[EEOC Request for Clarification of Decision Concerning Appropriated Funds]

GAO was asked to clarify a decision in which it held that appropriated funds could not be used to purchase an air purifier for the office of a Federal employee who suffered from an allergy to tobacco smoke. In the prior decision, GAO had no reason to consider whether the Rehabilitation Act provided specific statutory authority for the purchase of equipment necessary for a qualified handicapped employee to perform his official duties, since the employee involved was not handicapped in the narrowly defined sense. GAO stated that, when acting under the authority of the act, an agency may expend appropriated funds to accommodate the physical or mental limitations of a qualified handicapped employee or applicant, unless such accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its program.