June 25, 2003
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: California Cedar Products Co.
Date of Filing: April 21, 2003
Case Number: RG272-01107
This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants an Application for Refund, releasing $83,178 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).
We have reviewed the information submitted by the applicant and determined that it was an end-user of eligible petroleum products. The applicants 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 the Decision. 2/ (2)T(3)he total volume for which a refund is approved in this Decision is 51,986,127 gallons and the refund granted is $83,178.
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. At this time the
issue has not been resolved whether any further direct payment to crude oil refund claimants is appropriate.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by the claimant 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 $83,178 shall be sent to the applicant or its representative at the following address:
California Cedar Products Co.
c/o Bradford J. Dozier, Secretary
306 North El Dorado Street, Suite 301
Stockton, CA 95202
(3) To facilitate the payment of any future refunds, the applicants 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 applicants. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying the refund applications is incorrect.
(5) This is a final order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: June 25, 2003
(1)The refund claim under consideration was timely filed on July 6, 1992 and assigned OHA case number RF272- 93562. The original application was dismissed on April 1, 2003 because OHA was unable to contact the firm using the information supplied in 1992. The firm came forward immediately thereafter and requested reinstatement of its claim. We found good cause for reinstating the claim, and the present OHA case number RG272-01107was assigned to California Cedar Products Co. on April 21, 2003.
(2)Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to the application involved in this determination.