Case No. RF272-96390
May 26, 1999
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: Northampton Area School District
Date of Filing: June 10, 1994
Case Number: RF272-96390
This Decision and Order considers an Application for Crude Oil Refund filed by the Northampton Area School District (Northampton) in the Subpart V proceeding being conducted by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy. Northampton 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 OHA pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). The school district 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 Northampton and determined that it was an end-user of eligible petroleum products. Northampton consulted recent records and provided OHA with reasonable estimates of its petroleum product consumption during the relevant period. (1) 1/ After considering Northamptons application carefully, we have concluded that a refund is warranted for the school districts purchases of 1,441,240 gallons of petroleum products. 2/(2) The amount of the refund approved in this Decision is $ 2,306.
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 Application for Refund filed by the Northampton Area School District 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 a refund in the amount of $2,306 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the Northampton Area School District. The refund should be sent to the following address:
Northampton Area School District
c/o Ms. Stacy M. Gober
Business Administrator
1617 Laubach Avenue
Northampton, PA 18067
(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:May 26, 1999
(1)The refund application under consideration was filed by Petroleum Funds, Inc., a private filing service located in Paris, Tennessee.
(2)Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to Northamptons refund application.