Case No. RF272-83069
July 14, 1998
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Applications for Refund
Names of Petitioners: City of Woodruff
City of Oneonta
Dates of Filings: October 17, 1990
Case Numbers: RF272-83069
RF272-83077
This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by two claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973, through January 27, 1981. Each of the applicants has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986).
In order to receive a refund for crude oil overcharges, an applicant generally must (1) document its purchase volumes and (2) show that it was injured by the overcharges. Applicants that were end- users of petroleum products and whose business was unrelated to the petroleum industry, however, are presumed to have been injured. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987). Each of the applicants has shown that, as a municipal entity, it was an end-user of its purchases and is entitled to a refund based on the number of gallons it purchased.
The amount of an applicant's refund is equal to $0.0016 per gallon multiplied by the volume of its purchases. The purchase volumes approved for the City of Woodruff, South Carolina, and the City of Oneonta, Alabama, are 250,000 gallons and 319,176 gallons, respectively. Their approved refunds are $400 and $511, respectively. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 569,176 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $911.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Applications for Refund filed by the City of Woodruff, Case No. RF272-83069, and the City of Oneonta, Case No. RF272-83077, for all available crude oil overcharge funds are hereby approved as set forth in Paragraph (2) below.
(2) The Team Leader of the Special Accounts Team, Office of Financial Control and Reporting, Office of the Controller, of the Department of Energy shall take appropriate action to disburse the refund amounts of $400 and $511, respectively, from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Oil Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the following applicants:
City of Woodruff
c/o Julian Jackson, City Manager
231 East Hayne Street
Woodruff, SC 29388
City of Oneonta
c/o Martha Walker, City Clerk
202 Third Avenue, East
Oneonta, AL 35121
(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 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:July 14, 1998