[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 185 (Monday, September 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49768-49769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24297]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders Week of July 31
Through August 4, 1995
During the week of July 31 through August 4, 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, SW.,
Washington, DC 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 10, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Decision List No. 931
Appeal
Esther Lyons, 8/3/95, VFA-0056
Esther Lyons (Lyons) filed an Appeal from a determination issued to
her by the Oak Ridge Operations Office (Oak Ridge) of the Department of
Energy (DOE). In her Appeal, Lyons asserted that Oak Ridge failed to
perform an adequate search for responsive documents in its possession
regarding a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request she submitted. In
her Request, Lyons requested copies of all documents containing
information pertaining to her father, Michael D. Lyons. In its
determination letter, the Oak Ridge stated that it could not find any
documents which were responsive to her Request. In her Appeal, Lyons
argued that Oak Ridge conducted an inadequate search for responsive
documents and asserted that responsive documents must exist since her
father operated various companies which did business with the Atomic
Energy Commission. The DOE determined that Oak Ridge conducted an
adequate search for responsive documents in light of the fact that the
Lyons' Request only contained her father's name and none of the
information provided in her subsequent Appeal. However, Oak Ridge
agreed to conduct another search for responsive documents using the
additional information provided in Lyons' Appeal. Consequently, the DOE
remanded the matter to Oak Ridge so that it could conduct a further
search for responsive documents.
Personnel Security Hearing
Albuquerque Operations Office, 8/3/95, VSO-0028
An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion
against restoring the security clearance of an individual whose
clearance had been suspended because the Department had obtained
derogatory information that fell within 10 CFR 710.8 (k) and (l). In
reaching his conclusion, the Hearing Officer found that the individual
had possessed and used marijuana after signing a certification that he
would not use illegal drugs. In addition, the Hearing Officer found
that current inconsistencies in the individual's testimony support the
charge that the individual is not being honest, reliable and
trustworthy within the meaning of 10 CFR 710.8(l).
Supplemental Order
THE 341 TRACT UNIT OF THE CITRONELLE FIELD, 8/1/95, VFX-0003
The DOE issued a Decision and Order directing payment to a mediator
for his services in connection with negotiations to settle litigation
over the escrow funds concerning The 341 Tract Unit of the Citronelle
Field. The DOE directed that $12,063.25 of the mediator's fee should be
taken from the Citronelle escrow account. The remaining $4,461.75 of
his fee is to be paid directly by the DOE.
Refund Applications
CITRONELLE-MOBILE GATHERING/GLOBE MANUFACTURING CO., ET AL., 8/3/95,
RR336-75, ET AL.
The DOE issued a Decision and Order directing payment of refunds to
37 applicants in the Citronelle-Mobile Gathering (Citronelle) special
refund proceeding. These funds had been collected from Citronelle
pursuant to a March 17, 1988, a decision of the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Alabama. On August 12, 1992, the
court ordered the transfer of the Citronelle overcharges funds from the
registry of the court to the DOE deposit escrow fund account, and
ordered the transfer of any additional payments into the registry to
the DOE escrow account on a quaterly basis. The court directed the DOE
Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to make payments to the claimants,
in proportion to the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum
products purchased by each claimant, whenever the amount in the DOE
escrow account exceeds $1,000,000, and no less often than once every
two years. Two years had passed since the most recent disbursement of
funds on August 3, 1993. Accordingly, the DOE directed that the funds
in the Citronelle account be disbursed to the 37 eligible claimants.
NATIONAL HELIUM CORP./OREGON RM3-289;TIME OIL COMPANY/OREGON RM334-290;
COLINE GASOLINE CORP./OREGON RM2-291; BELRIDGE OIL COMPANY/OREGON RM8-
292; PERRY GAS PROCESSORS/OREGON RM183-293; PALO PINTO OIL AND GAS/
OREGON, 7/31/95, RM5-294
The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting a Motion for
Modification filed by the State of Oregon in the National Helium Corp.,
Time Oil Company, Coline Gasoline Corp., Belridge Oil Company, Perry
Gas Processors, and Palo Pinto Oil and Gas special refund proceedings.
Oregon requested permission to modify its second-stage refund plan
after the telecommuting program approved in National Helium/Oregon, 25
DOE para. 85,017 (1995) failed to win approval from the Oregon state
legislature. Oregon wished to reallocate the $500,000 previously
intended for that program to its Public Buildings Energy Savings
Program, which was approved in the same decision. The DOE determined
that increased funding would extend the benefits of the Public
[[Page 49769]]
Buildings Energy Savings Program to a larger number of communities
without upsetting the balance of Oregon's overall restitutionary
program. Accordingly, Oregon's Motion for Modification was granted.
Texaco Inc. Vaughan Bassett Furniture Corp., 8/2/95, RF321-15350
The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting an Application for
Refund filed by the Vaughan Bassett Furniture Corp. (Bassett) in the
Texaco Inc. Subpart V special refund proceeding. In its refund
application, Bassett sought an above-volumetric refund based upon its
claim that it incurred a disproportionate overcharge during the Texaco
consent order period. In support of its claim to an above-voluetric
refund Bassett submitted documents prepared by the DOE's Economic
Regulatory Administration (ERA) based upon an ERA audit of Texaco's
business records.
The DOE found that the enforcement documents submitted by Bassett,
and the Remedial Order issued to Texaco by DOE as a result of the ERA
audit, support Bassett's claim to an above-volumetric refund. The
overcharge amount established by the enforcement documentation (plus
pre-judgment interest) was reduced by 57.5 percent of its total to
reflect the nature of the DOE/Texaco settlement agreement. As an end-
user of Texaco refined product, Bassett was not required to submit
detailed evidence of injury in order to receive a refund. Bassett was
awarded a refund of $39,100 plus accrued interest.
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.
CITY OF NORTH AUGUSTA, SOUTH RF272-95460 07/31/95
CAROLINA ET AL.
COLONIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ET AL. RK272-75 08/02/95
CONTISHIPPING DIVISION OF RR272-126 08/02/95
CONTINENTAL GRAIN.
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND RB272-36 07/31/95
DISTRIBUTION.
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND RB272-31 08/02/95
DISTRIBUTION.
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND RB272-34 08/02/95
DISTRIBUTION.
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND RB272-17 08/03/95
DISTRIBUTION.
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND RB272-30 08/03/95
DISTRIBUTION.
GOLD LINE, INC. ET AL.......... RF272-77478 08/02/95
LAKE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.... RF272-95908 08/02/95
HARTFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT....... RF272-95951
MARYSVILLE JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL RF272-95483 08/02/95
DISTRICT ET AL.
NEPERA, INC.................... RR272-129 08/02/95
PETER FISHER & SON, INC. ET AL. RK272-11 08/02/95
TEXACO INC./BEAL'S TEXACO ET AL RF321-11266 08/03/95
TEXACO INC./ILAN PETROLEUM RF321-20558 08/02/95
COMPANY.
INGLEWOOD OIL COMPANY.......... RF321-20559
TEXACO INC./MARITIME OIL RF321-20445 08/02/95
COMPANY.
TEXACO INC./WILLIAM KRONENBERG RF321-20467 08/02/95
TEXACO.
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Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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BARBER COUNTY, KANSAS........................ RF272-89047
CARL COLTERYAHN DAIRY........................ RF272-97317
CITY OF MITCHELL............................. RF272-86647
FARMERS CO-OP ASSOCIATIONS................... RG272-172
SOUTHWESTERN STATE HOSPITAL.................. RF272-86653
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[FR Doc. 96-24297 Filed 9-20-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
