TITLE: B-316381, Army--Mass Transit Benefits, Aberdeen Proving Ground, July 18, 2008
BNUMBER: B-316381
DATE: July 18, 2008
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B-316381, Army--Mass Transit Benefits, Aberdeen Proving Ground, July 18, 2008

   Decision

   Matter of: Army--Mass Transit Benefits, Aberdeen Proving Ground

   File: B-316381

   Date:  July 18, 2008

   DIGEST

   The Army established a policy implementing 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905, which
   permits agency heads to reimburse federal employees, including members of
   a uniformed service, for certain commuting expenses. The certifying
   officer received a request for reimbursement, consistent with Army policy,
   from an Army officer for expenses of taking a commuter rail train to his
   place of employment. In accordance with this policy, the certifying
   officer may certify payment for transit benefits for the eligible active
   duty Army officer. The Army policy answers the certifying officer's
   concerns about the wisdom of permitting benefits for short commuting
   distances or easy travel conditions or when there is only one participant
   in the program. In implementing 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905, current Army policy
   provides that no installation outside the national capital region may
   restrict the benefit to eligible service members and employees for
   qualified means of transportation.

   DECISION

   A certifying officer with the United States Army Center for Health
   Promotion and Preventative Medicine (USACHPPM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground,
   Maryland, requests a decision under 31 U.S.C. sect. 3529 regarding mass
   transit benefits at USACHPPM.[1] Specifically, the certifying officer asks
   whether USACHPPM is "authorized to deny requests for Mass Transit Benefits
   for Civilians and/or active duty Army personnel" for what the certifying
   officer describes as short commuting distances or easy travel conditions
   currently existing in and around Aberdeen.[2] See Request Memo.

   The Federal Employees Clean Air Incentives Act permits agency heads to
   reimburse federal employees including members of a uniformed service for
   certain commuting expenses. 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905. The Army has instituted a
   policy of providing transit benefits to eligible service members and
   employees outside the national capital region for qualified means of
   transportation. As we explain below, in accordance with this policy, a
   certifying officer at USACHPPM may certify payment for transit benefits
   for an eligible active duty Army officer, notwithstanding the certifying
   officer's concerns that the claimant's commuting distance is short and
   travel conditions are easy. The certifying officer's concerns are answered
   by the Army's policy, which, for equitable reasons, prohibits
   installations outside the national capitol region from restricting these
   benefits if eligibility criteria are met.

   BACKGROUND

   An army officer at USACHPPM submitted a mass transit benefit program
   application and an accompanying claim for reimbursement to his budget
   office for the monthly fare of his commute using the Maryland Area
   Regional Commuter (MARC) train service. Request Memo. The officer intends
   to drive his privately owned vehicle from his home in Havre De Grace,
   Maryland, to a nearby MARC station at Aberdeen, Maryland, and then commute
   approximately 10 miles by MARC train to USACHPPM at Edgewood, Maryland.
   Id. The officer resides approximately fifteen miles from USACHPPM. Id. The
   monthly train fare for which the officer is seeking reimbursement is $100.
   Id.

   The USACHPPM certifying officer questions whether it is in the best
   interest of the government to use appropriations for mass transit benefits
   under travel conditions in Harford County, Maryland, where USACHPPM is
   located. Id. The certifying officer posits that the Mass Transit Fringe
   Benefits program was created to entice government employees to use mass
   transit, and thereby reduce traffic congestion and air pollution caused by
   commuting to and from the workplace in metropolitan areas. Id. The
   certifying officer explains that the MARC train which the Army officer
   proposes to take travels along a path that is roughly parallel to a public
   highway, U.S. Route 40, that is not congested at any time during normal
   conditions. Id. The certifying officer suggests, therefore, that
   reimbursing for such relatively short commuting distances may represent
   waste or abuse of government resources. Telephone conversation between
   Jack D. Wilson, Financial Management Analyst, USACHPPM, and Pedro E.
   Briones, Senior Attorney, GAO, May 1, 2008. Furthermore, the certifying
   officer argues, USACHPPM employs 579 civilians and active duty Army
   personnel, none of whom are claiming reimbursement from the mass
   transportation benefit program at this time. Request Memo. The certifying
   officer thus asks us whether he may deny the request for mass transit
   benefits in these circumstances. Id.

   ANALYSIS

   A USACHPPM certifying officer has advised that the agency would use Army's
   Defense Health Program appropriations to make this payment.[3] See
   Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2008, Pub. L. No. 110--116, 121
   Stat. 1295, 1310 (Nov. 13, 2007). Because this appropriation is available
   for, among other things, the operation and maintenance of USACHPPM, the
   Army has made these funds available for transit benefits for eligible
   service members.

   The Federal Employees Clean Air Incentives Act provides that "[t]he head
   of each agency may establish a program to encourage employees of such
   agency to use means other than single occupancy motor vehicles to commute
   to or from work." 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905(b)(1). Programs established under
   section 7905 may include transit passes, as well as cash reimbursements
   for transit passes. 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905(b)(2). The stated purposes of the
   Act are to improve air quality and to reduce traffic congestion by
   providing for the establishment of programs to encourage federal employees
   to commute by means other than single occupancy motor vehicles. 5 U.S.C.
   sect. 7905 note. See also B-291208, Apr. 9, 2003. The provision grants
   discretion to agency heads to establish transit benefit programs
   generally. 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905(b).

   The President directed that "federal agencies shall implement a
   transportation fringe benefit program" in order "to expand [Federal
   employees'] commuting alternatives." Federal Workforce Transportation,
   Exec. Order No. 13150, 65 Fed. Reg. 24,613--14 (Apr. 26, 2000) (emphasis
   added). The Deputy Secretary of Defense, in a memorandum to the military
   departments, issued guidance for the Department of Defense (DOD)
   implementing section 7905.[4] Subsequently, Army guidance with regard to
   installations outside the National Capitol Region was revised and reissued
   by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and
   Comptroller) in January 2008. Department of the Army, Mass Transportation
   Benefit Program Outside the National Capital Region, Program Policy,
   Procedures and Guidelines (Jan. 1, 2008), available at
   www.asafm.army.mil/rabp/mass trans/apg/mtbp.pdf (last visited July 14,
   2008) (Program Policy). The purpose of the program is to reduce federal
   employees' contribution to traffic congestion and air pollution and to
   expand community alternatives by using mass transportation. Program
   Policy, sect. 1.1. It also provides that no installation outside the
   national capital region may restrict the benefit to eligible service
   members and employees for qualified means of transportation,[5] including
   restricting the amount of fare a program participant may receive based on
   commuting distance. Program Policy, sect. 4.7.1.

   In this case, the army officer was seeking reimbursement of his costs for
   taking the MARC train. These are commuting costs for a qualified means of
   transportation, that is, a commuter train. Reimbursement of these costs
   comports with both the Federal Employees Clean Air Incentives Act and the
   DOD policy. Neither the act nor the policy restricts the availability of
   benefits on the basis of commuting distances or traffic conditions. Thus,
   the certifying officer would incur no personal financial liability if he
   were to certify a payment for this purpose. See 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905(2)(A);
   31 U.S.C. sect. 3528; B-291208, Apr. 9, 2003.

   It appears that Army policy would prohibit the certifying officer at
   USACHPPM from denying a claim for reimbursement for mass transit benefits
   presented by eligible civilians or active duty personnel. See Program
   Policy, sect. 4.7.1. Although the certifying officer expresses concern
   that the applicant will be the only participant at USACHPPM,[6] the Army
   policy also states that there is no requirement for a minimum or maximum
   number of program participants at any given installation. Program Policy,
   sect. 4.7.7. The policy anticipates that some installations may have only
   one participant, while others may have hundreds. Id. In fact, Army
   installations are to ensure that all military members and civilian
   employees who are employed by or stationed at the installation are aware
   of the benefit's availability, guidelines, and restrictions, using all
   internal communication media, including local installation newspapers,
   e-mail distribution lists, flyers, bulletin boards, etc. to inform
   potential participants. Id., sect. 6.4.2.

   CONCLUSION

   The Federal Employees Clean Air Incentives Act permits agency heads to
   establish programs to encourage commuting by means other than
   single-occupancy motor vehicles. 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905. The certifying
   officer was presented with a request for reimbursement from an Army
   officer for expenses of taking a commuter rail train to his place of
   employment. The Army officer's request meets the Army's current policy. In
   accordance with this policy, the certifying officer at USACHPPM may
   certify payment for transit benefits from the eligible active duty Army
   officer. The certifying officer's concerns about the wisdom of permitting
   benefits for short commuting distances or easy travel conditions or when
   there is only one participant in the program are answered by the Army's
   policy. In implementing 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905, current Army policy provides
   that no installation outside the national capital region may restrict the
   benefit to eligible service members and employees for qualified means of
   transportation.

   Gary L. Kepplinger
   General Counsel

   ------------------------

   [1] Memorandum from Jack D. Wilson, Financial Management Analyst,
   Department of the Army, Center for Health Promotion and Preventative
   Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, to GAO, Apr. 18, 2008 (Request Memo).

   [2] When rendering decisions and opinions, our regular practice is to
   obtain the views of the relevant federal agency to establish a factual
   record and to elicit the agency's legal position on the matter. GAO,
   Procedures and Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions, GAO-06-1064SP
   (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2006), available at
   www.gao.gov/legal/resources.html. In this case the certifying officer
   provided us with the Army's recent policy on the Mass Transportation
   Benefit Program; because of this clear statement of Army policy, we did
   not need to obtain further information.

   [3] E-mail from Thomas R. Bender, Deputy Chief of Staff for Resource
   Management, USACHPPM, to Pedro Briones, Senior Attorney, GAO (July 2,
   2008).

   [4] DOD, Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments, et al.,
   DOD Transportation Incentive Program, Oct. 13, 2000, accompanied by
   Guidance on the DOD Transportation Incentive Program, available at
   www.asafm.army.mil/rabp/masstrans/archives/101300di.pdf (last visited July
   14, 2008)  (DOD Transportation Incentive Program Memorandum).

   [5] A qualified means of transportation includes a commuter bus, commuter
   train, subway or light rail, and, under specified conditions, van pools
   and ferries. Program Policy, sect. 4.3.1.

   [6] Request Memo.