Case No. RF272-96945
February 11, 2000
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Name of Petitioner: Sultan School District
Date of Filing: June 16, 1994
Case Number: RF272-96945
This Decision and Order considers an Application for Refund filed by Petroleum Funds, Inc. (PFI) on behalf of Sultan School District (Sultan) in the Subpart V proceeding being conducted by the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of Energy. Sultan purchased refined petroleum products during the period August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981 and has requested a refund from crude oil monies available for disbursement by OHA pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). Sultan relies on the presumption of injury for end-users as the basis for its refund claim. Under this presumption, OHA will presume applicants were injured if they were end-users of petroleum products and were not covered by the DOE or its predecessors price controls. City of Columbus, Georgia, 16 DOE ¶ 85,550 (1987).
We have reviewed the information submitted by Sultan and determined that it was an end-user of eligible petroleum products. Sultan derived its purchase volume claim by using reasonable estimation techniques. After considering the Application carefully, we have concluded that Sultan is eligible for a refund in the amount of $565 based on its purchases of 353,414 gallons of petroleum products during the period in question.(1) */
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 after the resolution of a few outstanding enforcement proceedings whether sufficient funds are available for additional refunds.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by Petroleum Funds, Inc. on behalf of Sultan School District for all available crude oil overcharge funds is 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 $565 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, to Sultan School Districts representative, Petroleum Funds, Inc., at the following address:
Bobbi Brown
Petroleum Funds, Inc.
P.O. Box 1380
Paris, TN. 38242-9986
(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 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 applicant. This Decision and Order may be revoked or modified at any time upon a determination that the basis underlying the 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:February 11, 2000
(1)Interested parties were given an opportunity to submit comments regarding individual crude oil refund applications. No such comments were filed with respect to the application under consideration.