February 6, 1997
                                                  


                             GSBCA 14032-RELO


                    In the Matter of DONALD E. GUENTHER


     Donald E. Guenther, Munich, Germany, Claimant.

     Lillian Gonzalez, Director, Department of Defense Education
Activity, Arlington, VA, appearing for Department of Defense.

DANIELS, Board Judge (Chairman).

                                   ORDER

     Donald E. Guenther, a teacher in Department of Defense (DoD)
schools in Germany, has for more than two years been seeking a
final determination of a claim involving living quarters allowance
(LQA) due him.  Mr. Guenther submitted his claim to the General
Accounting Office (GAO) in October 1994.  In May 1995, DoD
acknowledged that Mr. Guenther was entitled to LQA in an amount to
be determined, and GAO closed its file in this matter.

     Eleven months later, Mr. Guenther reported to GAO that DoD had
not agreed to pay as much as he thought it should; he asked GAO's
help in securing full payment.

     Shortly thereafter, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act,
1996, Pub. L. No. 104-53,  211, 109 Stat. 514, 535 (1995),
transferred claims settlement authority from GAO to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), and permitted the Director of OMB to
divide this authority further among executive branch agencies.  The
Acting Director made such an allocation in June 1996.  Claims
involving expenses incurred by federal civilian employees for
official travel and transportation, and for relocation incident to
transfers, were assigned to the General Services Administration
(GSA).  The GSA Administrator delegated the authority to settle
these claims to the GSA Board of Contract Appeals.  Claims
involving compensation and leave of federal civilian employees were
assigned to the Office of Personnel Management.  Other claims were
allocated as well.

     On November 29, 1996, GAO sent to us material it had regarding
Mr. Guenther's claim for LQA.  We docketed the case as GSBCA 14032-
RELO.

     After reviewing the material in detail, we conclude that LQA
is not an expense of travel, transportation, or relocation; since
it is an allowance which accrues to an employee after he has
traveled to a place and relocated there, it is more properly viewed
as a species of compensation.  This distinction is drawn in title
5 of the United States Code, Government Organization and Employees:
the law regarding travel, transportation, and relocation expenses
is contained in chapter 57, "Travel, Transportation, and
Subsistence," whereas the law regarding LQA is contained in chapter
59, "Allowances."

     Because we do not have jurisdiction over this case, we are now
dismissing it from our docket and transferring it for resolution to
the Office of Personnel Management.





                                   _________________________
                                   STEPHEN M. DANIELS
                                   Board Judge