B-310502, Department of the Army--Use of Appropriations for Bottled Water, February 4, 2008

B-310502 Feb 04, 2008 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Federal law and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) policy require that the Corps provide access to potable water for employees working in remote areas of the Savannah District. For work sites that have no access to potable water, it is within the Corps' discretion to decide how best to meet this responsibility, whether by providing coolers or jugs for transporting water or by providing bottled water. We have no objection to the Corps using appropriated funds to provide bottled water, so long as the Corps administratively determines that providing bottled water is the best way to provide its employees at a particular remote area with access to potable water. View Decision B-310502, Department of the Army--Use of Appropriations for Bottled Water, February 4, 2008 Decision Matter of: Department of the Army—Use of Appropriations for Bottled Water File: B-310502 Date: February 4, 2008 DIGEST Federal law and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) policy require that the Corps provide access to potable water for employees working in remote areas of the Savannah District. For work sites that have no access to potable water, it is within the Corps' discretion to decide how best to meet this responsibility, whether by providing coolers or jugs for transporting water or by providing bottled water. We have no objection to the Corps using appropriated funds to provide bottled water, so long as the Corps administratively determines that providing bottled water is the best way to provide its employees at a particular remote area with access to potable water. DECISION A disbursing officer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has requested an advance decision under 31 U.S.C. sect. 3529 regarding the availability of appropriated funds to pay for bottled water for employees working in remote areas in the Corps' Savannah District. Letter to Office of General Counsel, GAO, from Anne Schmitt-Shoemaker, Disbursing Officer, Corps, to Office of General Counsel, GAO, Sept. 12, 2007 (Request Letter). Specifically, the disbursing officer has asked whether the Corps may use appropriated funds to reimburse employees for bottled water or to purchase bottled water in bulk to provide to employees working in remote areas. For the reasons stated below, we have no objection to the Corps using its appropriations for bottled water so long as the Corps administratively determines that providing bottled water is the best way to provide access to employees to a source of potable water. To protect the health and safety of its employees, federal law and Corps policy and regulation require that the Corps provide employees with access to potable water. Our practice when rendering decisions is to obtain the views of the relevant agency to establish a factual record and the agency's legal position on the subject matter of the request. 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 regard, we sent a development letter to the disbursing officer to clarify facts and obtain copies of legal advice that had been provided to her. Letter from Thomas H. Armstrong, Assistant General Counsel for Appropriations Law, GAO, to Anne M. Schmitt-Shoemaker, Disbursing Officer, Corps, Oct. 24, 2007. In response, the disbursing officer forwarded to us information provided by the Savannah District Office, including the opinions provided by both District Counsel and counsel at Corps Headquarters. Letter from Anne M. Schmitt-Shoemaker, Disbursing Officer, Corps, to Thomas H. Armstrong, Assistant General Counsel, GAO, Nov. 5, 2007 (Response Letter). BACKGROUND Army Corps of Engineers drill crews work in remote areas throughout various parts of the United States. Response Letter, at 2. Remote work sites are often not easily accessible and, at times, crews of up to 4 or 5 employees travel by boat or walk through swamps and wooded areas to reach drilling sites to begin each day's work. E-mail from Brenda Ponder, Finance and Accounting Officer, Corps Savannah District, to Anne Schmitt-Shoemaker, Nov. 2, 2007 (Ponder E-mail) (transmitted with Response Letter). Employees are often required to work outside in hot, humid, and dusty conditions for up to 12 hours during the day. Id.Many of these remote drilling sites in the Savannah District are not developed and contain no utility infrastructure. Id.In most cases, no potable water is available at or within a reasonable distance from the site. Id. From time to time, CorpsFinanceCenter has received requests to reimburse Savannah District employees for purchases of bottled water consumed while working on drill crews at remote sites.[1] Request Letter, at 1.