September 18, 2002
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: Mobile County Commission
Date of Filing: September 10, 2002
Case Number: RG272-01105
This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants an additional refund to the Mobile County Commission, releasing a total of $3,108 in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. The applicant purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 and 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). The applicant relies on the presumption of injury for end-users as the basis for its refund claim. Under this presumption, OHA will presume applicants were injured if they were end-users of petroleum products and were not covered by the DOE or its predecessors price controls. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987).
The applicant submitted two separate claims in the crude oil refund proceeding. The first claim, which reported a purchase volume of 2,614,459 gallons, was received by the OHA on September 22, 1989, and assigned Case No. RF272-75700. That claim was granted an initial refund payment in 1991, and a supplemental refund payment in 1995, the latter payment in a group decision under Case No. RB272- 00054.
The second claim, which reported a purchase volume of 4,556,707 gallons, was received by the OHA on May 27, 1994, and assigned Case No. RF272-96093. Because the second claim appeared to be a duplicate of the first claim, on October 11, 2001 we wrote to the applicants representative and asked for documentation to explain why the second claim was not a duplicate. When we received no response to that letter, we assumed the applicant did not wish to pursue the claim and dismissed Case No. RF272- 96093 in a letter dated December 14, 2001. In June 2002, we received a letter from the applicants representative that addressed the issues raised in our October 2001 letter. The additional information provided in the June 2002 letter shows that the applicant purchased 4,556,707 gallons of refined petroleum products from Gulf Oil Company during the controls period. Since the refunds granted in Case No. RF272-75700 were based on purchases of only 2,614,459 gallons, we have determined that the applicant is eligible to receive an additional refund based on the incremental volume. The incremental volume is the
difference between the 4,556,707 gallons of documented Gulf purchases and the 2,614,459 gallons which formed the basis for the refunds granted in Case No. RF272-75700, or 1,942,248 gallons.
We have reviewed the information submitted by the applicant and determined that it was an end-user of eligible petroleum products. The applicant listed in this Decision derived its purchase volume claim by consulting actual records or by using reasonable estimation techniques.(1)1/ After considering the Application carefully, we have concluded that a refund is warranted for the purchase volume and in the amount set forth in this Decision. The total volume for which the refund is approved in this Decision is 1,942,248 gallons and the refund granted is $3,108.
The final deadline for the crude oil proceeding was June 30, 1995. 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, as we near the resolution of the remaining open claims, whether any further payment is appropriate.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by the claimant listed in this Decision and Order for all available crude oil overcharge funds is 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 amount set forth in this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the applicant or its representative. A refund check for $3,108 shall be sent to the applicant or its representative at the following address:
Mobile County Commission or Resource Refunds, Inc.
c/o John Pafenbach
P.O. Box 1443
Mobile, AL 36633
(3) To facilitate the payment of any 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 notification shall be sent to:
Office of Hearings and Appeals
HG-1/LEnfant Plaza Building
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20585-1615
(4)The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicant. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying the refund application is incorrect.
(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: September 18, 2002
(1)Interested parties were given an opportunity to comment on this application. No comments were received.