About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-190462 1 (1979-03-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadhau0001 and id is 1 raw text is: DECISION FILE: B-190462 THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, .C . 2O548 1 TV9 DATE: March 29, 1979 MATTER OF: Department of the Interior -[Disposition of Reclamation FejUnder- and Overpayments of $1 or less DIGEST: Under Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 31 U.S.C. §§ 951-953, Department of the Interior need not pursue collection action in cases of underpayments of $1 or less of reclamation fees paid by coal mine operators pursuant to Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Further, it is General Accounting Office policy that refunds of overpayments of $1 or less should not be made unless specifically claimed. The Department of the Interior (Department) has requested our decision concerning the treatment of under- and overpayments of $1 or less of reclamation fees which coal mine operators are required to pay quarterly to the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) under section 402 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (Act), Pub. L. No. 95- 87 (August 3, 1977), 91 Stat. 445. The Department asks whether it may forego both the collecting of underpayments and the refunding of overpay- ments on these small amounts. The Department seeks to establish these minimum amounts because the costs of collection activity or refund processing significantly exceed the sums to be collected or refunded in cases of $1 or less. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the Department (1) need not initiate collection activity for underpayments of $1 or less, and (2) need not refund overpayments of $1 or less unless a specific claim is made therefor. The fees collected under section 402 of the Act are for deposit into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund (Fund), a trust fund established on the books of the Treasury by section 401. The Fund is available, upon appropriation, for a number of purposes as specified in section 401. The amount of a reclamation fee is determined by multiplying the tonnage of coal produced by a coal mine operator times the applicable fee per ton of the type of coal produced. Section 402(a). Coal mine operators must complete a Coal Production Reclamation Fee Report (Form OSM 837-1) on which the operator must list the number of tons of each type of coal produced and calculate the applicable fee. The operators then return the form along with their remittance to the Department, which deposits the remittance directly into the Fund. Among other checks, the fee collection system provides for automated verification of these calculations which has disclosed a large number of under- and overpayments of $1 or less as summarized below:

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most