COST

It is estimated that the additional cost of this legislation will be $65,000 annually.

AGENCY REPORTS

The reports of the administration on H.R. 7406 as introduced are set forth below.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT,

Hon. THADDEUS J. DULSKI,

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., July 11, 1968.

Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, 207 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to the committee's request for the views of the Bureau of the Budget respecting H.R. 7406, to authorize the furnishing of subsistence and quarters or per diem allowance to employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations.

The Bureau of the Budget concurs in the amendment to the bill proposed in the report which the Department of the Army is submitting to your committee on this bill.

Accordingly, there would be no objection from the standpoint of the administration's program to enactment of H.R. 7406, modified as suggested by the agency concerned.

Sincerely yours,

WILFRED H. ROMMEL,

Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.

U.S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.
Washington, D.C., July 11, 1968.

Hon. THADDEUS J. DULSKI,

Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, Cannon House Office Building.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reply to your request for the views of the Civil Service Commission on H.R. 7406, a bill to authorize the furnishing of subsistence and quarters or per diem allowance to employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations.

This bill would authorize the payment of a per diem allowance to employees of the Army Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations, in those instances when the corps is unable to supply subsistence and quarters or when employees are unable to board because of weather conditions. It further provides that allowances granted be given in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary of the Army.

At the present time, these employees are entitled to subsistence and quarters on vessels without charge, whenever messing and quartering are considered equitable and necessary in the public interest.

Situations do arise, however, when the corps determines that it would be uneconomical to maintain stewards' facilities, or when repair

work or weather conditions will not permit living on board. In these instances, the employee must provide food and lodging at his own

expense.

The Commission feels that this situation is neither equitable nor proper. When a Government employee travels for the convenience of the Government, he is allowed a per diem allowance. In the opinion of the Commission these employees of the Corps of Engineers are in a similar situation and should receive the same benefits. Therefore, the Commission supports H.R. 7406.

However, it is noted that the citation on lines 3 and 4 of the bill which reads “45 Stat. 193; 5 United States Code 75a" is incorrect. The correct citation is "69 Stat. 48.”

Moreover, the second of the two sentences which this bill would insert after the first sentence of Public Law 84-35 is duplicative of the already existing second sentence of Public Law 84-35. Thus, the bill should be changed by striking out on lines 4 and 5 the words "inserting the following at the conclusion of the first sentence of that Act:" and inserting in their stead "striking out the second sentence of that Act and inserting in lieu thereof:".

The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the administration's program there is no objection to the submission of this

Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the Department of Defense on H.R. 7406, 90th Congress, a bill to authorize the furnishing of subsistence and quarters or per diem allowance to employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations. The Department of the Army has been assigned responsibility for expressing the views of the Department of Defense on this bill.

This bill would amend Public Law 35, 84th Congress (69 Stat. 48) so as to provide for the payment of a per diem allowance to employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations in lieu of subsistence and/or quarters when the corps is unable to supply such subsistence and/or quarters, or when such employees report for work but are prevented from boarding the plant because of hazardous weather conditions.

The act which the bill would amend provides that employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations may be furnished subsistence and/or quarters on vessels without charge whenever messing and/or quartering are determined to be equitable to the employees and to be necessary in the public interest in connection with such operations. This act was enacted in order to establish comparability between corps employees and those in private industry performing similar types of work.

In certain circumstances, however, corps employees have been unable to obtain the benefits provided for in the act. This occurs, for example, when a dredge is undergoing periodic overhaul, or when employees reporting for duty at the beginning of their tour of duty at a specified point on shore for transportation to the dredge cannot be transported because of adverse weather conditions. In such a case, the employees must provide subsistence and quarters at their own expense, as no authority exists to pay them an allowance in lieu of subsistence and quarters.

This situation has occurred, and continues to occur, with regard to employees working on hopper and sidecasting dredges. While a similar problem might be encountered in connection with other types of floating plants, its nature and scope have not yet been sufficiently explored to enable the Department of the Army, on behalf of the Department of Defense, to express an opinion. Accordingly, it is recommended that the bill be amended so as to apply only to employees working on hopper and sidecasting dredges. This could be accomplished by amending the bill to read as follows:

"To authorize the furnishing of subsistence and quarters without charge to employees of the Corps of Engineers engaged in floating plant operations "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Public Law 35, Eighty-Fourth Congress (69 Stat. 48) is amended by deleting the last sentence of the Act and inserting the following at the conclusion of the first sentence of the Act: 'Where circumstances beyond the control of the employee prevent the furnishing of such subsistence and quarters on hopper and sidecasting dredges, an appropriate allowance in lieu thereof may be established and paid. Any such subsistence and/or quarters or allowances in lieu thereof shall be furnished in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary of the Army." As a clerical matter, it is noted that the citation for Public Law 35, 84th Congress, in the bill is incorrect. It should read "(69 Stat. 48)." With the suggested amendments, the Department of the Army, on behalf of the Department of Defense, recommends that the bill be favorably considered.

This report has been coordinated within the Department of Defense in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. If this bill is enacted, it is estimated that the annual cost to the Department of Defense will be $65,000.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the administration's program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the consideration of the committee.

Sincerely,

(Signed) STANLEY R. RESOR, Secretary of the Army.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman) :

SUBCHAPTER IV OF CHAPTER 59 OF TITLE 5,
UNITED STATES CODE

SUBCHAPTER IV.-MISCELLANEOUS ALLOWANCES

5941. Allowances based on living costs an conditions of environment; employees stationed outside continental United States in Alaska.

5942. Allowance based on duty on California offshore islands or at Nevada Test Site.

5943. Foreign currency appreciation allowances.

5944. Illness and burial expenses; native employees in foreign countries. 5945. Notary public commission expenses.

5946. Membership fees; expenses of attendance at mettings; limitations. 5947. Quarters, subsistence, and allowances for employees of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, engaged in floating plant operations.

SUBCHAPTER IV.-MISCELLANEOUS ALLOWANCES § 5941. Allowances based on living costs and conditions of environment; employees stationed outside continental United States or in Alaska.

(a) Appropriations or funds available to an Executive agency, except a Government controlled corporation, for pay of employees stationed outside the continental United States or in Alaska whose rates of basic pay are fixed by statute, are available for allowances to these employees. The allowance is based on

(1) living costs substantially higher than in the District of Columbia;

(2) conditions of environment which differ substantially from conditions of environment in the continental United States and warrant an allowance as a recruitment incentive; or

(3) both of these factors.

The allowance may not exceed 25 percent of the rate of basic pay. Except as otherwise specifically authorized by statute, the allowance is paid only in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President establishing the rates and defining the area, groups of positions, and classes of employees to which each rate applies.

(b) An employee entitled to a cost-of-living allowance under section 5924 of this title may not be paid an allowance under subsection (a) of this section based on living costs substantially higher than in the District of Columbia.

§ 5942. Allowance based on duty on California offshore islands or at Nevada Test Site.

Notwithstanding section 5536 of this title, an employee who is assigned to duty, except temporary duty, on one of the California offshore islands or at the United States Atomic Energy Commission Nevada Test Site, including the Nuclear Rocket Development Station, is entitled, in addition to pay otherwise due him, to an allowance of not to exceed $10 a day. However, the allowance shall be paid under regulations prescribed by the President establishing the rates at which the allowance will be paid, and defining the areas and groups of positions to which the rates apply.

§ 5943. Foreign currency appreciation allowances.

(a) The President, under such regulations as he may prescribe and on recommendation of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, may meet losses sustained by employees and members of the uniformed services while serving in a foreign country due to the appreciation of foreign currency in its relation to the American dollar. Allowances and expenditures under this section are not subject to income taxes.

(b) Annual appropriations are authorized to carry out subsection (a) of this section and to cover any deficiency in the accounts of the Secretary of the Treasury, including interest, arising out of the arrangement approved by the President on July 27, 1933, for the conversion into foreign currency of checks and drafts of employees and members of the uniformed services for pay and expenses.

(c) Payment under subsection (a) of this section may not be made to an employee or member of a uniformed service for a period during which his formed services while serving in a foreign country under the arrangement referred to by subsection (b) of this section.

(d) The Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall report annually to Congress all expenditures made under this section.

§ 5944. Illness and burial expenses; native employees in foreign countries.

(a) The head of an Executive department or military department which maintains a permanent staff of employees in foreign countries may pay the burial expenses and expenses in connection with the last illness and death of a native employee of his department in a country in which the Secretary of State determines it is customary for employers to pay these expenses. Payment of these expenses may not exceed $100 in any one case.

(b) The head of an Executive department or military department which maintains a permanent staff of employees in foreign countries in which the custom referred to by subsection (a) of this section does not exist, on finding that the immediate family of the deceased is destitute, may pay such of the expenses referred to by subsection (a) of this section within the limitations in that subsection to the family, heirs at law, or persons responsible for the debts of the deceased, as the employee in charge of the office abroad in which the deceased was employed considers proper.

(c) Payments under this section are made from appropriations available to the department concerned for miscellaneous or contingent expenses.

§ 5945. Notary public commission expenses.

An employee as defined by section 2105 of this title or an individual employed by the government of the District of Columbia who is required to serve as a notary public in connection with the performance of official business is entitled to an allowance, established by the agency concerned, not in excess of the expense required to obtain the commission. Funds available to an agency concerned for personal services or general administrative expenses are available to carry out this section.