Case No. RG272-00500
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners:Reimer Express Lines, Ltd. et al.
Date of Filing:June 29, 1995 et al.
Case Numbers: RG272-00500 et al.
This Decision and Order will consider the Applications for Refund filed by 13 claimants based upon their purchases of refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 (the crude oil price control period). The names of these applicants are set forth in the Appendix attached to this Decision and Order. Each applicant has requested a refund from crude oil monies made available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. Until June 30, 1995, purchasers of refined products could apply to the OHA for a refund from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. See Modified Statement of Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986); Notice of New Filing Deadline in Special Refund Proceeding Involving Crude Oil Overcharge Refunds, 60 Fed. Reg. 19914 (April 21, 1995). We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been made available through consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the price control period. E.g., Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 (1987) (Berry); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987); Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 14 DOE ¶ 85,475 (1986).
The refund procedures set forth in these cases specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: 1) document its purchase volumes; and 2) show that it was injured as a result of the alleged crude oil overcharges. However, as we discussed in City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987), applicants who were end-users of petroleum products and whose businesses were unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have absorbed the crude oil overcharges, and generally need not submit proof of injury to receive a refund in the Subpart V proceeding. See also Berry, 16 DOE at 88,799.
In general, a claimant is eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons it purchased multiplied by $0.0016 per gallon, the volumetric refund amount currently available. We derived the volumetric refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies currently available by the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products during the period of crude oil price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
We have carefully reviewed the information submitted by the 13 applicants, and have determined that the information provided by the applicants sufficiently supports their requests for refunds.(1) Each of the applicants has demonstrated the volume of its claim by consulting actual records or by using a reasonable estimation technique. The gallonage amounts listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order reflect the approved purchase volume for each applicant.(2)
We have found that all 13 applicants were end-users of refined petroleum products. Accordingly, they are presumed injured by the crude oil overcharges and are entitled to receive their full allocable shares of the crude oil monies. The refund amounts are calculated by multiplying the approved purchase volumes by the volumetric refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 81,946,452 gallons, and the sum of the refunds granted is $131,115.
One of the applicants listed in the Appendix filed its Application through a private filing service, Wilson, Keller & Associates. In accordance with the applicants request, the refund check will be made payable to the applicant or Wilson, Keller & Associates, and be sent to Wilson, Keller & Associates, P.O. Box 221145, Memphis, TN 38122.
It is the current policy of the DOE to pay eligible crude oil refund claimants at the rate of $0.0016 per gallon. We will decide whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for these and other successful applicants when we are better able to determine how much additional money will be collected from firms that have either outstanding obligations to the DOE or enforcement cases currently in litigation.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Applications for Refund filed by the 13 claimants listed in the Appendix attached to this Decision and Order for all available crude oil overcharge funds are hereby approved as set forth in Paragraph (2) below.
(2) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller of the Department of Energy, shall take appropriate action to disburse a total of $131,115 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV , Account Number 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury, to the 13 applicants listed in the Appendix.
(3) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the applicants shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change of address, or if an address correction is necessary. Such notification shall be sent to:
Director of Management Information
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20585-0107
(4) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary materials submitted by the applicants. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon finding that the basis underlying any Application for Refund is incorrect.
(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
November 1, 1996
(1)Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to any application involved in this determination.
(2)Five of the applicants listed in the Appendix are agricultural cooperatives. In the Subpart V refund proceeding, we have generally regarded refund applications filed by cooperatives as claims filed on behalf of their members because cooperatives are in a position to pass through any refunds received to their members. Thus, to the extent that the volumes claimed by the cooperatives were sold to their members, the end-user presumption of injury is applicable to these claims. Each of the cooperatives has certified that it will pass through any refund to its members. Furthermore, we have subtracted from each of the gallonage claims the volumes that the cooperative sold to non-members. Accordingly, we will grant refunds to these cooperatives based on the volumes set forth in the Appendix.
In addition, Grain Land Coop (Case No. RG272-00509), one of the five cooperatives listed in the Appendix, has applied on behalf of five cooperatives with whom it has merged--Easton Farmers Elevator, Minnesota Lake Coop, Wells Farmers Elevator, Kiester Cooperative Elevator Company, and Fairbault County Cooperative Association. Although the current Grain Land Coop patronage pool consists of both former patrons of each of the five cooperatives and pre-merger Grain Land Coop patrons, we believe that it comprises the best available mechanism for distributing the refund monies to the five cooperatives former patrons. We recognize that the distribution will never be exact due to ever-evolving cooperative ownership.
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND RG272-00500 REIMER EXPRESS LINES, LTD. C/O GERALD F. REIMER 1400 INKSTER BLVD. WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CN R2X1R1 1,869,556 $2,991 RG272-00502 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BAYONNE C/O JOHN MAHON P.O. BOX 277; 50 E. 21ST ST. BAYONNE, NJ 07002 5,218,635 $8,350 RG272-00508 CRESCENT COOPERATIVE ASSN. C/O JOHN HORNBECK P.O. BOX 316 CRESCENT, OK 73028 2,125,160 $3,400 RG272-00509 GRAIN LAND COOP C/O BILL ERICKSON P.O. BOX 65; 621 E. 7TH ST. BLUE EARTH, MN 56013 33,051,611 $52,883 RG272-00535 CONNELL GRANGE SUPPLY, INC. C/O JUDY DEBOER BOX 190 CONNELL, WA 99326 4,827,986 $7,725 RG272-00537 BEATTIE FARMERS UNION COOP. C/O LARRY L. PREUSS BOX 79 BEATTIE, KS 66406 12,103,791 $19,366 RG272-00538 NASHUA EQUITY COOPERATIVE C/O JOE MERFELD 3195 280TH ST. NASHUA, IA 50658 3,741,618 $5,987 RG272-00553 ECKDAHL WAREHOUSE CO. C/O GREG MEYERS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES P.O. BOX 221145 MEMPHIS, TN 38122 3,429,904 $5,488 RG272-00579 RAYLS BROTHERS TRANSFER, INC. C/O JOHN WHITE P.O. BOX 129 HOOPESTON, IL 60942 2,885,186 $4,616 RG272-00581 CPS CHEMICAL CO., INC. C/O JESSE ZAZIK 123 WHITE OAK LANE OLD BRIDGE, NJ 08857 2,639,610 $4,223 RG272-00582 SALSBURY CHEMICALS, INC. C/O RUSSELL C. SMITH 1205 11TH ST. CHARLES CITY, IA 506163466 9,261,000 $14,818 RG272-00589 SIBLEY DRILLING CO. OR LEWIS C. SIBLEY 9208 E. JACKSON RD., RT. 1 WALKERVILLE, MN 49459 360,995 $578 RG272-00592 ATLANTIC AERO, INC. C/O DICK H. FORRESTER P.O. BOX 35048 GREENSBORO, NC 274255408 431,400 $690 Totals: 13 81,946,452 $131,115
Last Updated on 8/15/97
By OHA