Summary

Generally, agencies are prohibited from transferring funds absent specific statutory authority. 31 U.S.C. 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. 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). 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.