Case No. RF272-98902

July 1, 1998

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners: Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, et al.

Dates of Filing: July 6, 1994

Case Numbers: RF272-98902 et al.

This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund and a Motion for Reconsideration filed by 17 claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981.(1)Each applicant listed in the Appendix attached to the Decision and Order 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 that was an end-user (i.e., consumer) of refined petroleum products must document its purchase volumes. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987). Each applicant's refund share is calculated using the current refund amount of $0.0016 per gallon.

We have reviewed the information submitted by these applicants and determined that each was an end-user of petroleum products.(2)Each of the applicants has demonstrated the volume of its claim by consulting actual records or by using a reasonable estimation technique. The gallonage amounts listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order reflect the approved purchase volume for each applicant.

Each of the applicants listed in the Appendix is eligible to receive a refund. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. The applicants considered in this Decision applied on their own behalf. In accordance with each applicant's request, refund checks will be sent to the applicant. The total volume for which refunds are approved in the Appendix is 32,785,898 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $52,456.

We will decide whether sufficient crude oil overcharge funds are available for additional refunds for these 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 Applications for Refund filed by the claimants listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order for all available crude oil overcharge funds are 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 the refund amounts set forth in the Appendix to this Decision and Order from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants 4, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the applicants listed in the Appendix.

(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 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. 20585-0107

(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. Any of these determinations may be revoked or modified at any time upon a finding that the basis underlying any 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 1, 1998

(1)One applicant, Brevard County Board of Commissioners (Case No. RF272-98994) was granted a refund in an earlier Decision. However, this applicant is requesting a refund based on additional purchases and has submitted the appropriate documents. Therefore, we will consider Brevard ’s claim.

Two other applicants, Our Lady of Sorrows Parish (Case No. RF272-98902) and Plano Ind. School District (Case No. RF272- 98908), submitted gallonage figures that needed to be adjusted. Our Lady of Sorrows failed to multiply its yearly figure by 7.44, the number of years in the August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 refund period, and thus, the firm’s grand total claim should have been 444,406, and Plano Ind. School District failed to deduct the volume of petroleum products before and after this period, and Plano’s grand total claim should have been 2,088,024. Therefore, any refund granted to these two applicants, will be granted based on the adjusted gallons.

(2)

2/ Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to any application involved in this determination.

Appendix
CASE NO. APPLICANT CONTACT STREET ADDRESS CITY/STATE VOLUME REFUND
RF272-98902 OUR LADY OF SORROWS PARISH C/O ROBERT BELTRAMI 5221 S.E. KNIGHT ST. PORTLAND, OR 97206 444,406 $711
RF272-98904 ST. CHARLES CHURCH C/O SHIRLEY CHILTON 5310 N.E. 42ND PORTLAND, OR 97218 98,872 $158
RF272-98905 IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHRCH C/O HOWARD MCCASLAND RR 1; RT 189 CHURUBUSCO, NY 12923 62,213 $100
RF272-98908 PLANO IND. SCHOOL DIST. C/O LINDA MADON 2700 W. 15TH ST. PLANO, TX 75075 2,088,024 $3,341
RF272-98911 HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL C/O SANDY STANTON 7425 S.E. 39TH PORTLAND, OR 97202 185,571 $297
RF272-98923 LIMA CNTRL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHL. C/O THOMAS A. BONIFAS 720 S. CABLE RD. LIMA, OH 45805 41,515 $66
RF272-98924 HOLY REDEEMER AREA SCHOOL C/O GREG WEILER 127 N. PORTLAND BLVD. PORTLAND, OR 97217 116,699 $187
RF272-98925 CHRIST THE KING PARISH C/O ANN BUCZKOWSKI 7414 S.E. MICHAEL DR. MILWAUKIE, OR 97222 52,000 $83
RF272-98937 ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH C/O LAWRENCE E. COTTER P.O. BOX 315 COLTON, NY 13625 29,015 $46
RF272-98941 SACRED HEART CHURCH - POLONIA C/O MARYANN PLATTA 7375 CHURCH ST. CUSTER, WI 54423 108,029 $173
RF272-98965 ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP -PORTLND C/O ANTHONY E. SILVA P.O. BOX 11559 PORTLAND, ME 041047559 11,776,781 $18,843
RF272-98971 ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP -LA C/O BOB KEELER 1531 W. 9TH ST. LOS ANGELES, CA 900151194 4,264,452 $6,823
RF272-98973 ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY C/O GLADYS BATCHELDER 7 MAIN ST. ST. JOHNSBURY, VT 05819 484,400 $775
RF272-98976 CITY OF MIDDLETOWN C/O TIMOTHY P. LYNCH P.O. BOX 1300 MIDDLETOWN, CT 06457 5,315,300 $8,504
RF272-98987 CITY OF TAMARAC C/O ANGIE LOSASSO 7525 N.W. 88TH AVE. TAMARAC, FL 333212401 841,522 $1,346
RF272-98993 STANLEY COUNTY C/O PHYLLIS KENZY P.O. BOX 595 FT. PIERRE, SD 57532 408,776 $654
RF272-98994 BREVARD CNTY BD. COMMISSIONRS C/O JO MALOTA MOORE 2725 ST. JOHNS ST., #C MELBOURNE, FL 32940 6,468,323 $10,349
TOTALS: 17       32,785,898 $52,456
             


Last Updated on 6/16/98
By oha