Case Nos. RK272-04477, et al.
July 25, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Supplemental Order
Name of Case: Lembke Construction Co., Inc. et al.
Dates of Filing: June 18, 1997 et al.
Case Numbers: RK272-04477 et al.
Pursuant to the long-standing policy of the Department of Energy (DOE), thousands of purchasers of petroleum products have applied for, and been granted, refunds from crude oil overcharge funds under jurisdiction of the DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). See Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy To Be Implemented In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). The standards for considering Applications for Refund from these crude oil funds are set forth at 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.
The OHA has approved more than 87,000 requests for refund from the pool of crude oil overcharge funds. In Subpart V crude oil refund cases, a claimant is generally eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum products it purchased during the period from August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981, multiplied by a per gallon amount. That per gallon refund amount is derived by dividing the total refund monies available by the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products during the crude oil price control period. Refunds had been calculated by multiplying the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum products purchased by the applicant by $0.0008 (the volumetric factor). That volumetric factor had been in use since April 1989, when it replaced an earlier volumetric factor of $0.0002 per gallon. Any applicant who received a refund at the lower volumetric factor has also received a supplemental refund based on an additional $0.0006 per gallon. See Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, 18 DOE ¶ 85,878 (1989).
Additional crude oil overcharge funds have become available for disbursement and we can now issue additional refund checks to applicants. Sufficient funds are available to pay applicants at a new, aggregate rate of $0.0016 per gallon.(1) Thus, the amount of the supplemental refund will be equal to the refund already received. Refunds are rounded to the nearest dollar.
In order to receive a supplemental refund check, applicants are being required to verify (directly or through their representatives) that their name and address in our records are correct, to correct any information that is not accurate, and to indicate whether there has been any change in circumstances affecting the payment of the refund. We intend to issue a series of Decision and Orders approving supplemental refunds as we receive completed verification forms from all applicants or certifications from their representatives.
The Appendix to this Decision and Order contains the names and addresses of a group of recipients receiving these supplemental refund checks. In each case, we were informed that there had been a change of circumstances since the previous refund was disbursed. Accordingly, we set up a new case file (designated RK272-)(2) and investigated whether the individual or firm that submitted the verification form (or upon whose behalf the form was submitted) was the proper party to receive the supplemental refund. On the basis of that investigation, we have determined that the parties listed in the Appendix are the proper recipients of those supplemental refunds.(3) The Appendix also indicates the dollar amount of the supplemental refund for each applicant. The total amount of additional refunds being approved in this Order for the benefit of five recipients is $6,888.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) 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 supplemental refund to each Crude Oil Refund Recipient set forth in the Appendix to this Order.
(2) The funds shall be disbursed from the escrow fund denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury.
(3) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, an applicant 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
Washington, D.C. 20585-0107
(4) Any conditions that applied to an applicant's receipt of the initial crude oil refund shall also apply to that applicant's receipt of this supplemental refund.
(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: July 25, 1997
APPENDIX
Name and New Case No.
Old Case No.
Payee and Address
Volume
Refund
________________________
__________
_______________________________
____________
_______
RK272-04477
RF272-20189
Lembke Construction Co., Inc.
631,423
$505
Lembke Construction Co., Inc.
OR Thomas and Ellen Ryan
1719 5th Street, NW
Albuquerque, NM 87103
RK272-04488
RF272-20189
Lembke Construction Co., Inc.
420,948
$337
Lembke Construction Co., Inc.
OR Lois L. Benedict
c/o Ellen Ryan
1719 5th Street, NW
Albuquerque, NM 87103
RK272-04507
RF272-66485
Burnup & Sims of the Carolinas, Inc.
7,412,413
$5,930
Burnup & Sims of the Carolinas, Inc.
305 Church Street
Charlotte, NC 28202
RK272-04508
RF272-06743
The Estate of Sheldon Hein
113,326
$91
The Estate of Sheldon Hein
c/o Machelle Hein
HCR 1, Box 105
Carpenter, SD 57322
RK272-04509
RF272-17107
Gary Brendenkamp
31,568
$25
Gary Bredenkamp
405 Gordon Street
Waco, NE 68460
________________________
__________
_______________________________
____________
_______
TOTALS:
5 Applicants
8,609,678
$6,888
(1)We are now paying first-time crude oil refund recipients at the volumetric rate of $0.0016 per gallon.
(2)The new case number, RK272-, replaces the case number (designated RF272-) which had formerly been assigned to each application. For all future purposes, the application will be known by the new case number.
(3)In one instance, we were informed that a firm had been dissolved and that the three former owners wished to receive separate refund checks. Therefore, the owners were assigned separate RK272- case numbers; one RK number was assigned to two owners of the firm and another RK number was assigned to the third owner. The approved volume claim was allocated to each of the owners based on the percentage of his or her ownership or beneficial interest. In this Decision, case numbers RK272-04477 and RK272-04488 were assigned to RF272-20189. If there are any future disbursements of crude oil funds, these cases will be known by their RK272- numbers and the refunds will be calculated on the adjusted gallonage amounts.