[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 25, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20262-20263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10158]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of 
February 27 Through March 3, 1995

    During the week of February 27 through March 3, 1995, 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

Cowles Publishing Company, 2/28/95, VFA-0010

    Cowles Publishing Company (Cowles) filed an Appeal from a denial by 
the DOE's Richland Operations Office (Richland) of a request for 
information submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 
Cowles sought three legal memoranda written in 1963 by an attorney 
employed by General Electric d/b/a Hanford Atomic Products Operation 
(GE/Hanford). The three memoranda concerned GE's potential liability 
for ``Voluntary and Planned'' human radiation experiments. GE/Hanford 
was the management and operations contractor at DOE's Hanford, 
Washington facility from the 1940s until the mid 1960s when Battelle 
Memorial Institute (Battelle) assumed GE/Hanford's research and 
development functions. The three withheld records had been transferred 
to Battelle during the transition period between the two contractors. 
The memoranda were withheld by Richland because they were not ``agency 
records'' and, even if ``agency records'', were protected by the 
attorney-client privilege component of FOIA Exemption 5. On appeal, the 
DOE found that the memoranda are neither ``agency records'' within the 
meaning of the FOIA, nor subject to the FOIA under a new DOE contractor 
records regulation at 10 CFR 1004.3(e), 59 FR 63,884 (December 12, 
1994). Although the DOE found that it owns the documents under the DOE/
GE contract and the DOE/Battelle contract, it concluded that the 
documents are protected by the attorney-client communications privilege 
and the attorney work product privilege. The DOE also found that 
because the DOE, GE and Battelle share a ``common legal interest'' in 
the documents and because the requirements for finding waiver were not 
met, the documents have maintained their privileged status. 
Accordingly, the DOE denied Cowles' FOIA Appeal.

Kenneth W. Warden, 3/1/95, VFA-0023

    Kenneth W. Warden filed an Appeal from a partial denial by the 
DOE's Oak Ridge Operation's Office of a Request for Information that he 
had submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Two 
documents had been withheld pursuant to Exemption 6. In considering the 
Appeal, the DOE found that the public's interest in disclosure of the 
documents was slight in comparison with the privacy interest of the 
individuals mentioned in the documents. Accordingly, the Appeal was 
denied.

Request for Exception

Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc., 2/27/95, LEE-0002

    Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc. filed an Application for 
Exception in which the firm requested relief based on the delay in its 
receipt of exception relief pursuant to a 1978 exception application. 
In considering the request, the DOE found that Corco's claim did not 
form the basis for an independent grant of exception relief. The DOE 
further found that modification of the original grant of relief was 
unwarranted on the grounds, inter alia, that the delays in the case 
were largely the result of Corco's litigation strategy, that the 
receipt of relief in 1978 would not have permitted the survival of 
Corco's refinery and petrochemical operations, and that Corco was 
actually better off as the result of its receipt of relief in 1989 and 
1994. Accordingly, exception relief was denied.

Refund Applications

County of Los Angeles CAO/Purchasing and Stores Department, et al., 3/
3/95, RF272-29545, et al.

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning seven Applications 
for Refund filed by various departments of the County of Los Angeles in 
the crude oil special refund proceeding being conducted by the DOE 
under 10 CFR part 205, subpart V. The DOE rejected 
[[Page 20263]] comments filed by a group of Utilities, Transporters, 
and Manufacturers, finding that the arguments presented were without 
merit. The DOE then determined, after adjustment for overlapping volume 
claims, that the corrected claims were meritorious and granted a refund 
of $64,302.

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.

Air Molokai, Ltd..........................................................  RC272-283                   03/03/95
Baltimore Storage Company.................................................  RA272-68                    03/03/95
City of Burnsville et al..................................................  RF272-97501                 03/03/95
Continental Grain Company.................................................  RC272-282                   03/03/95
Continental Grain Company.................................................  RC272-281                   03/03/95
Frontier Airlines.........................................................  RC272-280                   03/03/95
G & J Freight, Inc........................................................  RA272-66                    03/03/95
Gulf Oil Corporation/Southeastern Freight Lines Inc et al.................  RF300-21305                 02/27/95
Hamilton Hybar Inc........................................................  RF272-92579                 03/01/95
Adhesives & Chemicals, Inc................................................  RF272-92776                         
Hudson River & Conf. Ctr..................................................  RA272-67                    03/03/95
Lambert Oil Co., Inc......................................................  RR272-180                   02/27/95
Moran Coal Co., Inc.......................................................  RF272-91542                 03/01/95
Red Top Coach, Inc........................................................  RF272-91665                         
Container Corp. of America................................................  RF272-98199                         
Mort Hall Ford, Inc.......................................................  RC272-284                   03/03/95
Rhea County Dept. of Education et al......................................  RF272-86753                 03/03/95
Roundy's, Inc.............................................................  RF272-97218                 03/03/95
Superior Water, Light and Power Company...................................  RF272-96593                 02/27/95
Texaco Inc./Doug's Texaco.................................................  RF321-21059                 03/03/95
Texaco Inc./Valley Seeding Co., Inc. et al................................  RF321-12851                 02/27/95
Texaco Inc./Wiesenthal's Texaco Service et al.............................  RF321-20522                 03/03/95
Town of North Hempstead et al.............................................  RF272-96544                 02/27/95
Wilkinson County et al....................................................  RF272-86105                 03/03/95
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                       Name                               Case No.      
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A.J. Cole & Sons, Inc.............................  RF315-9584          
Albuquerque Operations Office.....................  VSO-0017            
Albuquerque Operations Office.....................  VSO-0004            
Chicago West Pullman & Southern Railroad..........  RF321-19762         
Doan's Texaco.....................................  RF321-20519         
Food Services, Inc................................  RF272-93662         
Givens Texaco.....................................  RF321-6740          
Hill Aircraft & Leasing Corp......................  RF351-00030         
Kevork Texaco.....................................  RF321-9622          
Stofa's Texaco....................................  RF321-7238          
W. & J. Propane Gas, Inc..........................  RF304-14999         
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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.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-10158 Filed 4-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P