Case No. RR272-00312
May 12, 1999
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Motion for Reconsideration
Name of Petitioner: Ivan Wildemuth
Date of Filing: May 6, 1999
Case Number: RR272-00312
On May 6, 1999, the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy (DOE) received a Motion for Reconsideration filed by Ivan Wildemuth in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. See 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. In his Motion, Mr. Wildemuth requests that we reissue a $37 check to him. As explained below, we have determined that the Motion should be granted.
On April 11, 1989, the OHA issued a Decision and Order granting supplemental refunds to 44,282 applicants in the crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, 18 DOE ¶ 85,878 (1989). The Decision and Order provided for the disbursement of funds from the escrow account denominated "Crude Tracking-Claimants 1, Account No. 999DOE007Z, maintained at the United States Department of the Treasury. The Appendix to the Decision and Order listed Mr. Wildemuth, Case No. RF272-22218, as one of the applicants approved for a supplemental refund. On April 18, 1989, Treasury issued a $37 check to Mr. Wildemuth. Subsequently, this check was cancelled because it was not cashed within the applicable time period.
We have determined that we should order the issuance of a second $37 check to Mr. Wildemuth. We recognize that the issuance of a second check will require a second disbursement from crude oil overcharge funds; at the time that the original check was cancelled, Treasury did not credit the crude oil overcharge account with funds associated with cancelled checks. Although the issuance of a second check will reduce the funds in the account available
for other parties, the impact of a $37 reduction is negligible: the $37 reduction is spread over the other approved applicants, whose number exceeds 90,000. This negligible impact is outweighed by the interest in making restitution to Mr. Wildemuth. See Amerbelle Corp., 25 DOE ¶ 85,104 (1996). Accordingly, we have concluded that Mr. Wildemuths request for a second check should be granted.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Motion for Reconsideration filed by Ivan Wildemuth on May 6, 1999, is granted 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 total of $37 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury, Crude-Tracking Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to:
Ivan Wildemuth
18151 US Hwy 6
Geneseo, IL 61254
(3) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: May 12, 1999