United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao_comptroller_general legislative 2016-06-23 U.S. Government Publishing Office 2005-12-07 monographic deposited born digital 19 p. GA 1.13:B-303145 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-303145 P0b002ee18fd42d04 f:303145 DGPO 2016-06-23 2016-06-23 GAOREPORTS-B-303145 machine generated eng fdlp COMPTROLLERDECISION GAOREPORTS-B-303145 B-303145 Comptroller General Decision

1. Generally, agencies are prohibited from transferring funds absent specific statutory authority. 31 U.S.C. sect. 1532. The Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-117, div. B, ch. 3, 115 Stat. 2299 (Jan. 10, 2002), and the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States, Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. 820, 836 (Aug. 2, 2002), provided the Secretary of Defense the legal authority to transfer funds from the Defense Emergency Response Fund to other Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations.<p/> 2. Transferred funds are available only for the purposes for which they are appropriated, unless otherwise provided by law. Funds transferred from the Defense Emergency Response Fund (DERF) to other DOD appropriations, however, were available for the purposes of the transferee appropriations because of the clear language in the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States. It provided that funds transferred from DERF shall be merged with and be available for the same purposes as the appropriation to which transferred. Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. 820, 836 (Aug. 2, 2002).<p/> 3. Based on the information DOD provided, DERF and other appropriation accounts charged were available for the 20 projects at issue as approved. As described in the DOD documents provided, the 20 projects were sufficiently general in nature as to reasonably fall within the scope of the appropriations charged. However, as described in the DOD documents provided, some projects funded with Operation and Maintenance appropriations contemplated tasks that possibly involved construction. Accordingly, we recommend that DOD review these tasks to determine whether any tasks associated with the 20 projects involved military construction for which the charged O&M appropriation was unavailable. If DOD so determines, it should adjust its appropriation accounts accordingly. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-303145/html/GAOREPORTS-B-303145.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-303145/pdf/GAOREPORTS-B-303145.pdf GAO/B-303145 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-303145 Comptroller General Decision GAO/B-303145; B-303145, Department of Defense--Transfer and Use of Defense Emergency Response Funds, December 7, 2005; Title 10 Section 2801 Title 10 Section 2802 Title 10 Section 2805 Title 10 Section 2811 10 U.S.C. 2801 10 U.S.C. 2802 10 U.S.C. 2805 10 U.S.C. 2811 Title 31 Section 3526 Title 31 Section 712 Title 31 Section 717 31 U.S.C. 3526 31 U.S.C. 712 31 U.S.C. 717 Volume 115 Page 220 Volume 115 Page 221 Volume 115 Page 2230 Volume 115 Page 2299 Volume 115 Page 2300 115 Stat. 220 115 Stat. 221 115 Stat. 2230 115 Stat. 2299 115 Stat. 2300 Volume 116 Page 820 Volume 116 Page 836 Volume 116 Page 837 Volume 116 Page 1498 116 Stat. 820 116 Stat. 836 116 Stat. 837 116 Stat. 1498 Volume 117 Page 559 Volume 117 Page 1209 117 Stat. 559 117 Stat. 1209 Public Law 107-38 Public Law 107-117 Public Law 107-206 Public Law 107-243 Public Law 108-11 Public Law 108-106 Conf. Rept. 108-76