Case No. RR272-00317

July 26, 2002

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Motion for Reconsideration

Name of Petitioner: Augusta Mental Institute

Date of Filing: July 3, 2002

Case Number: RR272-0317

This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants a Motion for Reconsideration of a recent letter determination dismissing an Application for Refund filed in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. See January 11, 2002 letter from Thomas O. Mann, OHA, to Augusta Mental Institute, c/o Howard Edmonson, LK, Inc., in OHA Case No. RF272-94904. 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 dismissed initially because the case file did not document the purchase volume on which it was based. Subsequently, the applicant has supplied information that has enabled the OHA to locate the purchase volume figure, which was furnished by Gulf Oil Company in connection with a previous refund application. 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-located information, we have concluded that refund is warranted for the 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 31,134,081 gallons and the refund granted is $53,015.

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 after the resolution of a few outstanding enforcement proceedings whether sufficient funds are available for additional refunds.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Motion for Reconsideration is granted, and the Application for Refund filed by Augusta Mental Insitute 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 of $53,015 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to Augusta Mental Institute, Tax ID No. 01-6000001, care of the applicant’s representative at the following address:

Howard Edmonson

LK, Inc.

P.O. Box 234

Earlington, KY 42410

(3) 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 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: July 26, 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.