Case No. RK272-04879
October 26, 1999
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Supplemental Order
Names of Petitioners: Richard Larson
Rio Himle
Dates of Filing: November 27, 1998
October 18, 1999
Case Numbers: RK272-04879
RK272-05546
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. Since 1995, we have issued a series of Decision and Orders approving supplemental refunds as we received completed verification forms from all applicants or certifications from their representatives. This year, we announced a deadline of January 31, 2000 for all applicants entitled to a supplemental refund of $50 or more to submit completed verification forms. 64 Fed. Reg. 19,998 (April 23, 1999).
This Decision and Order involves requests for supplemental refund for Larson Farm Co., Case No. RF272-56953. We were informed that this business had been an equal partnership between Rio Himle and Richard Larson, and has now been dissolved. Therefore, each claimant was assigned a separate RK272- case number, RK272-04879 and RK272-05546, and the approved volume claim was allocated to each claimant based upon the percentage of his interest, i.e., fifty percent to each applicant.
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. The total amount of the refund that the applicants are being awarded is $564 (353,033 gallons x $0.0008 per gallon volumetric x 2).
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Supplemental Refund for Case No. RF272-56953 filed by Richard Larson, Case No. RK272-04879, is hereby approved as set forth in Paragraph (3) below.
(2) The Application for Supplemental Refund for Case No. RF272-56953 filed by Rio Himle, Case No. RK272-05546, is hereby approved as set forth in Paragraph (4) below.
(3) 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 in the amount of $282 from the escrow fund denominated
Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury to the following applicant:
Richard Larson
P.O. Box 129
110 First Street, S.E.
Leeds, ND 58346
(4) 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 in the amount of $282 from the escrow fund denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury to the following applicant:
Rio Himle
615 Third Street, S.E.
Leeds, ND 58346
(5) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, each 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
(6) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based on the presumed validity of the statements and documentary material submitted by the applicants. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying any supplemental refund application is incorrect.
(7) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date:October 26, 1999
(1)We are now paying first-time crude oil refund recipients at the volumetric rate of $0.0016 per gallon.