Case No. RF272-97149

March 17, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Application for Refund

Name of Applicant: Vermont Department of Public Safety

Date of Filing: June 21, 1994

Case Number: RF272-97149

This Decision and Order will consider an Application for Refund submitted by the Vermont Department of Public Safety (VDPS). In its Application, VDPS requests a refund from crude oil funds available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) pursuant to 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.

In the past, purchasers of refined petroleum products during the crude oil price control period could apply for a refund from crude oil overcharge funds. 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).(1)The DOE collected the crude oil overcharge funds through consent orders with certain firms that sold crude oil during the price control period. E.g., Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 (1987); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987); Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 14 DOE ¶ 85,475 (1986).

The refund procedures specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: (1) document its purchase volumes; and (2) show that it was injured by alleged crude oil overcharges. An applicant who was an end-user (ultimate consumer) of petroleum products, whose business was unrelated to the petroleum industry, and who was not subject to the price regulations of the DOE or its predecessors, is presumed to have absorbed rather than passed on alleged crude oil overcharges, and is therefore presumed to have

been injured. 52 Fed. Reg. 11737 at 11743 (April 10, 1987). This presumption also applies to an end-user that, like VDPS, is a governmental entity. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987).

We have carefully reviewed the Application of VDPS. It is based on purchases of gasoline and other petroleum products for operating departmental vehicles. As an end-user, VDPS is presumed injured by the crude oil overcharges and is entitled to its full allocable share of crude oil overcharge funds. VDPS verified its gallonage estimate by submitting copies gasoline consumption records from the price control period. We find that the estimated gallonage figure for the price control period is reasonable.

As an end-user, VDPS is entitled to receive its full allocable share of crude oil overcharge funds. We calculated the refund amount by multiplying an applicant's approved gallonage claim by the current volumetric refund amount of $.0016 per gallon. The total volume that we will approve for VDPS is 1,960,101 gallons of refined petroleum product.(2) The total refund that we will grant VDPS is therefore $3,136.

The final deadline for the crude oil refund 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 whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for this and other successful applicants when we are better able to determine how much additional money will be collected from firms that have either outstanding obligations to the DOE or enforcement cases currently in litigation.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Application for Refund filed by the Vermont Department of Public Safety (Case No. RF272-97149) 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 total of $3,136 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account denominated Crude Tracking Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of the Treasury, to:

Vermont Department of Public Safety

Attn.: Theodore R. Nelson, Jr.

103 South Main Street

Waterbury, VT 05671

(3) To facilitate the payment of future refunds, the Vermont Department of Public Safety 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

1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20585

(4) The determinations made in this Decision and Order are based upon the presumed validity of the statements and documentary materials submitted by the Vermont Department of Public Safety. These determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying the Application for Refund is incorrect.

(5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: March 17, 1997

(1)The crude oil price control period extended from August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981.

(2)This is the second Application from VDPS that we have considered. In the first Application, Case No. RF272-67511, VDPS applied for gasoline and motor oil that it purchased from Mobil Oil. We granted that Application on July 10, 1990, for an approved gallonage claim of 2,093,095. The gallonage claim in the present Application is based on fuel consumption records from the price control period, and would have included purchases made from companies other than Mobil. According to the present Application, the total estimated gallonage figure for the price control period is 4,053,196. We will therefore grant this Application for the difference in the gallonage claims, or 1,960,101 gallons.