Case No. RF272-80654

July 9, 2001

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Applications for Refund

Names of Petitioners: Orland School District 135, et al.

Dates of Filings: August 20, 1990, et al.

Case Numbers: RF272-80654, et al.

This Decision and Order will consider Applications for Refund filed by six claimants that purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981. Each applicant listed in the Appendix attached to this 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 generally must (1) document its purchase volumes and (2) show that it was injured by the overcharges. However, applicants that were end users of petroleum products and whose business was unrelated to the petroleum industry are presumed to have been injured. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987).

We have reviewed the information submitted by these applicants and determined that each was an end user of petroleum products. (1) Each of the applicants listed in the Appendix has documented its purchase volumes. The purchase volumes and refunds approved for each applicant are set forth in the Appendix. The total volume for which refunds are approved in this Decision is 14,832,889 gallons and the sum of the refunds granted is $23,732.

The final deadline for the crude oil proceeding was June 30, 1995. It is the current policy of the DOE to pay eligible crude oil refund claimants at the rate of $0.0016 per gallon. 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 IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to the applicants listed in the Appendix to this Decision and Order. Refund checks totaling $23,732 shall be sent to:

Ms. Bobbi Brown

Petroleum Funds, Inc.

P.O. Box 1380

Paris, TN 38242-9986

(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 9, 2001

(1)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 FIRM CONTACT VOLUME REFUND
RF272-80654ORLAND SCHOOL DIST. 135OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O DR. BEN NAWAKAWSKI3,391,429$5,426
RF272-80693COLUMBIA BOROUGH SCH DIST.OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O LAURA MCGILL 1,352,597 $2,164
RF272-81023SOUTH LANE SCH DIST. 45JOR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O JERRY JONES 1,605,090 $2,568
RF272-81038WHITFIELD COUNTY SCH DIST.OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O JIMMY WITHEROW 1,636,800 $2,619
RF272-81169DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DIST.OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O J. BLAKE LAMIER 1,814,899 $2,904
RF272-81181NORWALK SCHOOL DIST. OR PETROLEUM FUNDS, INC.C/O MARK GORIAN5,032,074 $8,051
TOTALS:6   14,832,889$23,732