[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29339-29340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14164]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of
March 31 Through April 4, 1997
During the week of March 31 through April 4, 1997, the decisions
and orders summarized below were issued with respect to appeals,
applications, petitions, or other requests 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.
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, D.C. 20585-0107, Monday through Friday, between the hours
of 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., except federal holidays. They are also
available in Energy Management: Federal Energy Guidelines, a
commercially published loose leaf reporter system. Some decisions and
orders are available on the Office of Hearings and Appeals World Wide
Web site at http://www.oha.doe.gov.
Dated: May 21, 1997.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Decision List No. 27
Appeals
Daniel J. Bruno, 4/1/97, VFA-0277
The DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision
denying a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Daniel J.
Bruno. Bruno sought a copy of a written statement allegedly submitted
pursuant to an EEO investigation. In its decision, OHA found that the
DOE's finding that the statement had never been submitted met its
obligations under the FOIA. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Glen Milner, 4/4/97, LFA-0159
Glen Milner filed an Appeal from a denial by the Albuquerque
Operations Office of a request for information that he filed under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Because the withheld information was
produced under the joint authority of the DOE and various elements of
the Department of Defense, the DOE provided the DOD with an opportunity
to review the documents at issue. In considering the information that
was withheld, the DOD determined that the majority of the information
must be withheld under Exemptions 2 and 3 of the FOIA. However, title
pages and pages containing purely administrative matters could be
released. Accordingly, the Appeal was granted in part.
Glen Milner, 4/4/97, VFA-0278
Glen Milner (Appellant) filed an Appeal of a determination issued
to him by the Albuquerque Operations Office (AOO) of the Department of
Energy (DOE) in response to a request under the Freedom of Information
Act. That determination followed the remand from the Office of Hearings
and Appeals (OHA) which determined that the Appellant should be given a
fee waiver for documents generated after January 1992 concerning
specifically fitted railcars for the transport of nuclear weapons. In
its determination, AOO released only one responsive document to the
Appellant. On appeal, the OHA found that AOO had interpreted OHA's fee
waiver grant too narrowly and remanded the case for a further search.
The OHA also found that AOO should search for documents generated up
until the time of the new search because AOO's original search was
substantially delayed. Accordingly, the DOE granted the Appeal and
remanded the matter to AOO for further action.
Richard J. Levernier, 4/1/97, VFA-0274
Richard J. Levernier (Levernier) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued to him by the Office of the Inspector General
(OIG) of the Department of Energy (DOE). In his Appeal, Levernier
asserted that the OIG improperly withheld names and other identifying
information contained in two documents requested pursuant to the FOIA.
The DOE determined that OIG had correctly applied Exemption 7(C) to the
information and Levernier's Appeal was denied.
Terry J. Fox, 4/4/97, VFA-0276
Terry J. Fox filed an Appeal from a determination issued to him by
the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) of the Department of Energy
(DOE) in response to a Request for Information submitted under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Mr. Fox's request sought records of
outgoing telephone calls from a particular BPA telephone belonging to
his brother who Mr. Fox suspects of spying on and harassing him. BPA
stated that it had no documents listing outgoing calls from any
telephone having the same prefix as Mr. Fox's brother's BPA telephone
number. In considering the Appeal, the DOE determined that the search
performed by BPA was adequate and complied with the requirements of the
FOIA. In particular, BPA computerized telephone records only list
general switchboard numbers as the outgoing telephone number. Thus, no
match can be made with particular BPA telephones. In addition, BPA
found no record of any telephone calls being placed from BPA to Mr.
Fox's home telephone number. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Personnel Security Hearing
Personnel Security Hearing, 4/4/97, VSO-0125
An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion
regarding the eligibility of an individual employed by a contractor at
a DOE facility to maintain an access authorization under the provisions
of 10 C.F.R. Part 710. The individual's access authorization had been
suspended because he had filed a false report with the local police,
lied to law enforcement personnel, lied to the DOE in a Personnel
Security Interview, and filed falsified evidence with the local traffic
court. The Hearing Officer found that the individual failed to present
any
[[Page 29340]]
evidence to mitigate the falsification charges against him, and that he
had engaged in conduct that tends to show that he is not honest,
reliable or trustworthy. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended
that the individual's access authorization not be restored.
Request for Exception
Laney Oil Company, Inc., 4/4/97 VEE-0028
Laney Oil Company, Inc. of Monroe, North Carolina filed an
Application for Exception requesting that it be relieved of the
requirement to file Form EIA-782B, entitled ``Resellers/Retailers''
Monthly Petroleum Products Sales Report'' because the firm had replaced
the employee with the responsibility for collecting the information
contained in the Form. The DOE found that the filing requirement did
not constitute a special hardship, inequity or unfair distribution of
burdens and denied the firm's request that it be relieved of its
obligation to file the Form. However, DOE also found that it would be
difficult for the firm to file these Forms on time. As such, DOE
granted the firm an extension of time to file the Forms required for
April through December of 1996.
Refund Application
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, 4/2/97 RB272-00104
The DOE granted supplemental refunds to 17 applicants. The
applicants were represented by a filing service in the crude oil refund
proceeding. Because the filing agent did not send refund checks granted
in previous decisions to applicants in a timely manner, the DOE decided
to send the checks directly to the applicants.
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.
Apex Oil Co/Clark Oil Co/et al/Charlie's Clark Super 100. RF342-180 3/31/97
Apex Oil Co/Clark Oil Co/et al/Jack's Clarksuper 100..... RF342-166 4/1/97
Atlantic Richfield Co./Joe's Arco et al.................. RF304-15202 3/31/97
Big Pine Trucking Co., Inc............................... RG272-89 4/2/97
Cassell Truck Lines, Inc. et al.......................... RF272-85640 4/1/97
Colonial Trailways, Inc. et al........................... RG272-100 4/1/97
Continental Grain Co..................................... RR272-00225 4/1/97
Crude Oil Supple Ref Dist................................ RB272-00105 4/4/97
Crude Oil Supple Ref Dist................................ RB272-00100 4/1/97
Douglas Cnty Farmers Coop et al.......................... RF272-99117 4/2/97
Gulf Oil Corporation/United Refining Co.................. RF300-17886 4/1/97
Karnak Corporation....................................... RG272-00864 4/4/97
Pharmhouse, Inc. et al................................... RF272-97796 4/2/97
Village of Sturtevant et al.............................. RF272-83027 4/1/97
W.E. Bartholow & Son Construction........................ RJ272-39 3/31/97
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name Case No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Air.................................. RF272-98713
Colony Oaks Associates....................... RF272-98787
Farm Bureau Driveway......................... RF272-98749
Harran Transportation Co., Inc............... RF272-95755
Interlake Steel Corporation.................. RF272-88837
Kenton County Schools........................ RF272-79646
Moore Mccormack, Inc......................... RF272-98745
National Steel Corporation................... RR272-287
National Steel Corporation................... VEG-0003
New Brunswick Township, NJ................... RF272-88749
Personnel Security........................... VSO-0145
Richard W. Ghilotti.......................... RG272-814
Sutherland Products, Inc..................... RG272-00143
W V Northern Raiload, Ltd.................... RK272-3951
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FR Doc. 97-14164 Filed 5-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
