[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 151 (Monday, August 8, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19299]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 8, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of June 13 through June
17, 1994
During the Week of June 13 through June 17, 1994 the decisions and
orders summarized with respect to appeals and applications for 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, 6/14/94, LFA-0381
Cowles Publishing Company (Cowles) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued by the Office of Communications of the Department
of Energy's Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL), in response to a
request for information filed under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). Cowles sought records containing the names of the subjects of a
radiation study conducted under a contract between the University of
Washington and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a predecessor agency
to the DOE. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that the
University of Washington, who possessed the records sought by Cowles,
is not an ``agency'' as defined in the FOIA. In addition, the DOE found
that the records in question were not created by the AEC, were not
obtained by the AEC or DOE, and are not the property of the DOE.
Therefore, these records were found not to be ``agency records''
subject to the FOIA. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Marlene Flor, 6/14/94, LFA-0378
Marlene Flor (Flor) filed an Appeal from a determination issued to
her on May 4, 1994 by the Chief of the FOI and Privacy Branch,
Reference and Information Management Division who denied a request for
information, Flor had filed under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). The request sought information concerning ``any documentation
that may exist on me elsewhere in the Department of Energy of a
security or personnel security nature not already furnished to me since
January 1, 1993.'' The FOI and Privacy Branch stated that a search was
made of the files in the Office of Civil Rights and that no documents
existed responsive to Flor's request. The Appeal challenged the
adequacy of the search. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that
the initial searches conducted by the Office of Civil Rights were
inadequate. Accordingly, Flor's Appeal was granted and the matter was
remanded to the Office of Civil Rights to identify and release
responsive documents it located in a subsequent search.
Refund Applications
Texaco Inc./Bill Burns Oil Co., 6/15/94, RF321-16330
The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting an Application for
Refund filed by Bill Burns Oil Co. (Burns) in the Texaco Inc. special
refund proceeding. Burns sought a refund equal to its full allocable
share based on its purchases of Texaco motor gasoline and middle
distillates. In support of its claim of injury above the medium-range
presumption level, the firm submitted information showing the status of
its cumulative banked gasoline and middle distillate costs at the end
of the respective ``banking'' regulation periods and a competitive
disadvantage analysis for its Texaco purchases of each grade of motor
gasoline and for middle distillates. The data submitted showed that
Burns had accumulated sufficient banks to justify a full volumetric
refund, and that the firm may have been experienced a substantial
competitive disadvantage as a result of its purchases. The total refund
amount granted was $25,755 ($18,411 principal and $7,344 interest).
Texaco Inc./D.E. Newman Oil Co., Inc. Commercial Lubricants Corp. D.E.
Newman Oil Co., Inc., 6/16/94, RF321-9230, RF321-20665, RF321-20666
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning two Applications for
Refund filed in the Texaco Inc. special refund proceeding on behalf of
D.E. Newman Oil Co., Inc. (Newman Oil). One application (RF321-9230)
was filed by the former owner of the corporation, Mrs. D.E. Newman. The
other application (RF321-20666) was filed on behalf of the Newman Oil
Corporation by its current vice president. In September 1986, Mrs.
Newman and her husband sold the Newman Oil stock to John Beasley. Since
the sellers did not specifically retain the right to any refund in the
sales agreement, the DOE found that the right to the refund was
transferred to John Beasley, the current stockholder of the
corporation. Accordingly, the DOE awarded the refund to D.E. Newman Oil
Co., Inc. and denied the application filed by Mrs. Newman. The DOE also
approved the Application for Refund filed by Commercial Lubricants
Corp., an affiliate of D.E. Newman Oil Co., Inc. The purchase volumes
of Newman Oil and Commercial Lubricants Corp. were combined to
calculate one allocable share under the medium-range presumption of
injury.
Texas Inc./State of Missouri, 6/15/94, RF321-14215
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning an Application for
Refund filed by the State of Missouri in the Texaco refund proceeding.
The State of Missouri claimed that it had purchased 26,817,969 gallons
of Texaco product during the refund period, but did not document these
purchases. Instead, its purchases were estimated by multiplying the
total amount of petroleum purchases made by the State of Missouri
during the refund period by Texaco's market share in Missouri during
the refund period. The DOE found that without any supporting data, this
estimation methodology was not reasonable. Accordingly, the DOE granted
the State of Missouri a refund based on the purchases that were
actively documented in Texaco's records.
Texaco Inc./Texaco Self Serve, Inc., 6/14/94, RF321-7909
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning an Application for
Refund filed in the Texaco Inc. Subpart V special refund proceeding
filed by Mr. Bill Guss on the basis of the sales of Texaco Self Serve,
Inc., a motor gasoline retail sales outlet. While Mr. Guss requested
that any refund check be made payable to him, the DOE found that Mr.
J.W. Bird, the owner of the outlet, instead of Mr. Guss, was the proper
applicant for a refund in this case. The DOE also found, however, that
Mr. Bird had previously received a $10,000 mid-range presumption refund
in the Texaco proceeding on the basis of the sales of Bird Oil Co., a
firm in which he was the majority owner. As in previous proceedings,
the DOE found that in the case of firms under common ownership and
control, such as Bird Oil and the Self Serve outlet, the sales of the
two should be combined in calculating any refunds to be granted. In any
case, the DOE also found that the Texaco purchases of the outlet had
been made from Bird Oil, and that consequently a further, duplicative
refund was not warranted. Therefore, the Texaco Self Serve Application
was denied.
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/Carl's ARCO et al.............................. RF304-14047 06/14/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/CFW Construction Co., Inc. et al............... RF304-14371 06/17/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/Williams ARCO.................................. RF304-14574 06/14/94
Williams ARCO............................................................. RF304-14575
Enron Corp./Gas Service, Inc.............................................. RF340-166 06/17/94
Midlothian Butane Gas Co., Inc............................................ RF340-174
Schneider L. P. Gas....................................................... RF340-194
Gulf Oil Corporation/B & B Gulf et al..................................... RF300-20311 06/14/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/G.J. Creel & Sons, Inc............................... RF300-5757 06/17/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Hubert C. Poling..................................... RF300-18714 06/17/94
Courtesy Gulf #1.......................................................... RF300-19618
Wayne Wilkinson's Gulf.................................................... RF300-19654
Gulf Oil Corporation/Watson's Gulf Service................................ RF300-13682 06/17/94
Bob Carlson Gulf Service.................................................. RF300-18801
Gulf Oil Corporation/William C. Eaton, Inc................................ RF300-14384 06/15/94
Texaco Inc./Beach Expressway Texaco....................................... RF321-21000 06/14/94
Texaco Inc./Northwood Texaco Service et al................................ RF321-19330 06/16/94
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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Bob & Jack's Texaco................................... RF321-19792
Bob & Jack's Texaco................................... RF321-14282
Bob and Jack's Goodyear Tire.......................... RF321-20938
Bob's Sycamore Texaco................................. RF321-14283
Buick's Texaco........................................ RF321-8397
Early's Mail Service.................................. RF272-91611
Edward S. Kelton Contracting Co., Inc................. RF321-20059
Floyd's Texaco........................................ RF321-8391
Ken's Gulf............................................ RF300-15822
Kenneth H. Besecker................................... LFA-0377
Lei Lani, Inc. #2..................................... RF321-608
Moore's Texaco #1..................................... RF321-19475
Moore's Texaco #2..................................... RF321-19476
National Car Rental, Inc.............................. RF300-20051
PPG Industries, Inc................................... RF321-20069
Rich-Mar Maintenance, Inc............................. RF272-92109
Svoboda Texaco Service................................ RF321-1315
Wilhelm Company....................................... RF272-91640
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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 1:00
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.
Dated: August 1, 1994.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 94-19299 Filed 8-5-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P