Case No. RF272-96370

April 8, 1999

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners:Madison County, Florida, et al.

Dates of Filings: June 10, 1994, et al.

Case Numbers: RF272-96370, et al.

This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants six Applications for Refund, releasing a total of $4,860 in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. The names of the six applicants are set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. Each applicant purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 and each has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). Each 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 all six applicants and determined that each was an end-user of eligible petroleum products. Each of the applicants listed in the Appendix derived its purchase volume claim by consulting actual records or by using reasonable estimation techniques. (1) 1/ After considering each Application carefully, we have concluded that refunds are warranted for the purchase volumes and amounts set forth in the Appendix attached to the Decision. 2/(2) The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 3,036,938 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $4,860.

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 Applications for Refund filed by the applicants listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order 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 amounts set forth in the Appendix to 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. The refunds shall be sent to the applicants at the addresses set forth in the Appendix.

(3) To facilitate the payment of 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:

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 applicants. 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 8, 1999

(1)All of the Applications under consideration were filed by Petroleum Funds, Inc. (PFI), a private filing service located in Paris, Tennessee. Each of the six applicants has requested that OHA sent any refund to which it might be eligible directly to it instead of PFI.

(2)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.

Appendix
CASE NO.APPLICANT CONTACTSTREET ADDRESSCITY/STATE VOLUMEREFUND
RF272-96370 MADISON COUNTYC/O TIM SANDERS P.O. BOX 237; 101 S. RANGE ST.MADISON, FL 32341 1,028,576 $1,646
RF272-96372 WEATHERLY AREA SCHOOL DIST.C/O SUZANNE FRAMULARO 602 6TH ST.WEATHERLY, PA 18255 384,108 $615
RF272-96375 KIMBERLY SCHOOL DIST.C/O DALE VAWSER P.O. BOX 615; 141 CENTER ST.KIMBERLY, ID 83341 104,785 $168
RF272-96378 MONTAGUE SCHOOL DIST.C/O KAY HENNION 475 RT. 206 N.MONTAGUE, NJ 07827 193,649 $310
RF272-96394 MILLVILLE AREA SCHOOL DIST.C/O DAVID BOWSER P.O. BOX 260MILLVILLE, PA 17846 634,647 $1,015
RF272-96946 MAVERICK COUNTYC/O CARLOS PEREDA JR. P.O. BOX 1246EAGLE PASS, TX 78853 691,173 $1,106
TOTALS: 6       3,036,938 $4,860
             


Last Updated on 4/5/1999
By OHA