Case No. RF272-74747
May 19, 1997
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs
Date of Filing: August 19, 1988
Case Number: RF272-74747
This Decision and Order considers the Application for Refund filed by the Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA requests a refund from the crude oil monies currently available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), pursuant to the OHAs authority under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. A group of States and a group of end-users (the Objectors) objected to application, based on the BIAs status as a federal government agency. As explained below, we have determined that the Application should be granted.
I. Background
Pursuant to current Department of Energy (DOE) policy, purchasers of refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 may be granted refunds from crude oil overcharge funds collected by the DOE. Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). We have established refund procedures for these funds, which have been collected as the result of court approved settlements, remedial orders and consent orders entered into by the DOE and numerous firms that sold crude oil during the period of price controls. See, e.g., New York Petroleum, Inc., 18 DOE ¶ 85,435 (1988); Ernest A. Allerkamp, 17 DOE ¶85,079 (1988); A. Tarricone, Inc., 15 DOE ¶ 85,495 (1987). The refund procedures set forth in those cases specify that in order to receive a refund, an applicant generally must: (i) document its purchase volumes during the period of price controls; and (ii) show that it was injured by the alleged crude oil overcharges.
End-users of petroleum products whose businesses are unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have absorbed the crude oil overcharges and need not submit any further proof of injury to receive a refund. See, e.g., City of Columbus, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550
(1987); see also 52 Fed. Reg. 11737 at 11742 (April 10, 1987) (the April 10 Notice) and cases cited therein. The end-user presumption is rebuttable, however. If an interested party submits evidence which is of sufficient weight to rebut the end-user presumption, the applicant will be required to produce further evidence of injury. Berry Holding Co., 16 DOE ¶ 85,405 at 88,797 (1987).
Meritorious claimants are eligible to receive refunds equal to the number of gallons of refined petroleum products they purchased during the period of price controls multiplied by a per-gallon volumetric refund amount. The volumetric refund amount is $0.0016 per gallon. We derived this refund amount by dividing the total crude oil refund monies available by the total consumption of petroleum products in the United States during the period of price controls (2,020,997,335,000 gallons).
II. Analysis
Federal agencies are eligible to receive refunds for their purchases of refined petroleum products. In Defense Logistics Agency, 24 DOE ¶ 85,134 (1995), the Objectors objected to the application of the Defense Logistics Agency on the same grounds presented here, all of which turn on the status of the applicant as a federal government agency. In Defense Logistics Agency, we rejected those contentions, holding that the Defense Logistics Agency was eligible for a crude oil refund for its purchases of refined petroleum products. Accordingly, that decision disposed of the objections presented here.
The BIA has confirmed that the volumes claimed in the instant application are not duplicative of those granted in Defense Logistics Agency. Specifically, the BIA has confirmed that the claimed volumes were acquired directly from private vendors, rather than through the Defense Logistics Agency. Accordingly, the refund granted to the Defense Logistics Agency is not a bar to the grant of the instant application.
The BIAs claimed volumes are based on actual vendor invoices. The BIA states that it obtained the volumes from its Quarterly Energy Conservation Reports, which reported the actual volumes shown on vendor invoices.
Based on the foregoing, we have determined that the Application should be granted. The refund amount is $145,141 (90,712,934 x $0.0016 = $145,141).
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by the Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs on August 19, 1988, Case No. RF272-74747, is hereby 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 (the Director) shall take appropriate action to disburse $145,141 from the escrow account denominated Crude Tracking - Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury to:
Department of the Interior/
Bureau of Indian Affairs
c/o Joseph Bitsie, Facility Mgr.
PO Box 1060
Gallup, NM 87305-1060
(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 information shall be sent to:
Director of Management Information
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Department of Energy
Washington, DC 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 a 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 19, 1997