[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13149-13151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6013]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals
Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of November 14
Through November 18, 1994
During the week of November 14 through November 18, 1994, the
decisions and orders summarized below were issued with respect to
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.
Appeals
Brenda Wolfenbarger, 11/16/94, VFA-0007
Brenda Wolfenbarger (Wolfenbarger) filed an Appeal under the
Freedom of Information Act of a September 30, 1994 Determination Letter
issued to her by the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge
Operations Office (Oak Ridge). Wolfenbarger had requested all medical
and personnel records held by Oak Ridge concerning her father, who had
worked for a contractor at Oak Ridge during the 1940's. On Appeal,
Wolfenbarger contended that the DOE's search for responsive documents
was inadequate. After considering her Appeal, the DOE found that Oak
Ridge's search for responsive documents was adequate and therefore
denied her Appeal.
Robert Heitmann, 11/16/94, VFA-0005
Robert Heitmann filed an Appeal from a denial by the FOI and
Privacy Acts Branch, Reference and Information Management Division, at
the Department of Energy Headquarters (DOEHQ) of a Request for
Information which he had submitted under the Freedom of Information
Act. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that one office had not
adequately searched for responsive documents, and that the records of
the searches of two other offices were contradictory. The matter was
therefore remanded for a new search of these three offices.
Requests for Exception
Leonard Wall Oil Co., 11/18/94, LEE-0155
Leonard Wall Oil Company (Leonard Wall) filed an Application for
Exception requesting permanent relief from the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) requirement that it file Form EIA-782B, the
``Resellers'/Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report.'' In
considering this request, the DOE found that Leonard Wall was not
experiencing a serious hardship, gross inequity or an unfair
distribution of burdens as a result of the requirement that it file
Form EIA-782B. On September 26, 1994, the DOE issued a Proposed
Decision and Order determining that the exception request should be
denied. No Notice of Objection to the Proposed Decision and Order was
filed within the prescribed time period. Therefore, the DOE issued the
Proposed Decision and Order in final form, denying Leonard Wall's
Application for Exception.
Shuster Oil Co., Inc., 11/17/94, LEE-0142
[[Page 13150]] Shuster Oil Company, Inc., 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.'' In considering this request, the DOE
found that the firm was not suffering a gross inequity or serious
hardship. On September 13, 1994, the DOE issued a Proposed Decision and
Order determining that the exception request should be denied. No
Notice of Objection to the Proposed Decision and Order was filed within
the prescribed time period. Therefore, the DOE issued the Proposed
Decision and Order in final form, denying Shuster's Application for
Exception.
Tommy Carr's Tire and Automotive Service Center, Inc., 11/18/94, LEE-
0151
Tommy Carr's Tire and Automotive Service Center, Inc. (Carr) 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 Carr should be granted exception relief for a period of three
years because it was experiencing a gross inequity. The recent
destruction of the business by fire as well as pressing financial
obligations in Mr. Carr's personal life, i.e., the facial operations
his newborn baby has received, made the filing of Form EIA-782B
unusually burdensome. Accordingly, exception relief was granted.
Supplemental Order
Ronald A. Sorri, 11/18/94, LWX-0014
This Decision supplements an Initial Agency Decision, dated
December 16, 1993, issued by an OHA Hearing Officer in a case involving
a ``Whistleblower'' complaint filed by Ronald A. Sorri (Sorri) under
the DOE Contractor Employee Protection Program, 10 CFR Part 708. In the
December 16 Decision, the Hearing Officer determined that Sorri should
be awarded backpay lost as a result of the reprisals taken against him,
as well as all costs and expenses reasonably incurred by him in
bringing his complaint.
After submitting a full accounting of his hourly charges for
attorney's fees together with costs, expenses, and expert witness fees
incurred in representing Sorri, Thad M. Guyer (Guyer), attorney for
Complainant, filed a Motion for attorney's fees and costs on September
26, 1994. In considering the motion, the Hearing Officer found that
Guyer's request for attorney's fees, legal assistant costs, and
litigation costs and expenses was reasonable and should be approved.
Accordingly, Guyer's Motion for attorney's fees and costs was granted.
The Hearing Officer awarded Guyer $25,356.43 in attorney's fees and
costs.
Refund Applications
Hay & Forage Industries, 11/16/94, RF272-92459
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning one Application for
Refund in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. The
refund application was filed by Hay & Forage Industries. The DOE
determined that Hay & Forage Industries was not entitled to a refund
since a parent company had filed a Surface Transporters Escrow
Settlement Claim Form and Waiver. In this filing, a parent company of
Hay & Forage Industries requested a Stripper Well refund from the
Surface Transporters escrow, thereby waiving Hay & Forage Industries'
right to a Subpart V crude oil refund. Accordingly, the DOE denied Hay
& Forage Industries' Application for Refund.
Nekoosa Papers, Inc., et al., 11/14/94, RC272-257, et al.
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning Applications for
Refund submitted in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding by four
affiliates of Great Northern Nekoosa Corporation: Nekoosa Papers, Inc.,
Bibler Bros., Inc., Great Northern Paper Company, and Great Southern
Paper Company. The DOE previously granted crude oil refunds to these
four applicants. The four applicants, however, were subsequently found
to have been affiliated with both Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad
(Chattahoochee) and Great Southern Plywood (Plywood) on August 7, 1986.
Chattahoochee had filed a refund claim in the Rail and Water
Transporters Stripper Well proceeding, and Plywood had filed a refund
claim in the Surface Transporters Stripper Well proceeding. In doing
so, Chattahoochee and Plywood had executed waivers and releases waiving
their rights and the rights of their affiliates on August 7, 1986, to
receive crude oil overcharge refunds. Accordingly, this Decision
rescinded the original refunds granted to the four applicants.
Scalzo Utilities, Inc., 11/18/94, RF272-92378
The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning the Application for
Refund of a claimant in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund
proceeding. The Application for Refund was based on purchases of
kerosene and residual fuel the applicant purchased and resold during
the crude oil price control refund period. The DOE determined that the
applicant had filed to show that it has been unable to pass on the
crude oil overcharges in its sales of kerosene and residual fuel.
Therefore, the DOE concluded that the claimant was not injured by any
of the overcharges associated with the gallons that it purchased.
Accordingly, the DOE denied the Application for Refund.
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.
Anaheim Union High School District et al.................................. RF272-79602 11/14/94
Arundel Corporation....................................................... RF272-85 11/17/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/Ray Lumber Co. et al........................... RF304-14624 11/17/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/Searles Arco et al............................. RF304-14720 11/18/94
Chambersburg Area School District et al................................... RF272-95574 11/18/94
Clark Oil & Refining Corp./Commonwealth Edison Company.................... RF342-325 11/17/94
D.L. Stowe Trucking et al................................................. RF272-91020 11/17/94
E.D.G. Inc./Smith Oil Company, Inc........................................ RR311-2 11/18/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Winston C. Bresett................................... RR300-258 11/16/94
Macke Laundry Service et al............................................... RF272-97127 11/17/94
Newark Housing Authority.................................................. RF272-68961 11/18/94
Ralston Purina Company et al.............................................. RC272-261 11/17/94
Stanley G. Flagg & Co. et al.............................................. RF272-92009 11/18/94
Texaco Inc./Art and Speck's Texaco et al.................................. RF321-17165 11/18/94
[[Page 13151]]
Texaco Inc./Hershey Foods Corporation..................................... RF321-17106 11/16/94
Texaco Inc./Richmond Texaco et al......................................... RF321-20188 11/14/94
Texaco Inc./Rodriguez Service Station et al............................... RF321-20852 11/18/94
Texaco Inc./Shorts Oil Co., Inc........................................... RF321-20443 11/14/94
T.B. Smith Co., Inc....................................................... RF321-20651 ..............
Texaco Inc. V&F Svara, Inc................................................ RF 321-20946 11/18/94
V&F Svara, Inc............................................................ RF321-20951 ..............
Texaco Inc./Windsor Texaco................................................ RF321-16854 11/17/94
Delsea Texaco Service Station............................................. RF321-16855 ..............
Burlington Texaco......................................................... RF321-16856 ..............
Woodbury Service Station.................................................. RF321-16857 ..............
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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Cass County, MN................................... RF272-86744
Edmonson County Trucking Co....................... RF300-21532
General Motors Saginaw Division................... RF272-93270
Homer Tesoro Service.............................. LEE-0165
Jessee Rogers Sand & Gravel....................... RF272-95291
L.P. Shanks Company............................... RF272-94627
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine...................... RF321-20801
Philip Morris Management Corp..................... RF272-93294
Rodriguez Texaco.................................. RF321-20642
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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
p.m. and 5 p.m., except federal holidays. They are also available in
Energy Management: Federal Energy Guidelines, a commercially published
loose leaf reporter system.
Dated: February 28, 1995.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-6013 Filed 3-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P