[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 36 (Thursday, February 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10077-10079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4427]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of
December 19 through December 23, 1994
During the week of December 19 through December 23, 1994 the
decisions and orders summarized below were issued with respect to
appeals and applications for exception or 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.
Appeal
E.O. Smelser, 12/21/94, VFA-0011
E.O. Smelser filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the denial by
the Office of Hearings and Appeals of his previous Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) Appeal. In his original FOIA request, Mr.
Smelser had requested copies of computer tapes for databases created
under a grant program which the DOE had funded. In considering the
Motion, the OHA found that Mr. Smelser did not introduce any new
evidence or changed circumstances that would warrant granting the
motion for reconsideration. Accordingly, the Motion was denied.
Requests for Exception
Bender Oil Company, 12/19/94, LEE-0150
Bender Oil Company (Bender) filed an Application for Exception from
the provisions of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting
requirements in which the firm sought relief from filing Form EIA-782B,
entitled ``Resellers'/Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales
Report.'' The DOE determined that Bender did not meet the standards for
exception relief because it was not experiencing a serious hardship or
gross inequity as a result of the reporting requirements. Accordingly,
exception relief was denied.
Berreth Oil, Inc., 12/20/94, LEE-0093
Berreth Oil, Inc. (Berreth) filed an Application for Exception from
the Energy Information Administration (EIA) requirement that it file
Form EIA-782B, the ``Resellers'/Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product
Sales Report,'' and Form EIA-821, the ``Annual Fuel Oil and Kerosene
Sales Report.'' In considering this request, the DOE found that the
firm was not suffering a gross inequity or serious hardship. On July
25, 1994, the DOE issued a Proposed Decision and Order determining that
the exception request should be denied. No Notice of Objections to the
Proposed Decision and Order was filed at the Office of Hearings and
Appeals of the DOE within the prescribed time period. Therefore, the
DOE issued the Proposed Decision and Order in final form, denying
Berreth's Application for Exception.
Personnel Security Hearing
Albuquerque Operations Office, 12/22/94, VSO-0001
The Office of Hearings and Appeals issued the first Hearing Officer
Opinion addressing the continued eligibility of an individual for
access authorization under the newly amended provisions of 10 C.F.R.
Part 710, ``Criteria and Procedures for Determining Eligibility for
Access to Classified Matter or Special Nuclear Material.'' After
carefully considering the record in view of the standards set forth in
10 C.F.R. Part 710, the Hearing Officer found that the individual had
engaged in criminal behavior which tended to show that she was not
honest, reliable, or trustworthy, and that she had omitted significant
information from a Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions. The Hearing
Officer also found that there were no mitigating [[Page 10078]] factors
present in the case which can overcome the security concerns raised by
the Department of Energy. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer found that
the individual's access authorization, which had been suspended, should
not be restored.
Refund Applications
Hunt-Wesson, Inc., Hunt-Wesson, Inc., Waterloo Industries, Aristokraft,
Inc., Playtex Products, 12/23/94, RF272-73865, RD272-73865, RF272-
97916, RF272-97941, RF272-98638
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning Application for
Refund submitted in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding by four
former affiliates of Beatrice Co., Inc. Hunt-Wesson, Inc., Waterloo
Industries, Aristokraft, Inc., and Playtex Products. The four
applicants were found to have been affiliated with Arrowhead Drinking
Water Company (Arrowhead) on August 7, 1986. Arrowhead had filed in the
Surface Transporters Stripper Well proceeding. In doing so, Arrowhead
had executed a waiver and release waiving its rights and the rights of
its affiliates on August 7, 1986, to receive crude oil overcharge
refunds. Accordingly, the DOE denied these four Applications for
Refund. Because the DOE denied these Applications, the DOE also
dismissed as moot a Motion for Discovery filed by a consortium of
States and two Territories to Hunt-Wesson, Inc.'s Application for
Refund.
Texaco Inc./Carlton Hills Texaco, Harry's Texaco, 12/23/94, RF321-
20424, RF321-21044
Dale Fuller filed an Application for Refund in the Texaco, Inc.
special refund proceeding on behalf of a retail outlet located on
Carlton Hills Boulevard in Santee, California. Mr. Fuller's claimed
dates of ownership conflicted with the dates claimed by Harry Orsulak,
in Case No. RF321-18438, redesignated Case No. RF321-21044, and another
applicant Mitchel Carter, in Case No. RF321-9802, both of whom had
previously received refunds for purchases made by that outlet. The OHA
determined that Mr. Orsulak was not entitled to the refund which he
received for purchases made by the Carlton Hills outlet beginning in
March 1973. In addition, the OHA determined that Mr. Fuller was
eligible for a refund for the purchases made from March 1973 through
November 1976, when Mr. Carter assured operation of the outlet. The OHA
issued a Supplemental Decision and Order, granting Mr. Fuller's
Application for Refund for the period March 1973 through November 1976,
and instructing Mr. Orsulak to repay his refund.
Texaco Inc./Guttman Oil Company, 12/20/94, RF321-17026
Guttman Oil Company (Guttman) filed an Application for Refund in
the Texaco Inc. special refund proceeding. Rather than accept $50,000,
the maximum refund under the medium-range presumption of injury,
Guttman attempted to show that it was injured in its purchases of
Texaco products. With respect to motor gasoline, Guttman sought a
refund of 43 percent of the volumetric amount based upon a claim that
it absorbed that percentage of the overcharges. Guttman sought an
above-volumetric refund with respect to its diesel fuel purchases based
upon a disproportionate overcharge.
The DOE rejected Guttman's contention that lower than historical
profit margins in its resale of motor gasoline implied that it was
injured. The DOE noted that Guttman's profit margin analysis showed
little more than its bank calculations and that depressed profit
margins could have resulted from causes unrelated to the price it paid
Texaco for product.
The DOE agreed with Guttman that it had sustained a
disproportionate overcharge based upon the findings of a Remedial Order
that had been issued to Texaco concerning diesel fuel transactions. The
DOE, however, found that Guttman's calculation of banked costs had to
be adjusted to take into account the findings in another Remedial Order
that had been issued to it. A revised bank calculation showed that in
September 1975, Guttman had a bank of unrecovered product costs of
$1,949, but that subsequent to that month the firm had a sufficient
bank to justify the overcharge claims. This indicated that the firm had
passed through to its customers all but $1,949 of the diesel fuel
overcharges that occurred through September 1975. The DOE found that
Guttman had absorbed $67,095 in diesel fuel overcharges between
September 1975 and June 1976, and that Guttman was entitled to pre-
settlement interest (for the period between the date of the overcharge
and the date Texaco paid the settlement to DOE) on this amount. Since
the Texaco consent order settled the alleged violations at a fraction
of their value, the DOE reduced the resulting overcharge amount to 57.5
percent (the ratio of the consent order amount to the total overcharges
that had been alleged by DOE). Guttman was accordingly granted a refund
of $160,645, plus interest that has accrued on this amount since the
Texaco funds were placed in an escrow account.
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.
A-1 Truck & Trailer Rentals, Inc.......................................... RC272-267 12/20/94
Al Tech Specialty Steel Corp. et al....................................... RF272-93541 12/20/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/John Pellegrino Arco et al..................... RF304-14707 12/19/94
Burnup & Sims, Inc. et al................................................. RF272-92013 12/19/94
City of Athens, Texas et al............................................... RF272-85535 12/21/94
Gloucester County, NJ et al............................................... RF272-96502 12/21/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Chicot Implement Co. et al........................... RF300-18845 12/19/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Sherman Foundry, Inc. et al.......................... RF300-21525 12/20/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/U.S. Radium Corporation et al........................ RF300-21605 12/21/94
Gulf Power Company........................................................ RF272-93556 12/23/94
Duke Power Company........................................................ RF272-93569 ..............
Halltown Paperboard Company............................................... RF272-67486 12/21/94
Richmond County et al..................................................... RF272-95512 12/20/94
Shawano-Greshan Sch. Dist. et al.......................................... RF272-80955 12/23/94
Shell Oil Company/Silver Port Shell....................................... RF315-3393 12/20/94
Stratton Equity Coop Co. et al............................................ RF272-92372 12/23/94
Texaco Inc./Art & Jim's Texaco Service et al.............................. RF321-20808 12/20/94
Texaco Inc./Crowley Texaco et al.......................................... RF321-20204 12/23/94
Texaco Inc./Don Fortunati's Texaco et al.................................. RF321-20408 12/20/94
Texaco Inc./Don's Service Station et al................................... RF321-12545 12/23/94
[[Page 10079]]
Texaco Inc./Landry & Martin Oil Co., Inc.................................. RF321-20444 12/20/94
Texaco Inc./Maverick Oil Co............................................... RF321-19887 12/20/94
Maverick Oil Co........................................................... RF321-19888 ..............
Maverick Oil Co........................................................... RF321-19889 ..............
Maverick Oil Co........................................................... RF321-19890 ..............
Maverick Oil Co........................................................... RF321-19891 ..............
Maverick Oil Co........................................................... RF321-19892 ..............
Texaco Inc./Walker's Service Station et al................................ RF321-12775 12/23/94
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name Case No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
72nd Street Association........................... RF272-77810
Ambassador Towne House Associates................. RF272-77814
C.W. Faust & Sons................................. RF272-94798
Central School District #1........................ RF272-96535
Gracie Towne House................................ RF272-77856
Morton Pickman.................................... RF272-77826
Orleans County Hwy. Dept.......................... RF272-96534
Pepperidge Farm, Inc.............................. RF272-93551
Rocky Flats Field Office.......................... VSO-0006
Salt Lake County, UT.............................. RF272-96642
Savannah Electric and Power Co.................... RF321-20919
Sunnyside Shell................................... RF321-8231
Tanner's Shell.................................... RF315-9719
Ten East Housing Company.......................... RF272-77825
The Pillsbury Company............................. RF321-20776
Thelma Realty..................................... RF272-77848
University Associates............................. RF272-77812
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, 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: February 15, 1995.
Thomas O. Mann,
Acting Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-4427 Filed 2-22-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P