Case No. RR272-00111

January 23, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Motion for Reconsideration

Name of Petitioner: Department of Veteran Affairs

Date of Filing: August 11, 1993

Case Number: RR272-00111

On August 11, 1993, the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy (DOE) received a Motion for Reconsideration filed by a group of state governments (the States).(1) In the Motion, the States request reconsideration of a Decision and Order issued to the Department of Veterans Affairs (Veterans) on July 13, 1993. See City of Englewood, NJ et al., Case No. RF272-89322 et al., (Department of Veterans Affairs, Case No. RF272-89357) (the 1993 Decision and Order). The 1993 Decision and Order granted an application filed in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. See 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. The application was filed by the Veterans Medical Center at Ft. Howard, Maryland. The 1993 Decision and Order granted a $703 refund. In the Motion, the States argue for reconsideration on two grounds.

The States' first argument for reconsideration is that the DOE granted the application without addressing the issue of whether federal agencies are entitled to file applications in the DOE's Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. Subsequent to the filing of the Motion, the DOE addressed this issue in connection with an application filed by the Defense Logistics Agency. See Defense Logistics Agency, 24 DOE ¶ 85,134 (1995) (DLA). In DLA, we specifically rejected the States' contention that federal agencies were not entitled to file Subpart V crude oil refund applications. Accordingly, the States' first argument, i.e., that the DOE had not considered this issue, is now moot.

The States' second argument is that, even if a federal agency may file a Subpart V crude oil refund application, the instant application is potentially duplicative of another refund application filed by Veterans, Case No. RF272-47498. Our review of that case indicates that the original application, requesting a

refund based on 340 million gallons, may have included the volumes at issue in this case. As the result of a subsequent amendment, however, we granted a reduced claim of 17 million gallons for seven specified medical centers, none of which was the Ft. Howard facility. See Veterans Administration, 26 DOE ¶ 85,003 at 88,005 (1996) (reduced claim set forth in June 17, 1991 Submission). Accordingly, the volume granted in that case is not duplicative of the volume granted in the 1993 Decision and Order.

As the foregoing indicates, neither of the arguments advanced by the States in support of reconsideration has merit. Accordingly, we have concluded that the Motion for Reconsideration should be denied.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Motion for Reconsideration filed by the States on August 11, 1993 is hereby denied.

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

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: January 23, 1997

(1)The States are: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, and Wyoming.