[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 178 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48147-48148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23355]
[[Page 48147]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders for the Week of
November 27 Through December 1, 1995
During the week of November 27 through December 1, 1995, 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, S.W.,
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: August 28, 1996.
Thomas O. Mann,
Acting Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Department of Energy
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Washington, D.C. 20585
Decision List No. 948
Week of November 27 Through December 1, 1995
Appeals
Burlin McKinney, 11/28/95, VFA-0094
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order (D&O)
denying a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal that was filed by
Burlin McKinney. In his Appeal, Mr. McKinney sought access to the
deleted portions of a memorandum concerning an interview of an
individual with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Portions
of the memorandum which tended to identify the individual were
deleted pursuant to Exemptions six and seven of the FOIA. In the
Decision, the DOE stated that the individual's interest in remaining
anonymous outweighed the public interest in disclosure. The DOE
therefore concluded that the OIG properly withheld the deleted
portions of the document.
National Security Archive, 11/30/95, VFA-0095
The National Security Archive (NSA) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued by the Office of Policy (Policy) of the
Department of Energy (DOE) in response to a request from NSA under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). NSA requested documents
concerning the US-Mexico oil negotiations during 1977-78. In
considering the Appeal, the Office of Hearings and Appeals found
that the scope of the search performed by Policy was not broad
enough and that responsive documents may exist within the Office of
General Counsel. Moreover, a new search was performed with
additional information provided by NSA on appeal. This new search
located possibly responsive documents. Accordingly, the Appeal was
remanded to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Division of
the DOE to (1) coordinate a search of the Office of General Counsel
and (2) issue a determination with respect to the newly discovered
documents.
Paul W. Fox, 11/30/95, VFA-0096
Paul W. Fox filed an Appeal from a partial denial by the
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) of a Request For Information
that he had submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The request concerned negotiations between the U.S. and Canada
concerning delivery of electric power pursuant to the Columbia River
Treaty.
The documents at issue were withheld pursuant to the
deliberative process privilege of Exemption 5, which applies to
inter- or intra-agency documents.
The DOE rejected the argument that documents could not be inter-
or intra-agency if they were between BPA and the Mid-Columbia
Partners (MCPs), a coalition of private power companies. The DOE
found that the matter should be remanded to BPA to consider the
purpose for which those documents were created, as the MCPs could be
government consultants (and therefore intra-agency) where the
documents were created primarily for the benefit of BPA. The DOE
further noted that documents created by the MCPs might fall within
the scope of Exemption 4. The DOE also rejected the contention that
DOE waived any privilege for documents that it provided to the MCPs,
since limited disclosure to outside parties with a common interest
does not waive a privilege. In addition, the DOE noted that release
of certain documents could undermine BPA's negotiation position with
the Canadian authorities, and consequently, they could be withheld
pursuant to Exemption 5's qualified privilege for commercial
information. Finally, the DOE found that certain purely factual
information, such as reports of meeting between the MCPs and
Canadian officials could not be withheld pursuant to Exemption 5.
Accordingly, the Appeal was granted in part and the matter was
remanded to BPA.
Supplemental Order
National Recovery Aide, 12/1/95, VFX-0005
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning National Recovery
Aide. The DOE determined that National Recovery Aide will be denied
the privilege of receiving refund checks on behalf of its applicants
in all proceedings before the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the
Department of Energy. Accordingly, refund checks will be made
payable to, and sent directly to, the applicants.
Refund Applications
Georgia Kraft Company, 12/1/95, RK272-313
The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting a supplemental
crude oil refund to two companies, The Mead Corporation (Mead) and
Inland Container Corporation (Inland). Mead and Inland were joint
owners of the original applicant company, Georgia Kraft Company
(GKC), which ceased to exist in 1993. The joint venture consisted of
three mills, one of which was sold to a third party, Pratt
Industries (Pratt), in 1987. When submitting their Application for
Supplemental Refund, the three companies also submitted a
contractual agreement in which they requested that the DOE
distribute the crude oil supplemental refund monies among them based
on a mutually agreed upon percentage breakdown. The DOE determined
that complying with the agreement between the companies would mean
abdicating its statutory responsibility to identify injured parties
and provide restitution. In accordance with applicable procedure,
the DOE granted the supplemental refund for GKC to Mead and Inland.
Quantum Chemical Corp., 11/28/95, RF272-64273, RD272-64273, RF272-
93712
Quantum Chemical Corporation applied for a crude oil overcharge
refund based on purchases of gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oils,
kerosene, cyclohexane, lube oils, propane, butane, isobutylene and
ethane. The DOE found that the cyclohexane and isobutylene are
petrochemicals and therefore not eligible for refunds. The DOE
further found that Quantum had not demonstrated that the ethane that
it purchased came from a crude oil refinery. Accordingly, Quantum's
request for refunds based on its purchases of that product was
denied. Quantum was granted a refund of $2,734,470 for the remaining
eligible products. The DOE denied a Motion for Discovery filed by a
group of States and dismissed a duplicate refund application
inadventently filed by Quantum.
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.
Atlantic Richfield Company/ RF304-15484 12/01/95
Jimmy's Arco.
Fremont Farmers Union Corp., et RF272-86307 11/28/95
al.
[[Page 48148]]
Globe Union, Inc................. RF272-77429 12/01/95
Gulf Oil Corporation/Chief RF300-12744 11/28/95
Freight Lines Co. et al.
Radcliffe Community School RF272-95901 11/28/95
Distict et al.
Tajon, Inc....................... RF272-97076 12/01/95
Texaco Inc./Fairlawn Oil Service, RF321-20700 12/01/95
Inc.
Waybec Ltd. et al................ RK272-00001 12/01/95
Wise Aviation.................... RF272-98001 12/01/95
Zenda Grain Supply et al......... RF272-97571 11/28/95
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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Air East, Inc................................ RF272-98019
Pantasote, Inc............................... RF272-78081
The Pasha Group.............................. RF272-97413
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[FR Doc. 96-23355 Filed 9-11-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
