Case No. RR272-00315
April 03, 2002
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Motion for Reconsideration
Name of Petitioner: R.G. Pope Construction
Date of Filing: June 19, 2001
Case Number: RR272-00315
This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants a Motion for Reconsideration of a decision granting an Application for Refund filed in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. See April 5, 2001decision in OHA Case No. RF272-94846. The applicant purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 and 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 claim was granted initially on the basis of a purchase volume of1,703,345 gallons. Subsequently, the applicant has supplied information that increased its total purchase volume figure by an additional 2,674,172 gallons. The reason for the under-reported purchase volume in the initial application is that the original figure came from the Gulf refined product refund proceeding, and therefore failed to count the applicants middle distillate purchases after that product was decontrolled in 1976. Middle distillate products purchased after decontrol are still eligible for crude oil overcharge refunds. 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).
We have reviewed the information submitted by the applicant and determined that it was an end-user of eligible petroleum products.(1) The applicant derived its purchase volume claim by consulting actual records or by using reasonable estimation techniques. After reconsidering the Application carefully, including the newly-furnished information, we have concluded that an additional refund is warranted for the additional purchase volume and in the amount set forth in this Decision.1/(1) The total volume for which the refund is approved in this Decision is 2,674,172 gallons and the refund granted is $4,279.
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 Motion for Reconsideration is granted, and the Application for Refund filed by R.G. Pope Construction. 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 amount of $4,279 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the applicants representative at the:
R.G. Pope Construction OR Wilson Keller & Associates, Inc.
c/o Peter McMickle
PO Box 221145
Memphis, TN 38122
(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:
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 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: April 3, 2002
(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.