Case No. RF272-97335
November 12, 1996
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners: Sigma-4 Express, Inc. et al.
Dates of Filing: June 27, 1994 et al.
Case Numbers: RF272-97335 et al.
This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by 33 claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. Each applicant listed in the Appendices attached to the Decision and Order has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).
In order to receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant that was an end-user (i.e., consumer) of refined petroleum products must document its purchase volumes. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987). Each applicant's refund share is calculated using the current refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon.
We have reviewed the information submitted by these applicants and determined that each was an end-user of petroleum products.(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 Appendices to this Decision and Order reflect the approved purchase volume for each applicant.(2)
Each of the applicants listed in the Appendices is eligible to receive a refund. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendices. The applicants considered in this Decision applied either on their own behalf or through a private filing service. In accordance with each applicant's request, refund checks will be sent to either the applicant or its representative. The total volume for which refunds are approved in Appendix A in this Decision is 35,493,258 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $56,787; the total volume for which refunds are approved in Appendix B in this Decision is 230,170,074 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $368,273.
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 claimants listed in the Appendices 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 the refund amounts set forth in the Appendices to this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE0010Z, to the applicants listed in the Appendices. For those applicants listed in Appendix A, the checks should be made payable to [the applicant] or Wilson, Keller & Associates and sent to:
Wilson, Keller & Associates
P.O. Box 221145
Memphis, TN 31822
For those applicants listed in Appendix B, the checks should be made payable to the applicant and sent to the address indicated in that Appendix.
(3) Each cooperative shall notify its membership of the receipt of the refund and shall pass through to its member customers all crude oil refunds received in Subpart V refund proceedings conducted by the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
(4) 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
(5) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicants. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying any refund application is incorrect.
(6) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: November 12, 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)2/ Two of the applicants are agricultural cooperatives. In refund proceedings conducted pursuant to 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V, 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 one applicants gallonage claim 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 Appendices.
Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND RF272-97335 SIGMA-4 EXPRESS, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES LEWIS MCCURDY 1,074,486 $1,719 RG272-00396 BALTIMORE & ANNAPOLIS RR OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O KENNETH PIPIN 2,510,400 $4,017 RG272-00443 CITY OF STERLING OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O ASHLEY ROYAL 643,286 $1,029 RG272-00445 RICHARD F. KLINE, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O DOUGLAS SELBY 2,434,631 $3,895 RG272-00446 MUSKEGO-NORWAY SCHOOL DIST. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GARY ROSPLOCH 1,621,384 $2,594 RG272-00449 CITY OF CLIFTON OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O EDWARD J. MURPHY 2,380,018 $3,808 RG272-00450 HELLER BROS. PACKING CORP. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JEFF MCKINNEY 1,308,097 $2,093 RG272-00452 CHELAN COUNTY SHERRIFS OFFICE OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O RICH HAYNES 1,090,271 $1,744 RG272-00453 ALBERT FISHER HOLDINGS, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BERNADETTE KRUK 995,754 $1,593 RG272-00454 OKLAHOMA STEEL CASTING CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES AMERICAN FOUNDRY GROUP 898,928 $1,438 RG272-00455 ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JEANNE M. KLEEPSIE 1,431,049 $2,290 RG272-00457 CENTRAL FOODS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O MIKE HUBBARD 2,033,463 $3,254 RG272-00458 EXIDE CORP. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BILL HAWKINS 2,095,193 $3,352 RG272-00459 FELTES SAND & GRAVEL CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O TIMOTHY FELTES 1,339,927 $2,144 RG272-00462 CITY OF INKSTER OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O GREG BROWN 1,190,853 $1,905 RG272-00463 PACIFIC LUMBER SALES CO. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O DUWARD BROWN 2,146,560 $3,434 RG272-00464 HUGH BRASWELL & SONS OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O DAVID BRASWELL 593,389 $949 RG272-00466 HILTON CENTRAL SCHOOL DIST. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O FREDERICK APAVE 765,100 $1,224 RG272-00467 P. CHIMENTO CO., INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O STEPHEN A. AIEVOLI 1,508,859 $2,414 RG272-00468 CITY OF BEEVILLE OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BOBBY AGUILAR 822,363 $1,316 RG272-00469 NUSS TIMBER CO., INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O JOHN ADAMS 1,862,709 $2,980 RG272-00472 HARRIET TRANSPORT, INC. OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O PAULA MCGOWAN 1,262,454 $2,020 RG272-00473 MERIT DRESS DELIVERY OR WILSON, KELLER & ASSOCIATES C/O BERT GOLDMAN 3,484,084 $5,575 Totals: 23 35,493,258 $56,787 CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND RF272-97385 FAR-GAS, INC. C/O RICK BITTLE C/O BLUBAUGH & CAMBELL CPA'S, INC. 300 W. CHEROKEE, #105 ENID, OK 73701 14,439,895 $23,104 RF272-97426 VALLEY ASPHALT, INC. C/O BARRY OATES 7434 S. DEL MONTE RD. LELAND, UT 84660 54,807,316 $87,692 RF272-97552 WAYNOKA COOPERATIVE ELEVATOR C/O A.J. FERGUSON 300 S. CLEVELAND, BOX 233 WAYNOKA, OK 73860 358,040 $573 RG272-00304 NIPSCO C/O AUTHOR A. PAQUIN 5265 HOHMAN AVE. HAMMOND, IN 46320 110,043,078 $176,069 RG272-00365 ZEIGLER COAL HOLDING CO., INC. C/O JOHN MORVICH OR AMERICOAL DEVELOPMENT CO. 50 JEROME LANE FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL 62208 46,169,319 $73,871 RG272-00372 INDOOR COMFORT, INC. C/O HAL KELLY 1539 MONTANA AVE. JACKSONVILLE, FL 32207 130,792 $209 RG272-00385 WESTERN HICKORY COAL CO., INC. C/O V.Y. KERRY P.O. BOX 49 PORTERSVILLE, PA 16051 618,151 $989 RG272-00386 KERRY COAL CO. C/O V.Y. KERRY P.O. BOX 19 PORTERSVILLE, PA 16051 2,982,792 $4,772 RG272-00394 BRADYS BEND CORP. C/O GARY L. BRUCE 930 CASS ST. NEW CASTLE, PA 161015241 117,232 $188 RG272-00395 BRUCE & MERRILEES ELECTRIC CO. C/O GARY L. BRUCE 930 CASS ST. NEW CASTLE, PA 16101 503,459 $806 Totals: 10 230,170,074 $368,273
Last Updated on 8/15/97
By OHA