differential under this subsection may not exceed 25 percent of the rate of basic pay.

(b) Any employee granted a differential under subsection (a) of this section may be granted an additional differential for an assignment to a post determined to have especially adverse conditions of environment which warrant additional pay as a recruitment and retention incentive for the filling of positions at that post. An additional differential for any employee under this subsection

(1) may be paid for each assignment to a post determined to have such conditions;

(2) may be paid periodically or in a lump sum; and

(3) may not exceed 15 percent of the rate of basic pay of that employee for the period served under that assignment. § 5926. Compensatory time off at certain posts in foreign

areas

(a) Under regulations prescribed pursuant to this subchapter, and notwithstanding subchapter V of chapter 55 of this title or any other law, the head of an agency may, on request of an employee serving in a foreign area

(1) at an isolated post performing functions required to be maintained on a substantially continuous basis, grant the employee compensatory time off for an equal amount of time spent in regularly scheduled overtime work; or

(2) at a post in a locality that customarily observes irregular hours of work or where other special conditions are present, in order to cope with those special circumstances, grant the employee compensatory time off for an equal amount of time spent in regularly scheduled overtime work for use during the pay period in which it is earned.

Credit for compensatory time off earned under paragraph (2) shall not form the basis for any additional compensation.

(b) Compensatory time earned under this section shall be for use only while the employee is assigned to the post where it is earned. Any such compensatory time not used at the time the employee is reassigned to another post shall be forfeited.

§ 5927. Advances of pay

Up to three months' pay may be paid in advance to an employee upon the assignment of the employee to a post in a foreign

area.

§ 5928. Danger pay allowance

An employee serving in a foreign area may be granted a danger pay allowance on the basis of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions which threaten physical harm or imminent danger to the health or well-being of the employee. A danger pay allowance may not exceed 25 percent of the basic pay of the employee, except that if an employee is granted an additional differential under section 5925(b) of this title with respect to an assignment, the sum of that additional differential and any danger pay allowance granted to the employee with respect to that assignment may not exceed 25 percent of the basic pay of the employee.

The presence of nonessential personnel or dependents shall not preclude payment of an allowance under this section. In each instance where an allowance under this section is initiated or terminated, the Secretary of State shall inform the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of the action taken and the circumstances justifying it.

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 at remote worksites

(a) Notwithstanding section 5536 of this title, an employee of an Executive department or an independent establishment who is assigned to duty, except temporary duty, at a site so remote from the nearest established communities or suitable places of residence as to require an appreciable degree of expense, hardship, and inconvenience, beyond that normally encountered in metropolitan commuting, on the part of the employee in commuting to and from his residence and such worksite, is entitled, in addition to pay otherwise due him, to an allowance of not to exceed $10 a day. The allowance shall be paid under regulations prescribed by the President establishing the rates at which the allowance will be paid and defining and designating those sites, areas, and groups of positions to which the rates apply.

(b) Under procedures prescribed by the President, the maximum allowance specified in subsection (a) may be adjusted from time to time in the interest of recruiting and retaining employees for performance of duty at remote worksites.

§ 5942a. Separate maintenance allowance for duty at Johnston Island

(a) Notwithstanding section 5536 of this title, and under regulations prescribed by the President, an employee of an Executive agency (other than a Government corporation) who is assigned to a post of duty at Johnston Island, a possession of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, is entitled to receive a separate maintenance allowance if the head of the employing agency finds that

(1) it is necessary for the employee to maintain the employee's spouse or dependents, or both, at a location other than Johnston Island

(A) by reason of dangerous or adverse living conditions at Johnston Island; or

(B) for the convenience of the Federal Government; and

(2) the allowance is needed to help the employee meet the additional expenses involved in maintaining the employee's spouse or dependents, or both, at such other location rather than at the post.

(b) The regulations prescribed by the President shall include provisions for determining the rate at which an allowance under this section shall be paid.

§ 5943. Foreign currency appreciation allowances

(a) The President, under such regulations as he may prescribe, 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 check or draft was converted into foreign currency under the arrangement referred to by subsection (b) of this section. (d) The President shall report annually to Congress all expenditures made under this section.

§ 5944. [Repealed. Pub. L. 98-164, title I, § 127(b)(1), Nov. 22, 1983, 97 Stat. 1027.]

§ 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.

§ 5946. Membership fees; expenses of attendance at meetings; limitations

Except as authorized by a specific appropriation, by express terms in a general appropriation, or by sections 4109 and 4110 of this title, appropriated funds may not be used for payment of

(1) membership fees or dues of an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title or an individual employed by the government of the District of Columbia in a society or association;

or

(2) expenses of attendance of an individual at meetings or conventions of members of a society or association.

This section does not prevent the use of appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for expenses incident to the delivery of lectures, the giving of instructions, or the acquiring of information at meetings by its employees on subjects relating to the authorized work of the Department.

§ 5947. Quarters, subsistence, and allowances for employees of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, engaged in floating plant operations

(a) An employee of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, engaged in floating plant operations may be furnished quarters or subsistence, or both, on vessels, without charge, when the furnishing of the quarters or subsistence, or both, is determined to be equitable to the employee concerned, and necessary in the public interest, in connection with such operations.

(b) Notwithstanding section 5536 of this title, an employee entitled to the benefits of subsection (a) of this section while on a vessel, may be paid, in place of these benefits, an allowance for quarters or subsistence, or both, when

(1) adverse weather conditions or similar circumstances beyond the control of the employee or the Corps of Engineers prevent transportation of the employee from shore to the vessel; or

(2) quarters or subsistence, or both, are not available on the vessel while it is undergoing repairs.

(c) The quarters or subsistence, or both, or allowance in place thereof, may be furnished or paid only under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army.

§ 5948. Physicians comparability allowances

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in order to recruit and retain highly qualified Government physicians, the head of an agency, subject to the provisions of this section, section 5307, and such regulations as the President or his designee may prescribe, may enter into a service agreement with a Government physician which provides for such physician to complete a specified period of service in such agency in return for an allowance for the duration of such agreement in an amount to be determined by the agency head and specified in the agreement, but not to exceed