Florida Power Corp. v. United States

33 Fed. Cl. 107, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 59, 1995 WL 135045
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 29, 1995
DocketNo. 542-88 L
StatusPublished

This text of 33 Fed. Cl. 107 (Florida Power Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Florida Power Corp. v. United States, 33 Fed. Cl. 107, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 59, 1995 WL 135045 (uscfc 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

This case comes before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. On May 23, 1977, the plaintiff, Florida Power Corporation (Florida Power), entered into a purchase agreement with Gulf Oil Corporation (Gulf), a predecessor to Chevron Resources Company (Chevron), for uranium produced on Native American allottee lands, pursuant to leases entered into by Gulf. Plaintiff claims a refund from the United States for payments made by Florida Power to Chevron pursuant to the purchase agreement entered into by the two companies to cover royalty payments paid by Chevron to the United States for uranium production on leased lands. Defendant contests jurisdiction in this court. Because defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment refers to matters outside the pleadings to support its argument that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain plaintiffs claim, defendant’s motion was filed as a summary judgment motion, rather than as a motion to dismiss. See Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) 12(c).1 In the alternative, in its motion for summary judgment, defendant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on the merits. After carefixl consideration of the facts, the documents submitted by both parties, the [110]*110oral arguments presented to the court, the relevant law, and for the reasons stated below, the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is, hereby, DENIED, and the defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is, hereby, GRANTED.

FACTS

On May 23, 1977, the plaintiff, Florida Power, entered into a uranium concentrate purchase agreement with Gulf, the predecessor to Chevron. Under the purchase agreement, Florida Power was to acquire all the uranium ore produced pursuant to two Native American allottee leases (BIA Contract Nos. 14-20-0603-1345 and 14-20-0603-1351),2 issued to Gulf on May 14, 1968 and May 21, 1968, respectively.

Pursuant to these allottee leases, a royalty was to be paid to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the benefit of the lessors, calculated on a monthly weighted average, on the basis of dry short tons of ore mined and delivered' to the treatment plant, subject to certain adjustments and calculations, also specified in the leases. The provisions regarding royalty and delayed sale in both allottee leases are identical and can be found in Part III, section (1) and Exhibit A of both leases. Those provisions contain the following language:

IN CONSIDERATION OF THE FOREGOING, THE LESSEE AGREES:
(1) ROYALTY — To pay, or cause to be paid, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs ... for the use and benefit of the lessor [Native American allottee], a royalty as follows: per attached Exhibit “A”.
* * * * * *
EXHIBIT “A”
ROYALTY. To pay or cause to be paid ... a royalty calculated on a monthly weighted average on the basis of dry short tons of ore mined and delivered to a treatment plant.
* * * * * *
1. (b) For uranium and vanadium and associated minerals.
For uranium and vanadium and associated minerals the net value or net return ... shall be the gross value per dry ton of crude ore at the mine as paid for by a custom mill or other buyer.
In the ease of a captive lease where the lessee sells products derived from crude ores, net value or net return shall be determined by deducting from the gross value of the product sold the actual costs of transportation of crude ore from the mine to the beneficiation plant plus the actual costs of beneficiation. It is specifically understood that any mine production bonuses and subsidies shall be included in determination of net value or net return.
Also, in the case of a captive lease, the lessee, at the time of determination of uranium content of the ore, shall pay royalty based upon a value of $6 per pound of the content of [uranium ore]. If the product is sold within twelve months from the date of determination of the uranium content of the ore, the royalty value shall be adjusted to the sales price. If the product is not sold within twelve months from the month of the determination of uranium content of the ore, the royalty value shall be subject to adjustment in accordance with subparagraph (c) hereof but not below $6 per pound of U3O8 or its equivalent.

According to the terms of the purchase agreement between Florida Power and Gulf, plaintiff agreed to buy and take delivery of uranium concentrates, pursuant to quantity and delivery schedules specified in the purchase agreement. Article 5 of the purchase agreement, which addresses “Prices, Price Adjustments and Terms of Payment,” contains the following language:

5.2.1 ... When the Mariano Lake Mine is no longer producing, adjustments on any Concentrates Seller holds in storage shall be made as described in Article 5.2.11. This adjustment corresponds to storage charges.
* * * * * *
[111]*1115.2.11 When the Mariano Lake Mine permanently ceases to produce, as determined by Seller, the price for Production held in storage by Seller for future delivery under Article 3.1 shall be subject to adjustment upward to compensate Seller for Seller’s costs of storing such Production in inventory. Such Production will be of two kinds: that which has been received as Concentrates by the Allied Chemical Conversion Facility, and that which has not yet been received as Concentrates by the Allied Chemical Conversion Facility.

Under the terms of the May 23, 1977 purchase agreement, Gulf was obligated to deliver to Florida Power 3,200,000 pounds of uranium concentrate, with an annual delivery schedule of 400,000 pounds per year for each of eight years. The record reflects that deliveries in 1978 and 1979 were made as scheduled. With Gulfs February 1980 delivery to Florida Power, however, Gulfs inventory of uranium concentrate from the Mariano Lake Mine was depleted, and Gulf was unable to fully perform under the purchase agreement. As a result, two modifications to the purchase agreement between Gulf and Florida Power were issued. In the first amendment, plaintiff Florida Power agreed to accept a portion of the delivery from another month. Subsequently, on February 15, 1982, the parties modified the purchase agreement to require the delivery of only 2,000,000 pounds of uranium concentrate and to provide for some delayed deliveries.

As part of the purchase agreement modifications, the parties agreed that 400,000 pounds of uranium concentrate in Gulfs inventory would be stored by Gulf, after beneficiation, off the leased premises, for a period of up to 445 days. According to the 1977 purchase agreement, Florida Power was to reimburse Gulf for the charges associated with storing the uranium. Gulf ultimately delivered the uranium to Florida Power 445 days late, and Florida Power took actual possession in August 1983. The record also reflects that Florida Power reimbursed Gulf in the amount of $2,789,408.00 for the storage charges associated with the delayed deliveries.

In a decision dated October 11, 1985, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) determined that the royalties on account of the allottee leases (45-001345 and 45-001351)3

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 Fed. Cl. 107, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 59, 1995 WL 135045, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/florida-power-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-1995.