Case No. RC272-00322
December 6, 1996
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Supplemental Order
Name of Applicant: Montgomery County Board of Education
Dates of Filing: August 10, 1995
January 25, 1996
July 6, 1995
Case Numbers : RC272-322
RJ272-4
RK272-1105
On August 6, 1990, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding granting a refund to Montgomery County Board of Education (Montgomery)(Case No. RF272-76039). See Greenville Transit Authority et al., Case Nos. RF272-76003 et al. (August 6, 1990) In that Decision, the Office granted a refund of $3,359 to Montgomery based on purchases of 4,198,769 gallons of refined petroleum products from August 1973 through January 1981. That application was filed by Petroleum Funds, Inc., a private filing service. However, almost two years earlier, Montgomery had been granted a refund for purchases of 5,489,067 gallons under Case No. RF272-34208. See South Lewis Central School et al., Case Nos. RF272-31523 et al. (December 13, 1988)
This Office is in the process of issuing supplemental refunds to all applicants granted refunds in the crude oil proceeding. As we stated in the August 6, 1990 Decision and Order, when additional crude oil monies became available, meritorious applicants would receive a share of the additional monies. During our review process for a supplemental refund in Case No. RF272-34208, we discovered that the later application on behalf of Montgomery appeared to be duplicative of the earlier application. We contacted Douglas Weiland, Director of Business Affairs for Montgomery, to determine whether the two applications had been filed for the same gallonage. In a letter dated June 22, 1995, Mr. Weiland confirmed that the later application filed on behalf of Montgomery was a duplicate application, and that the gallonage claim in the earlier application was more accurate. Accordingly, we determined that the later application should be rescinded.
Since the supplemental per gallon refund amount ($0.0008) is the same as the prior per gallon refund amount, we informed Mr. Weiland that, rather than requiring Montgomery to repay the duplicate refund, we intended to subtract the gallonage upon which the later refund was granted. See Letter from Richard W. Dugan, Associate Director, OHA, to Douglas Weiland (June 14, 1995). We
determined that the supplemental refund for Montgomery would be based on purchases of 1,290,298 gallons (4,198,769 subtracted from 5,489,067) and would total $1,032 (1,290,298 x $0.0008). Further, we informed him that there would not be any additional supplemental refund granted for Case No. RF272-76039, the later application.
Unfortunately, an unreduced supplemental refund of $3,359 based on purchases of 4,198,769 gallons was erroneously granted to Montgomery through Petroleum Funds, Inc. (Case No. RF272-76039). See Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, Case No. RB272-17 (August 3, 1995). Thus, this Office must modify Montgomery's supplemental refund. Montgomery must repay $2,327 ($1,032 subtracted from $3,359). As is our general practice, Petroleum Funds, Inc. and Montgomery shall be held jointly and severally responsible for the repayment of the money. See Atlantic Richfield Company/J&J Arco, Case No. RF302-13762 (April 6, 1993). In addition, we will change Montgomery's approved volume in the OHA database for Case No. RF272-76039 from 4,198,769 gallons to zero gallons.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Decision and Order issued by the DOE on August 6, 1990, Greenville Transit Authority et al., is hereby rescinded as to Montgomery County Board of Education, Case No. RF272-76039, redesignated as RC272-322.
(2) The Decision and Order issued by the DOE on August 3, 1995, Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, Case No. RB272-17, is hereby modified as to Montgomery County Board of Education, Case No. RF272-76039, redesignated RJ272-4.
(3) The supplemental refund for Montgomery County Board of Education, Case No. RF272-34208, redesignated as RK272-1105, is hereby approved. In accordance with Paragraph (5) below, however, no refund will be disbursed.
(4) The Office of Hearings and Appeals shall reduce the approved volume claim for Montgomery County Board of Education, Case No. RF272-76039, from 4,189,769 to zero gallons.
(5) Montgomery County Board of Education and Petroleum Funds, Inc. are hereby jointly and severally directed to remit $2,327 to the Department of Energy. Payment shall be mailed to the following address:
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of the Controller
P.O. Box 500
Germantown, MD 20874-0500
Payment should be made by check payable to the U.S. Department of Energy and should refer to Case No. RJ272-4. In the event that payment is not made within 30 days of the date of this Decision and Order, interest shall accrue on the amount due at the rate generally assessed by the Department of Energy on overdue receivables. Other charges generally assessed on overdue DOE receivables shall also apply.
(6) Upon receipt of the payment specified in paragraph (4) above, the Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Chief Financial Officer, shall take appropriate action to deposit these funds into the DOE deposit fund escrow account denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Energy.
(7) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: December 6, 1996