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B-288828 1 (2002-10-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaobm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G A 0 Comptroller General Accountability * Integrity* Reliability of the United States United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 Decision Matter of: Purchase of Insulated Coveralls, Vicksburg, Mississippi File: B-288828 Date: October 3, 2002 DIGEST Absent statutory authority, items of wearing apparel are the employee's personal responsibility, and not the government's, and appropriated funds are not available for their purchase. Our Office has recognized three statutes that permit the purchase of wearing apparel. The purchase of insulated coveralls for use by employees at the Corps of Engineers' Vicksburg Waterways Experiment Station when outside temperatures approach freezing is not authorized by any of these three statutes, and consequently is not a proper use of appropriated funds. DECISION The Deputy Director of Finance, United States Army Corps of Engineers, has requested an advance decision on whether it is proper to use appropriated funds for the purchase of insulated coveralls for employees to wear when outside temperatures fall below 35 degrees. Generally, it is the responsibility of the employee to report to duty properly clad to carry out his responsibilities. B-123223, June 22, 1955. There are three statutes, however, that permit agencies, in varying circumstances, to use appropriated funds to purchase clothing and other wearing apparel. None of these three authorities is available to the Corps to purchase insulated coveralls in the circumstances presented to us by the Deputy Director. We address each of the three statutes in our analysis below. BACKGROUND The United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, entered into an agreement with Local 3310 of the American Federation of Government Employees that would require ERDC to purchase and supply insulated coveralls to employees at the Vicksburg Waterways Experiment Station who work outside when temperatures drop below 35 degrees, including periods when the wind chill factor is below 35 degrees. The coveralls

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