57274 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

[OE Docket No. EA–281–A] 

Application To Export Electric Energy; 

Manitoba Hydro 

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery 

and Energy Reliability, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of application. 

SUMMARY: Manitoba Hydro, a Canadian 

Crown Corporation, has applied to 

renew its authority to transmit electric 

energy from the United States to Canada 

pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal 

Power Act. 

DATES: Comments, protests or requests 

to intervene must be submitted on or 

before October 31, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests or 

requests to intervene should be 

addressed as follows: Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability, Mail Code: OE–20, U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, DC 20585–0350 (FAX 202–

586–5860). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Xavier Puslowski (Program Office) 202–

586–4708 or Michael Skinker (Program 

Attorney) 202–586–2793. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Exports of 

electricity from the United States to a 

foreign country are regulated and 

require authorization under section 

202(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) 

(16 U.S.C. 824a(e)). 

On November 17, 2003, the 

Department of Energy (DOE) issued 

Order No. EA–281 authorizing Manitoba 

Hydro to export electric energy from the 

United States to Canada. That two-year 

authorization will expire on November 

17, 2005. On September 2, 2005, 

Manitoba Hydro applied to DOE to 

renew its authority to export electric 

energy from the United States to Canada 

for a five (5) year period. 

In OE Docket No. EA–281–A, 

Manitoba Hydro proposes to purchase 

electric energy in Canada and wheel 

that energy through transmission 

facilities in the United States and return 

it to Canada using certain transmission 

facilities located at the U.S. border with 

Canada. In addition, Manitoba Hydro 

proposes to purchase electric energy 

from generators, power marketers, or 

federal power marketing agencies in the 

U.S. and export that energy to Canada. 

Manitoba Hydro will arrange for the 

delivery of exports to Canada over the 

international transmission facilities 

owned by Basin Electric Power 

Cooperative, Booneville Power 

Administration, Eastern Maine Electric 

Cooperative, International Transmission 

Co., Joint Owners of the Highgate 

Project, Long Sault, Inc., Maine Electric 

Power Company, Maine Public Service 

Company, Minnesota Power, Inc., 

Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc., New 

York Power Authority, Niagara Mohawk 

Power Corp., Northern States Power 

Company and Vermont Electric 

Transmission Co. 

The construction, operation, 

maintenance, and connection of each of 

the international transmission facilities 

to be utilized by Manitoba Hydro has 

previously been authorized by a 

Presidential permit issued pursuant to 

Executive Order 10485, as amended. 

Procedural Matters: Any person 

desiring to become a party to these 

proceedings or to be heard by filing 

comments or protests to this application 

should file a petition to intervene, 

comment or protest at the address 

provided above in accordance with 

§§ 385.211 or 385.214 of the FERC’s 

Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 

CFR 385.211, 385.214). Fifteen copies of 

each petition and protest should be filed 

with the DOE on or before the dates 

listed above. 

Comments on the Manitoba Hydro 

application to export electric energy to 

Canada should be clearly marked with 

Docket EA–281–A. Additional copies 

are to be filed directly with K. Jennifer 

Moroz, Barrister & Solicitor, Legal 

Department, Manitoba Hydro, 820 

Taylor Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba 

Canada R3M 3T1AND David Martin 

/Connelly, Bruder, Gentile & Marcoux, 

L.L.P., 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006–5805. 

A final decision will be made on this 

application after the environmental 

impacts have been evaluated pursuant 

to the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969, and a determination is 

made by the DOE that the proposed 

action will not adversely impact on the 

reliability of the U.S. electric power 

supply system. 

Copies of this application will be 

made available, upon request, for public 

inspection and copying at the address 

provided above or by accessing the 

program’s Home Page at http:// 

www.fe.doe.gov. Upon reaching the 

Home page, select ‘‘Electricity 

Regulation,’’ and then ‘‘Pending 

Proceedings’’ from the options menus. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

26, 2005. 

Anthony J. Como, 

Director, Permitting and Siting, , Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. 

[FR Doc. 05–19591 Filed 9–29–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Proposed Procedures for Distribution 

of Remaining Crude Oil Overcharge 

Refunds 

AGENCY: Office of Hearings and Appeals, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed procedures 

for distribution of remaining crude oil 

overcharge refunds and opportunity for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: In a May 21, 2004 Notice, the 

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of 

Hearings and Appeals (OHA) 

announced procedures for making one 

final round of refund payments in this 

proceeding. However, there is ongoing 

litigation that could affect the amount of 

crude oil monies available for 

distribution, thus making it unworkable 

at this point to have a single, last round 

of payments that would exhaust the 

remaining crude oil refund monies. We 

instead propose here to issue partial 

refunds amounting to approximately 

90% of the money due each eligible 

claimant. 

DATES: Comments must be filed in 

duplicate within 30 days of publication 

of this Notice in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to: Crude Oil Refund 

Proceeding, Office of Hearings and 

Appeals, Department of Energy, 

Washington, DC 20585–1615, and 

submitted electronically to 

steven.goering@hq.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steven Goering, Staff Attorney, or 

Richard Cronin, Assistant Director, 

Office of Hearings and Appeals, 

Department of Energy; telephone: 202–

287–1449, e-mail: 

steven.goering@hq.doe.gov, 

richard.cronin@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OHA 

published a Notice of final procedures 

for final crude oil refunds in the Federal 

Register on May 21, 2004. 69 FR 29300. 

In the May 21 notice, we explained that 

we would be sending notice to all 

claimants (or their representatives of 

record) who purchased more than 

280,000 gallons of eligible petroleum 

products during the relevant period. We 

also stated that claimants would be 

required, no later than December 31, 

2004, to submit verification of the 

information in our database. Shortly 

after issuing the May 21 Notice, we sent 

notice to claimants and received 30,873 

timely submissions. 

In the May 21 notice, we set forth a 

plan to make one final round of refund 

payments, with the intent ‘‘to distribute 

all of the reserved funds to claimants 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / Notices 57275 

1We arrive at the volumetric refund amount by 

rounding down to the fifth decimal place. Rounding 

down ensures that there will be sufficient funds to 

pay refunds at a given volumetric refund amount. 

‘insofar as practicable.’ ’’ 69 FR at 29302. 

We rejected a proposal by a 

representative of a few large claimants 

that would have required two 

disbursements, the second a ‘‘closeout 

payment’’ available only to clients of 

that representative and other large 

claimants. Id. 

Since that time, events and 

proliferating litigation affecting the 

windup of this crude oil refund 

proceeding have precluded the 

Department from proceeding with the 

calculation of the per-gallon 

‘‘volumetric’’ refund amount that is 

necessary to a single, final payment of 

refunds to all qualified applicants. 

Calculating the volumetric amount 

requires two fixed numbers: (1) The 

amount of funds available for 

distribution (‘‘the numerator’’), which is 

divided by (2) the number of gallons of 

eligible petroleum products purchased 

during the controls period by eligible 

claimants (‘‘the denominator’’). 

However, as explained below, the 

increasing litigation that has been 

brought to bear on the proceeding may 

affect both the numerator and the 

denominator of the volumetric 

calculation. As a result, the plan to 

make a single, final round of refunds to 

eligible persons is unworkable. 

Among matters affecting our ability to 

proceed with the calculation of a final 

volumetric and proceed with a final 

distribution is a decision on January 26, 

2005, by the United States District Court 

for the District of Columbia. In 

Consolidated Edison Co. v. Abraham, 

Civil Action No. 03–1991, in which the 

Court awarded plaintiffs attorney’s fees 

in the ‘‘amount of thirty percent (30%) 

of the fund derived from the amount of 

the increase in the per million-gallon 

distribution over the $670 [per million 

gallons] initially proposed by DOE.’’

Consolidated Edison v. Abraham, Civil 

Action No. 03–1991, slip op. at 12 

(January 26, 2005). Under this decision, 

a significant amount of the crude oil 

refund monies—approximately $10 

million—would be paid directly to 

plaintiffs’ counsel and not be available 

for distribution to individual claimants. 

The Department has filed Notices of 

Appeal regarding this decision, and 

plaintiffs have filed appeals of the order 

insofar as it denied the full amount of 

attorney’s fees they sought, which 

would have amounted to 10% of the 

entire ‘‘Subpart V’’ crude oil fund, i.e., 

about $28 million. See D.C. Cir. Docket 

Nos. 05–5089, 05–5090, 05–5223, and 

Fed. Cir. Docket Nos. 05–1309, 05–1310, 

05–1450. 

The same Consolidated Edison 

plaintiffs have also filed actions 

challenging several outstanding OHA 

Decisions granting refunds. For 

example, plaintiffs are challenging the 

crude oil refunds granted to the Defense 

Logistics Agency and other federal and 

state agencies. The district court 

dismissed this challenge and plaintiffs 

have appealed that decision to both the 

United States Court of Appeals for the 

Federal Circuit and the United States 

Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

See D.C. Dist Ct. Dkt. No. 04–382, 2005 

Lexis 5663 (March 31, 2005) (OHA Case 

No. RF272–00011) (Fed. Cir. Dkt. No. 

05–1509 and Ct. App. D.C. Dkt. No. 05–

5302). For other pending litigation 

instituted by the Consolidated Edison 

plaintiffs challenging OHA refund 

decisions, see Lubrizol Corporation v. 

Bodman, D.C. Dist Ct. Dkt. No. 05–1467 

RWR (OHA Case No. RC272–00438); 

Hercules, Inc v. Bodman., Fed. Cir. No. 

05–1442; D.C. Cir. No. 05–5201; Dist Ct. 

Dkt. 02–1507 (OHA Case No. RR272–

00204); and Chesebrough-Pond’s USA 

Co. v. Bodman, Energy Management 

¶ 26,752, aff’d Fed. Cir. Dkt. No. 04–

1615, 128 Fed. Apx. 153 (May 4, 2005), 

(OHA Case No. RF272–97101). The 

outcome of these cases affects the 

amount of money available for 

distribution to individual applicants. 

Also, a decision concerning a Motion for 

Reconsideration of OHA’s denial of a 

refund in International Steel Group, Inc. 

D.C. D.Ct. # 05–1466, (OHA Case No. 

RR272–00321), is also in litigation. See 

Mittal Steel USA ISG, Inc. v. Bodman, 

D,C. Dkt. No. 05–1466. In that case, a 

reversal of OHA’s decision would add 

609,873,817 gallons (the number of 

gallons claimed on the application) to 

the denominator of the volumetric. 

Because of the potential impact of the 

pending litigation on both the 

numerator and denominator of the 

volumetric, it is not feasible to have one 

final distribution of the crude oil funds 

at this time. 

Significant time that has elapsed since 

the deadline for refund claimants to 

submit verification information, such as 

present addresses and other locators. 

Our experience in previous crude oil 

refund rounds is that this verification 

information becomes quickly and 

increasingly obsolete. Insofar as it is 

able, OHA has resolved the issues 

barring the commencement of a final 

crude oil refund distribution and is in 

a position to propose—in lieu of the 

planned, single refund distribution—a 

partial crude oil refund distribution of 

the moneys that are not threatened by 

the litigation referenced above. That 

would encompass a vast majority of the 

funds on hand. While a partial refund 

increases the burden on the Department, 

OHA believes that the refund claimants 

deserve relief from the effects of the 

ongoing litigation. To make a round of 

partial crude oil refunds, OHA is issuing 

this notice announcing a provisional 

volumetric refund amount and defining 

that portion of the crude oil monies that 

would be reserved pending the 

resolution of the litigation. We ask 

interested parties to comment on the 

proposed refund procedure. Upon 

resolution of the aforementioned 

litigation, we would then consider 

procedures for another and final 

distribution of the remaining crude oil 

monies which would exhaust the crude 

oil fund. 

Specifically, therefore, we are 

proposing to make refunds to all 

claimants based upon a volumetric 

calculated using a numerator of 

$252,000,000, i.e., approximately 90% 

of all available funds, and a 

denominator of 366,324,981,322 gallons, 

i.e., the number of gallons of eligible 

petroleum products purchased during 

the controls period by eligible claimants 

(365,715,107,505 gallons) plus the 

number of gallons claimed in the 

application denied by OHA that is 

currently the subject of pending 

litigation (609,873,817 gallons). This 

produces a volumetric refund of 

$0.00068 and distributes approximately 

90% of the money due to over 99.75% 

of all eligible claimants.1

However, prudence requires that we 

not distribute funds to those claimants 

whose refunds are currently being 

challenged by third parties in pending 

litigation. Upon the conclusion of 

litigation and a final upholding of our 

refund awards, we propose to promptly 

release the funds to the affected 

claimants. The following is a list of the 

individual claimants whose refunds we 

propose to handle in this fashion: 

RF272–00011 DEFENSE LOGISTICS 

AGENCY 

RF272–00350 WISCONSIN DEPT. 

TRANSPORTATION 

RF272–00512 STATE OF WEST 

VIRGINIA 

RF272–04416 STATE OF 

CONNECTICUT 

RF272–08074 STATE OF 

CONNECTICUT 

RF272–09853 WASHINGTON STATE 

PATROL 

RF272–11717 WASHINGTON STATE 

DEPT. TRANS. 

RF272–12181 NEBRASKA PUBLIC 

POWER DIST. 

RF272–12588 STATE OF 

CONNECTICUT 

57276 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 189 / Friday, September 30, 2005 / Notices 

RF272–17487 KENTUCKY DEPT. OF 

EDUCATION 

RF272–18164 STATE OF NORTH 

DAKOTA 

RF272–18963 STATE OF NEW 

MEXICO 

RF272–19364 STATE OF MISSOURI 

RF272–19386 STATE OF VERMONT 

RF272–19457 STATE OF SOUTH 

DAKOTA 

RF272–20947 LUBRIZOL 

CORPORATION 

RF272–23229 DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA 

RF272–23790 HERCULES, INC. 

RF272–28260 WASHINGTON STATE 

FERRIES 

RF272–35431 MARYLAND STATE 

AVIATION ADMIN. 

RF272–44094 OHIO STATE HWY. 

PATROL 

RF272–44344 STATE OF SOUTH 

CAROLINA 

RF272–45477 ILLINOIS STATE TOLL 

HWY. AUTH. 

RF272–49283 COMMONWEALTH OF 

KENTUCKY 

RF272–49892 NEBRASKA ENERGY 

OFFICE 

RF272–49898 STATE OF KANSAS 

RF272–50638 WASHINGTON STATE 

DEPT OF TRANS 

RF272–51829 WASHINGTON STATE 

PARKS & REC. 

RF272–54955 U.S. POSTAL SERVICE 

RF272–56597 STATE OF 

OKLAHOMA 

RF272–59085 STATE OF UTAH, 

ENERGY OFFICE 

RF272–59907 STATE OF COLORADO 

RF272–60251 STATE OF WISCONSIN 

RF272–61569 STATE OF 

MINNESOTA 

RF272–61591 ARKANSAS HWY. & 

TRANS. DEPT. 

RF272–62009 STATE OF NEW 

HAMPSHIRE 

RF272–62522 STATE OF NEW YORK 

RF272–63433 STATE OF DELAWARE 

RF272–63623 MARYLAND STATE 

HWY. ADMIN. 

RF272–63624 MARYLAND DEPT. 

GENERAL SERVICE 

RF272–64195 STATE ARIZONA 

DEPT. OF TRANS. 

RF272–64288 STATE OF ARKANSAS 

RF272–64986 STATE OF FLORIDA 

RF272–65199 STATE OF IOWA 

RF272–65398 STATE OF NEVADA 

RF272–65470 STATE OF MICHIGAN 

RF272–65524 ILLINOIS DEPT. OF 

COMMERCE 

RF272–65526 ALASKA DEPT OF 

TRANS & PUB FAC 

RF272–66878 NEW YORK TRANSIT 

AUTHORITY 

RF272–67007 COMMONWEALTH OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 

RF272–67187 STATE OF INDIANA 

RF272–67248 STATE OF 

CALIFORNIA 

RF272–67313 STATE OF TEXAS 

RF272–67507 STATE OF VERMONT 

DEPT. OF COR. 

RF272–67509 STATE OF 

VERMONT—TRANSPORTTN 

RF272–67586 STATE OF ALABAMA 

RF272–68243 NEW JERSEY TRANSIT 

CORP. 

RF272–68934 NEW YORK STATE 

THRUWAY AUTH. 

RF272–69744 STATE OF NEW 

JERSEY 

RF272–69948 WEST VIRGINIA HWY. 

DEPT. 

RF272–71331 STATE OF TENNESSEE 

RF272–74169 STATE OF MAINE 

RF272–75269 VIRGINIA DEPT. OF

STATE POLICE 

RF272–87985 STATE OF MARYLAND 

RF272–97101 CHESEBROUGHPOND’S USA CO. 

RF272–98890 COMMONWEALTH OF 

VIRGINIA 

RG272–00507 STATE OF OHIO 

RK272–00147 STATE OF MONTANA 

RK272–00362 STATE OF KANSAS 

RK272–03404 WYOMING DEPT. OF 

TRANSPORTATN. 

RK272–03418 STATE OF GEORGIA—

ENERGY RES. 

RK272–04041 STATE OF NORTH 

CAROLINA 

RR272–00207 STATE OF TENNESSEE 

OHA seeks comments on these 

proposed procedures. Interested parties 

should send comments to the address 

shown on the present Notice. After OHA 

considers the comments received, we 

will issue a final Notice that will 

explain how we will proceed with the 

refund process. The final Notice will be 

published in the Federal Register, and 

it will be available on the OHA Web 

site, http://www.oha.doe.gov/. 

Issued in Washington, DC on September 

26, 2005. 

George B. Breznay, 

Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals. 

[FR Doc. 05–19589 Filed 9–29–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Bonneville Power Administration 

Availability of the Bonneville 

Purchasing Instructions (BPI) and 

Bonneville Financial Assistance 

Instructions (BFAI) 

AGENCY: Bonneville Power 

Administration (BPA), DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of document availability. 

SUMMARY: Copies of the Bonneville 

Purchasing Instructions (BPI), which 

contain the policy and establish the 

procedures that BPA uses in the 

solicitation, award, and administration 

of its purchases of goods and services, 

including construction, are available in 

printed form for $30, or without charge 

at the following Internet address: 

http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/ 

business/. 

Copies of the Bonneville Financial 

Assistance Instructions (BFAI), which 

contain the policy and establish the 

procedures that BPA uses in the 

solicitation, award, and administration 

of financial assistance instruments 

(principally grants and cooperative 

agreements), are available in printed 

form for $15 each, or available without 

charge at the following Internet address: 

http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/ 

business/. 

ADDRESSES: Unbound copies of the BPI 

or BFAI may be obtained by sending a 

check for the proper amount to the Head 

of the Contracting Activity, Routing CK–

4, Bonneville Power Administration, PO 

Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 97208–

3621. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Manager, Corporate Communications, 

1–800–622–4519. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BPA was 

established in 1937 as a Federal Power 

Marketing Agency in the Pacific 

Northwest. BPA operations are financed 

from power revenues rather than annual 

appropriations. BPA’s purchasing 

operations are conducted under 16 

U.S.C. 832 et seq. and related statutes. 

Pursuant to these special authorities, the 

BPI is promulgated as a statement of 

purchasing policy and as a body of 

interpretative regulations governing the 

conduct of BPA purchasing activities. It 

is significantly different from the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation, and 

reflects BPA’s private sector approach to 

purchasing the goods and services that 

it requires. BPA’s financial assistance 

operations are conducted under 16 

U.S.C. 839 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 839 et 

seq. The BFAI express BPA’s financial 

assistance policy. The BFAI also 

comprise BPA’s rules governing 

implementation of the principles 

provided in the following OMB 

circulars: 

A–21 Cost Principles for Educational 

Institutions. 

A–87 Cost Principles for State, Local 

and Indian Tribal Governments. 

A–102 Grants and Cooperative 

Agreements with State and Local 

Governments. 

A–110 Uniform Administrative 

Requirements for Grants and Other 

Agreements with Institutions of