Case No. RF272-76126
April 21, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dates of Filing: October 25, 1989
November 13, 1989
Case Numbers: RF272-76126
RF272-78372
This Decision and Order considers two Applications for Refund filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA requests refunds from the crude oil monies currently available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), pursuant to the OHAs authority under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. As explained below, we have determined that the Applications should be granted.
I. Background
Pursuant to current Department of Energy (DOE) policy, purchasers of refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 may be granted refunds from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been collected as the result of court approved settlements, remedial orders and consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the period of price controls. See, e.g., New York Petroleum, Inc., 18 DOE ¶ 85,435 (1988); Ernest A. Allerkamp, 17 DOE ¶85,079 (1988); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987). The refund procedures set forth in those cases specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: (i) document its purchase volumes during the period of price controls; and (ii) show that it was injured by the alleged crude oil overcharges.
End-users of petroleum products whose businesses are unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have absorbed the crude oil overcharges and need not submit any further proof of injury to receive a refund. See, e.g., City of Columbus, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987); see also 52 Fed. Reg. 11737 at 11742 (April 10, 1987) (the April 10 Notice) and cases cited therein. The end-user presumption
is rebuttable, however. If an interested party submits evidence which is of sufficient weight to rebut the end-user presumption, the applicant will be required to produce further evidence of injury. Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 at 88,797 (1987).
Meritorious claimants are eligible to receive refunds equal to the number of gallons of refined petroleum products they purchased during the period of price controls multiplied by a per-gallon volumetric refund amount. The volumetric refund amount is $0.0016 per gallon. We derived this refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies available by the total consumption of petroleum products in the United States during the period of price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
II. Analysis
Federal agencies are eligible to receive refunds for their purchases of refined petroleum products. See, e.g., Defense Logistics Agency, 24 DOE ¶ 85,134 (1995). In Defense Logistics Agency, we granted a refund to the Defense Logistics Agency for its total purchases of refined petroleum products for defense and civilian agencies. Thus, civilian agencies may not receive refunds for volumes acquired through the Defense Logistics Agency.
The USDA has confirmed that the volumes claimed in the Applications for Refund were not acquired through the Defense Logistics Agency. Accordingly, the refund granted to the Defense Logistics Agency is not a bar to the grant of the instant applications.
The USDA has also confirmed that the two Applications do not claim duplicate volumes. In the first application for refund, Case No. RF272-76126, the USDA seeks a refund for 59,770,322 gallons. The USDA states that this product was used by USDA employees in privately owned or rental vehicles for official travel and transfers of duty station. In the second application, Case No. RF272-78372, the USDA seeks a refund for 20,062,433 gallons. The USDA states that this product was used in the operation of government owned vehicles and aircraft and for heating and operating government owned facilities.
Finally, the USDA has used reasonable estimates to arrive at the claimed volumes. The USDA applications provided clear explanations of how the volumes were estimated, as well as supporting information. Accordingly, we have determined that the Applications should be granted. The refund amount in Case No. RF272-76126 is $95,633 (59,770,322 x $0.0016 = $95,633). The refund amount in Case No. RF272-78372 is $32,100 (20,062,433 x $0.0016 = $32,100).
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on October 25, 1989, Case No. RF272-76126, is hereby granted as set forth in Paragraph (3) below.
(2) The Application for Refund filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on November 13, 1989, Case No. RF272-78732, is hereby granted as set forth in Paragraph (3) below.
(3) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller, of the Department of Energy (the Director) shall take appropriate action to disburse from the escrow account denominated Crude Tracking - Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury a total of $127,733 ($95,633 in Case No. RF272-76126, and $32,100 in Case No. RF272- 78372) to:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
c/o Richard M. Guyer, Director
Fiscal Policy Division, Room 3022-S
Office of Chief Financial Officer
Washington, DC 20250
The applicants request that the funds be transferred pursuant to the On-Line Payment and Collection System (OPAC) is being provided to the Director in a separate memorandum.
(4) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the applicant shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change in its address, or if an address correction is necessary. Such information shall be sent to:
Director of Management Information
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Department of Energy
Washington, DC 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. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying a 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: April 21, 1997