BCA   30,815; Murray Lumpkin, GSBCA 14513-
TRAV, 98-2 BCA   30,042.  
     The agency correctly applied statute and regulation in refusing to pay subsistence for
two of the claimants and is entitled to seek refunds from the remaining nine attendees.  It is
unfortunate that the agency required the employees to incur subsistence expenses in the first
place.  Nevertheless, the agency's erroneous actions cannot create an entitlement that violates
statute and regulation.   Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond, 496 U.S. 417, 425-
26, 434 (1990).
                              ____________________________
                              ANTHONY S. BORWICK
                              Board Judge