[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 25, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20262-20263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10158]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of
February 27 Through March 3, 1995
During the week of February 27 through March 3, 1995, the decisions
and orders summarized below were issued with respect to applications
for exception or other relief filed with the Office of Hearings and
Appeals of the Department of Energy. The following summary also
contains a list of submissions that were dismissed by the Office of
Hearings and Appeals.
Appeals
Cowles Publishing Company, 2/28/95, VFA-0010
Cowles Publishing Company (Cowles) filed an Appeal from a denial by
the DOE's Richland Operations Office (Richland) of a request for
information submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Cowles sought three legal memoranda written in 1963 by an attorney
employed by General Electric d/b/a Hanford Atomic Products Operation
(GE/Hanford). The three memoranda concerned GE's potential liability
for ``Voluntary and Planned'' human radiation experiments. GE/Hanford
was the management and operations contractor at DOE's Hanford,
Washington facility from the 1940s until the mid 1960s when Battelle
Memorial Institute (Battelle) assumed GE/Hanford's research and
development functions. The three withheld records had been transferred
to Battelle during the transition period between the two contractors.
The memoranda were withheld by Richland because they were not ``agency
records'' and, even if ``agency records'', were protected by the
attorney-client privilege component of FOIA Exemption 5. On appeal, the
DOE found that the memoranda are neither ``agency records'' within the
meaning of the FOIA, nor subject to the FOIA under a new DOE contractor
records regulation at 10 CFR 1004.3(e), 59 FR 63,884 (December 12,
1994). Although the DOE found that it owns the documents under the DOE/
GE contract and the DOE/Battelle contract, it concluded that the
documents are protected by the attorney-client communications privilege
and the attorney work product privilege. The DOE also found that
because the DOE, GE and Battelle share a ``common legal interest'' in
the documents and because the requirements for finding waiver were not
met, the documents have maintained their privileged status.
Accordingly, the DOE denied Cowles' FOIA Appeal.
Kenneth W. Warden, 3/1/95, VFA-0023
Kenneth W. Warden filed an Appeal from a partial denial by the
DOE's Oak Ridge Operation's Office of a Request for Information that he
had submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Two
documents had been withheld pursuant to Exemption 6. In considering the
Appeal, the DOE found that the public's interest in disclosure of the
documents was slight in comparison with the privacy interest of the
individuals mentioned in the documents. Accordingly, the Appeal was
denied.
Request for Exception
Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc., 2/27/95, LEE-0002
Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc. filed an Application for
Exception in which the firm requested relief based on the delay in its
receipt of exception relief pursuant to a 1978 exception application.
In considering the request, the DOE found that Corco's claim did not
form the basis for an independent grant of exception relief. The DOE
further found that modification of the original grant of relief was
unwarranted on the grounds, inter alia, that the delays in the case
were largely the result of Corco's litigation strategy, that the
receipt of relief in 1978 would not have permitted the survival of
Corco's refinery and petrochemical operations, and that Corco was
actually better off as the result of its receipt of relief in 1989 and
1994. Accordingly, exception relief was denied.
Refund Applications
County of Los Angeles CAO/Purchasing and Stores Department, et al., 3/
3/95, RF272-29545, et al.
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning seven Applications
for Refund filed by various departments of the County of Los Angeles in
the crude oil special refund proceeding being conducted by the DOE
under 10 CFR part 205, subpart V. The DOE rejected
[[Page 20263]] comments filed by a group of Utilities, Transporters,
and Manufacturers, finding that the arguments presented were without
merit. The DOE then determined, after adjustment for overlapping volume
claims, that the corrected claims were meritorious and granted a refund
of $64,302.
Refund Applications
The Office of Hearings and Appeals issued the following Decisions
and Orders concerning refund applications, which are not summarized.
Copies of the full texts of the Decisions and Orders are available in
the Public Reference Room of the Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Air Molokai, Ltd.......................................................... RC272-283 03/03/95
Baltimore Storage Company................................................. RA272-68 03/03/95
City of Burnsville et al.................................................. RF272-97501 03/03/95
Continental Grain Company................................................. RC272-282 03/03/95
Continental Grain Company................................................. RC272-281 03/03/95
Frontier Airlines......................................................... RC272-280 03/03/95
G & J Freight, Inc........................................................ RA272-66 03/03/95
Gulf Oil Corporation/Southeastern Freight Lines Inc et al................. RF300-21305 02/27/95
Hamilton Hybar Inc........................................................ RF272-92579 03/01/95
Adhesives & Chemicals, Inc................................................ RF272-92776
Hudson River & Conf. Ctr.................................................. RA272-67 03/03/95
Lambert Oil Co., Inc...................................................... RR272-180 02/27/95
Moran Coal Co., Inc....................................................... RF272-91542 03/01/95
Red Top Coach, Inc........................................................ RF272-91665
Container Corp. of America................................................ RF272-98199
Mort Hall Ford, Inc....................................................... RC272-284 03/03/95
Rhea County Dept. of Education et al...................................... RF272-86753 03/03/95
Roundy's, Inc............................................................. RF272-97218 03/03/95
Superior Water, Light and Power Company................................... RF272-96593 02/27/95
Texaco Inc./Doug's Texaco................................................. RF321-21059 03/03/95
Texaco Inc./Valley Seeding Co., Inc. et al................................ RF321-12851 02/27/95
Texaco Inc./Wiesenthal's Texaco Service et al............................. RF321-20522 03/03/95
Town of North Hempstead et al............................................. RF272-96544 02/27/95
Wilkinson County et al.................................................... RF272-86105 03/03/95
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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A.J. Cole & Sons, Inc............................. RF315-9584
Albuquerque Operations Office..................... VSO-0017
Albuquerque Operations Office..................... VSO-0004
Chicago West Pullman & Southern Railroad.......... RF321-19762
Doan's Texaco..................................... RF321-20519
Food Services, Inc................................ RF272-93662
Givens Texaco..................................... RF321-6740
Hill Aircraft & Leasing Corp...................... RF351-00030
Kevork Texaco..................................... RF321-9622
Stofa's Texaco.................................... RF321-7238
W. & J. Propane Gas, Inc.......................... RF304-14999
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Copies of the full text of these decisions and orders are available
in the Public Reference Room of the Office of Hearings and Appeals,
Room 1E-234, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 1
p.m. and 5 p.m., except federal holidays. They are also available in
Energy Management: Federal Energy Guidelines, a commercially published
loose leaf reporter system.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-10158 Filed 4-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
