Case No. RK272-05415
June 14, 2000
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Supplemental Order
Names of Cases: Pandora Manufacturing Inc.
Edward Quinif
Dates of Cases: July 22, 1999
January 21, 2000
Case Numbers: RK272-05415
RK272-05619
This supplemental refund decision concerns the crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. Pursuant to the long-standing policy of the Department of Energy (DOE), thousands of purchasers of petroleum products have applied for, and been granted, refunds from crude oil overcharge funds under the jurisdiction of the DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). See Modified Statement of Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). The standards for considering Applications for Refund from these crude oil overcharge funds are set forth at 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. The deadline for applications in the crude oil proceeding was June 30, 1995. The OHA has approved more than 87,000 crude oil overcharge applications. A claimant is generally eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum products it purchased during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981, multiplied by a per gallon refund amount. That per gallon refund amount, also referred to as the volumetric, is derived by dividing the total refund monies available by the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products during the crude oil price control period. Originally, the DOE calculated refunds at a $0.0002 per gallon volumetric. In 1989, the DOE increased the volumetric to $0.0008 per gallon, and applicants that had been paid at the lower $0.0002 per rate were eligible for a $0.0006 supplemental payment. See Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, 18 DOE ¶ 85,878 (1989). In 1995, the DOE increased the volumetric to $0.0016 per gallon. Accordingly, applicants that had been paid at the lower $0.0008 per
gallon rate became eligible for an $0.0008 supplemental refund. Refunds are rounded to the nearest dollar.
In order to receive a supplemental refund check, applicants are required to verify that their name and address in our records are correct, to correct any information that is not accurate, and to indicate whether there has been any change in circumstances affecting the payment of the refund.
This decision concerns two supplemental refund requests. In each case, the applicant indicated that there had been a change of circumstances since the previous refund was disbursed. Accordingly, we set up a new case file (designated RK272-) and investigated whether the party that submitted the verification form (or on whose behalf the form was submitted) was entitled to receive the supplemental refund.
After careful review, we have determined that the applicants are not the proper parties to receive a supplemental refund. In the first case, Pandora Manufacturing, Inc. (Pandora) requested a supplemental refund for the refund originally granted to National Industries Corp. in Case No. RF272-53919. Pandora claims the refund as a purchaser of Nationals assets, but has not provided documentation that would establish that the asset sale transferred the right to the refund. In the second case, Edward Quinif requested the supplemental refund for the refund originally granted to Walled Lake Door Co. in RF272-65187. The application indicates that Walled Lake Door is now dissolved, but the application does not contain any documentation to support a finding that Mr. Quinif was a shareholder of the company and, therefore, entitled to receive the refund. Based on the foregoing, we have determined that both applications be denied.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The request for a supplemental refund filed by Pandora Manufacturing, Inc., in Case No. RK272-05415 be and hereby is denied.
(2) The request for a supplemental refund filed by Edward Quinif in Case No. RK272-05619 be and hereby is denied.
(3) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.
George B. Breznay
Director
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Date: June 14, 2000