[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 181 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48948-48950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23737]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of August 5 Through August
9, 1996
During the week of August 5 through August 9, 1996, 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: September 9, 1996.
George B. Breznay
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Decision List No. 984
Appeals
Marlene Flor, 8/5/96, VFA-0184
Marlene Flor filed an Appeal from a determination issued to her on
May 16, 1996 by the Department of Energy's Albuquerque Operations
Office (AO) which denied a request for information she had filed under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The request sought the time and
attendance sheets for each employee of the Kirtland Area Office
Contracts and Business Management Organization (CBMO). AO released
redacted copies of the requested records from which the leave codes and
description of the type of leave were deleted. AO determined, pursuant
to Exemption 6 of the FOIA, that disclosure of this information would
violate the privacy of the employees and would not be in the public
interest. Flor's Appeal challenged the application of Exemption 6 to
the withheld information. She contended that the ``type of leave one
takes is not personal in the same sense as one's date of birth,
employment history, etc., as AO claims * * *.'' Flor further contended
that release of the requested information would further the public
interest because it would reveal how AO treats its whistleblowers. In
considering the Appeal, the DOE found that although the requested
information is not as significantly private as other personal
information such as home addresses and social security numbers, the
public release of this information will nevertheless result in, at the
least, a minimal invasion of privacy. DOE further found that there was
no apparent public interest to balance against the minimal invasion of
personal privacy and therefore AO properly withheld the requested
information. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Stand of Amarillo, Inc., 8/9/96, VFA-0157
Stand of Amarillo, Inc. (STAND) filed an Appeal of a determination
issued to it by the Albuquerque Operations Office of the Department of
Energy (DOE) in response to a Request for Information submitted under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). STAND had requested documents it
saw as a protestant before the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission concerning two environmental permits for the Pantex Plant
which the DOE and Mason & Hanger-Silas Mason Co. (Mason & Hanger), the
prime contractor for the Pantex Plant, had jointly requested. Although
a few documents were released to STAND, Mason & Hanger claimed the vast
majority are internal legal documents, contractually its property and
not subject to the FOIA. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that
after STAND filed its Appeal, both environmental permits were issued.
Under these conditions, both the DOE and Mason & Hanger previously had
agreed to search and release records to STAND. Accordingly, the Appeal
was denied in part, granted in part, and remanded to the Albuquerque
Operations Office for a new determination. However, because this is the
second Appeal on STAND's request, the DOE believes that a new
determination should be issued within ninety days of the Albuquerque
Operations Office's receipt of this Decision and Order.
Personnel Security Hearing
Oakland Operations Office, 8/7/96, VSO-0094
An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion
concerning an individual whose access authorization was suspended
because he had tested positive for use of amphetamines (speed).
Although the individual admitted to using the illegal drug, he
attempted to minimize the seriousness of the event by claiming he had
only used a very small amount of speed on a one-time only basis with a
friend from out of town. The Hearing Officer found that the individual
had failed to corroborate his account of the drug use, because he did
not produce witnesses to support his version of the events surrounding
the use of speed, particularly the out of town friend. She also found
that the testimony of the individual's psychologist did not strongly
support the individual's claim of rehabilitation from drug use.
Accordingly, the Hearing Officer found
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that the individual's access authorization should not be restored.
Request for Exception
R.W. Hays Company, 8/8/96, VEE-0026
R.W. Hays Company filed an Application for Exception from the
requirement that it file Form EIA-782B, the ``Reseller/Retailer's
Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report.'' The DOE found that the firm
was not affected by the reporting requirement in a manner significantly
different from other similar firms, and consequently was not
experiencing a special hardship, inequity, or unfair distribution of
burdens. Accordingly, the firm's Application for Exception was denied.
Refund Applications
Gulf Oil Corp./Walnut Creek Gulf, 8/8/96, RF300-16584, RF300-21751
The DOE issued a Decision and Order, denying two refund
applications filed on behalf of Walnut Creek Gulf (Walnut Creek) in the
Gulf Oil Corporation refund proceeding. The first applicant claimed the
right to any refund owing his deceased son, who was a partner in the
operation of the outlet during part of the refund period. The second
applicant was the other partner in the outlet. In considering the first
application, the DOE determined that the son's will, upon which the
father based his claim, had specifically stated that the father was not
a beneficiary. Accordingly, the DOE determined that the first applicant
had not established his right to a Gulf refund. The DOE did not
consider the second application because it was filed after the deadline
for Gulf applications.
Veterans Administration, 8/7/96, RF272-47498
The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting an Application for
Refund filed by the Veterans Administration, a federal agency (now the
Department of Veterans Affairs), in the Subpart V crude oil refund
proceeding. A group of States and Territories (States) and Philip P.
Kalodner, Counsel for Utilities, Transporters, and Manufacturers
(Kalodner) objected to the application on the grounds that the DOE, by
signing the Stripper Well Settlement Agreement, waived the rights of
all federal agencies to receive a crude oil refund. The DOE found that
while the state and federal governments are designated conduits for
indirect restitution under the Settlement Agreement, neither waived its
right to direct restitution with respect to its own purchases of
refined petroleum products. The refund granted to the applicant in this
Decision was $27,779.
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.
Bair Transport, Inc...................................... RC272-347 08/09/96
Crude Oil Supple Refund Distribution..................... RB272-00079 08/09/96
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution............... RB272-00083 08/09/96
Gulf Oil Corporation/Haroutioun Jerejian................. RF300-21835 08/06/96
Gulf Oil Corporation/Jordan Oil Company et al............ RF300-18708 08/05/96
Koch Materials Company................................... RG272-307 08/08/96
Kraft General Foods...................................... RF272-90209 08/07/96
Malone Brothers' Construction et al...................... RF272-87022 08/07/96
Master-Jackson Paving Company............................ RK272-931 08/08/96
Patrick Boyle et al...................................... RG272-00806 08/05/96
Total Transport, Inc..................................... RA272-74 08/06/96
Weston Trucking et al.................................... RK272-01144 08/09/96
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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Adobe Mining Co.............................. RG272-878
Albuquerque Operations Office................ VSO-0095
Arcadian Fertilizer Inc. L.P................. RF272-92584
Ashland Exploration, Inc..................... RF272-98196
Atlanta Gas Light Co......................... RF272-98203
B.P. Short & Son Paving Co., Inc............. RG272-910
Betty B. Plank............................... VFA-0187
Borg-Warner Security, Inc.................... RF272-98182
Burlington Basket Co......................... RF272-98201
City of Newark............................... RF272-98131
Comfort Winders.............................. RF272-99052
Cummings-Moore Graphite Co................... RF272-98197
Edisto Resources Corp........................ RF272-98204
Energy West.................................. RF272-98167
Farmers Cooperative Company.................. RG272-968
Farmers Cooperative Exchange................. RG272-897
Farmers Elevator Co.......................... RG272-807
Farmers Elevator Cooperative................. RG272-900
Farmers Elevator Cooperative................. RG272-903
Grand Canyon Helicopters..................... RF272-97959
Gulf States Manufactuters, Inc............... RF272-89336
Hess Brothers, Inc........................... RG272-852
Magee Co..................................... RF272-98195
Medical Center of Central Massachsetts....... RG272-977
Millcraft Industries, Inc.................... RF272-98171
Motor Transport Company...................... RR272-241
Omy Aviation, Inc............................ RF272-98188
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Omya, Inc.................................... RF272-98191
Peabody Coal Company......................... RG272-885
Penn Fuel Gas, Inc. and Subsidiaries......... RF272-98245
Pluess-Staufer Inc........................... RF272-98186
Raffi and Swanson, Inc....................... RG272-815
Rockbridge Farmers Co-op, Inc................ RG272-805
Sanborn Farmers Union Oil Cooperative........ RF272-97806
Town of Clarkstown........................... RG272-888
Truman Farmers Elevator Co................... RG272-889
Valley Gas Co................................ RF272-98168
Vermont Talc, Inc............................ RF272-98187
Vulcan Forge and Machine Co.................. RF272-98249
White Pigment Corp........................... RF272-98190
William Refrigerated Express................. RF272-97873
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[FR Doc. 96-23737 Filed 9-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
