January 3, 2003
DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Application for Refund
Names of Petitioner: General Services Administration
Date of Filing: March 21, 1991
Case Number: RF272-87679
This Decision and Order considers and ultimately grants an Application for Refund totaling $129,267 in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding submitted by the General Services Administration (GSA). The Applicant 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 the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy (DOE) pursuant to the Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). The Applicant relies on the presumption of injury for end-users as the basis for its refund claim. Under this presumption, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (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).
In its Application, GSA, an end-user, claims that it purchased 80,792,408 gallons of gasoline during the consent order period. It calculated this gallonage from its data in GSA Report F-263, dividing GSAs motor fleet gasoline expenses by its total petroleum expenses. This percentage then was multiplied by GSAs total of all petroleum product gallonage, to derive the number of gallons of gasoline it purchased. We find GSAs estimation method to be acceptable and will approve GSAs claim for 80,792,408 gallons. The sum of the refund granted is $129,267.
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, as we near the resolution of the remaining pending claims, whether any further payment is to be made.
It Is Therefore Ordered That:
(1) The Application for Refund filed by the General Services Administration, Case No. RF272- 87679, 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 $129,267 from the DOE deposit fund escrow account maintained at the Department of the Treasury denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z. The IPAC electronic- transfer transaction should be directed to:
General Services Administration
Attn: Ms. Michelle Clow
1500 East Bannister Road
Kansas City, Missouri 64131
(3) To facilitate the payment of any 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:January 3, 2003