[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 202 (Thursday, October 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52822-52824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22705]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY




Distribution of Residual Citronelle Settlement Agreement Funds



AGENCY: Office of Hearings and Appeals, Department of Energy.



ACTION: Implementation of special refund procedures.



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SUMMARY: The Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the Department of 

Energy (DOE) finalizes the procedures for the disbursement of residual 

funds (totaling approximately $59,000) remaining in various Citronelle 

Settlement Agreement escrow accounts to the parties to the Agreement.



DATES: This plan is applicable October 18, 2018.



ADDRESSES: Inquiries should be sent to the Office of Hearings and 

Appeals, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, 

Washington, DC 20585-0107, (202) 287-1550, Email: 

[email protected].



[[Page 52823]]





FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin L. Martin, Attorney-Advisor, 

Office of Hearings and Appeals, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585-0107, (202) 287-1550, Email: 

[email protected].



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In this Notice, we announce the final 

procedures for the distribution of the remaining Citronelle Settlement 

Agreement Funds.

    The Office of Hearings and Appeals published a Notice of proposed 

final procedures for the distribution of the Citronelle Settlement 

Agreement Funds in the Federal Register on September 11, 2018. 83 FR 

45916 (September 11, 2018). In the September 11 Notice, we described 

the history of the Citronelle Settlement Agreement and its relevant 

contents. We then set forth a proposed plan to distribute the remaining 

Settlement Agreement funds.

    The Office of Hearings and Appeals provided a 30 day opportunity 

for public comment on the proposed plan. No comments were submitted 

during that time. Accordingly, no changes have been made to the final 

plan.



Procedure for Final Distribution of Citronelle Settlement Agreement 

Funds



    The Citronelle Settlement Agreement funds will be distributed 

according to the following plan. Any funds remaining after the final 

distributions made in accordance with this plan will be considered 

unclaimed and will be transferred to the U.S. Treasury. Final 

distribution amounts will be calculated using the distribution 

percentages listed in an appendix to this Notice on October 18, 2018.



A. The Non-Litigant Refiners Account



    The Agreement requires that the balance of the Non-Litigant 

Refiners account be distributed to the Refiner-Litigants through an 

escrow account established for that purpose for the initial 

distribution of Citronelle funds and managed by the law firm Miller & 

Chevalier. Miller & Chevalier no longer represents the Refiner-

Litigants. Further, DOE has not been able to obtain documentation 

regarding how previous Citronelle distributions were made among the 

various firms comprising the Refiner-Litigants. In light of these facts 

and because the Citronelle distribution proportions agreed to by the 

Refiner-Litigants were not a part of the Agreement and thus not binding 

on DOE, we propose that the Refiner-Litigant portion of the funds be 

divided in equal proportions for the firms, or successor firms, listed 

in Exhibit A of the Agreement. A list of these firms is included as an 

appendix to this Notice. If a listed firm, or successor firm, does not 

submit the Required Information described below by the specified 

deadline, the funds will be considered unclaimed and will be 

transferred to the U.S. Treasury.



B. The Airlines Account



    The remaining Airlines account funds will be split according to the 

percentages prescribed in the Settlement Agreement. Two sevenths of the 

Airlines account funds will be distributed to the United States 

Treasury. Two sevenths of the Airlines account funds will be 

distributed to the Refiner-Litigants Escrow Account. Two sevenths of 

the Airlines account funds will be distributed to the States in the 

proportions listed in Exhibit L of the Agreement.

    One seventh of the Airlines account funds will be allocated to the 

End-Users account, which will be distributed in the same proportions as 

the residual Subpart V funds were distributed pursuant to our notice in 

72 FR 46461, 46462 (August 14, 2007). The funds will be split equally, 

with half distributed to the United States Treasury and half 

distributed to the States. The funds distributed to the States will be 

divided in the proportions used for the final distribution of the 

Subpart V funds, which are identical to those listed in Exhibit L of 

the Agreement. All funds distributed to the States are subject to the 

same restricted uses as those received by that State as a result of the 

settlement of the case known as In Re: Stripper Well Litigation, M.D.L. 

No. 378. A list of distribution percentages is included as an appendix 

to this Notice. If a State does not submit the Required Information 

described below by the specified deadline, the funds will be considered 

unclaimed and will be transferred to the U.S. Treasury.



C. Required Information



    In order to receive its allotted funds, each Recipient, including 

State Recipients, must submit the following no later than January 16, 

2019.

     Statement of Intent: The Statement should be brief and 

include the Recipient's name and the representative's authority to 

claim the Recipient's funds.

     Information Required by the Agreement: The Agreement 

requires that certain Releases of Claims be executed and submitted to 

DOE before Recipients may receive distributions.

    [cir] If a Recipient has not ever submitted the relevant Release of 

Claims, it should contact DOE at the below address to obtain a copy of 

the release, and should submit the executed release with the other 

required information described in this section.

    [cir] If a Recipient has previously submitted the relevant Release 

of Claims, it should submit to DOE a notarized statement certifying 

that it has submitted the release. The notarized statement should be 

submitted with the other required information described in this 

section.

     Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Information: Each 

Recipient must submit all information necessary for DOE to make an 

electronic distribution of funds, including the name and contact 

information (phone number, email address, and mailing address) of a 

person designated to be the Point of Contact, banking information, and 

Tax ID number. DOE will not contact Recipients regarding problems, 

discrepancies, or other issues with EFT information. DOE will notify 

the designated Point of Contact when the EFT is initiated. If an EFT is 

unsuccessful and the Recipient does not contact DOE to correct the 

error by the 14th day following the EFT initiation, the amount not 

distributed will be considered unclaimed and will be transferred to the 

United States Treasury.

    Submissions should in PDF format and must be submitted by email to 

[email protected]. The subject line should include ``Citronelle 

Settlement Agreement Recipient Documents'' and the name of the State or 

other Recipient. The Releases of Claims contained in the Agreement's 

Exhibits may be obtained by contacting Kristin L. Martin, Attorney-

Advisor, Office of Hearings and Appeals, by email at 

[email protected], or by telephone at 202-287-1550.



Appendix A--Proposed Distribution Percentages and List of Refiner-

Litigants



A. Citronelle Airline Account Funds



Refiner-Litigants 28.57142857142860000%



     Each Refiner-Litigant Entity is entitled to 

0.865800865800867% of the total Airline Account Funds.



United States Treasury 35.71428571428570000%

Alabama 0.54804016064259400%

Alaska 0.13818786523157600%

American Samoa 0.00636083244822057%

Arizona 0.36634454245826900%

Arkansas 0.45449277491405100%

California 3.26944016176838000%

Colorado 0.38401187480512000%

Connecticut 0.60652108584973400%

Delaware 0.16956338168467300%

District of Columbia 0.08531354824083700%

Florida 1.65010975432690000%

Georgia 0.79531816470797200%

Guam 0.05263184468083650%



[[Page 52824]]



Hawaii 0.24538846523323400%

Idaho 0.14657787754978300%

Illinois 1.64040323767528000%

Indiana 0.87972416423889800%

Iowa 0.46535022190036900%

Kansas 0.40036549196707900%

Kentucky 0.45780595111052400%

Louisiana 0.84950225360465700%

Maine 0.26254694847105300%

Maryland 0.63946084248035600%

Massachusetts 1.22259929840854000%

Michigan 1.21688372104464000%

Minnesota 0.61974582045967800%

Mississippi 0.48769574322855100%

Missouri 0.70516872255815100%

Montana 0.16165040119813900%

Nebraska 0.26336705431455200%

Nevada 0.14466342873599700%

New Hampshire 0.16645300019308600%

New Jersey 1.31838653652643000%

New Mexico 0.23395138247190300%

New York 2.76553651908726000%

No. Mariana Islands 0.00329014604847478%

North Carolina 0.80159665169915200%

North Dakota 0.13090382462201500%

Ohio 1.34202999992372000%

Oklahoma 0.44109500817469100%

Oregon 0.35401620870755400%

Pennsylvania 1.66287802161090000%

Puerto Rico 0.34023415151078600%

Rhode Island 0.14160268359603600%

South Carolina 0.42578568669101500%

South Dakota 0.12770074547322300%

Tennessee 0.57787034891897200%

Texas 2.63486674686911000%

Utah 0.21069728945457100%

Vermont 0.08547809926032230%

Virgin Islands 0.16520939843142600%

Virginia 0.91659346391607800%

Washington 0.54540262288818800%

West Virginia 0.21344547509163300%

Wisconsin 0.62838735451951800%

Wyoming 0.14563871266099600%

Total 35.71428571428570000%



B. Non-Litigant Refiners Account Funds



Refiner-Litigants 100%



     Each Refiner-Litigant Entity is entitled to 3.03% of 

the Non-Litigant Refiners Account Funds.



C. List of Refiner-Litigants



Amoco Oil Company

Ashland Oil, Inc.

Atlantic Richfield Company

Axel Johnson, Inc.

BHP Petroleum Americas Refining, Inc.

Castle Oil Corporation

Charter International Oil Company

Charter Oil Company

Chevron U.S.A., Inc.

Clark Oil & Refining Corporation

The Coastal Corporation

Commonwealth Oil Refining Company

Conoco Inc.

Crown Central Petroleum corp.

Diamond Shamrock Refining & Marketing Company

Exxon Corporation

Fina Oil and Chemical Company

Gulf States Oil & Refining Co.

Kerr-McGee Refining Corporation

La Gloria Oil and Gas Company

Marathon Oil Company

Mobil Oil Corporation

New England Petroleum Corporation

Oxy USA Inc.

Shell Oil Company

Sprague Energy Corporation

Tesoro Petroleum Corporation

Texaco Inc.

Texaco Refining & Marketing Inc.

Tosco Corporation

Total Petroleum Inc.

Union Pacific Resources Company

Wyatt Energy Inc.



    Signed in Washington, DC on: October 12, 2018.

Poli A. Marmolejos,

Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.



[FR Doc. 2018-22705 Filed 10-17-18; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P