[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7253-7254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4402]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of July 24 
Through July 28, 1995

    During the week of July 24 through July 28, 1995 the decisions and 
orders summarized below were issued with respect to applications for 
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

Blumberg, Seng, Ikeda & Albers, 7/25/95, VFA-0052

    Blumberg, Seng, Ikeda & Albers filed an Appeal from a partial 
denial by the DOE's Office of the Inspector General of a Request for 
Information that it submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA). In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that the FOIA's 
Exemptions 6 and 7(C) had been properly invoked to withhold the names 
and other personal identifiers of subjects, sources, witnesses and 
investigators in connection with the Inspector General's investigation 
of the death of a particular individual at the Naval Petroleum Reserves 
in Elk Hills, California. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.

Petition for Special Redress

State of Louisiana, 7/28/95, VEG-0002

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order denying a Petition for Special 
Redress filed by the State of Louisiana. Louisiana sought approval to 
use Stripper Well funds to match a DOE grant to establish a Natural Gas 
Pre-Utilization Center at Southern University. Louisiana wished to use 
the Stripper Well funds to study the 

[[Page 7254]]
relationship between the geological formation of natural gas fields and 
the levels of radioactivity in the water brought to the surface as part 
of the oil and gas extraction process. If successful, the study would 
provide natural gas producers with data that would allow them to assess 
probable levels of radioactivity at a site before drilling, thus 
reducing the volume of radioactive materials brought to the surface. 
DOE's Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 
had determined that this proposal was inconsistent with the terms of 
the Stripper Well Settlement Agreement in that its main focus was 
environmental. Louisiana argued in its Petition that the study was 
authorized by the Chevron consent order, which allows the use of oil 
overcharge funds for enery research. The OHA agreed with the initial 
assessment of Louisiana's proposal and concluded that the project could 
not qualify as an energy research program under the terms of the 
Chevron consent order because it was not remedial in nature. 
Accordingly, Louisiana's Petition for Special Redress 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.

Central Valley Coop Consumers Oil Co......................  RF272-92208                                 07/25/95
                                                            RF272-92230                                         
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution................  RB272-14                                    07/25/95
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution................  RB272-20                                    07/25/95
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution................  RB272-24                                    07/28/95
Gibraltar School District et al...........................  RF272-84697                                 07/28/95
Nome City School District et al...........................  RF272-95900                                 07/28/95
Reserve School District et al.............................  RF272-95426                                 07/25/95
Texaco Inc./Second Avenue Texaco..........................  RF321-20643                                 07/25/95
Texaco Inc./Short Stop, Inc...............................  RF321-6657                                  07/28/95
Texaco Inc./Squaw Transit Co..............................  RF321-8846                                  07/28/95
Texaco Inc./Webb Texaco Station et al.....................  RF321-1486                                  07/28/95
Texaco Inc./Whittaker Metals, Inc.........................  RF321-9170                                  07/28/95
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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Herbert Easterly.............................  VFA-0054                 
Hopson's Texaco Service Station..............  RF321-20386              
McMinn Texaco................................  RF321-4191               
Rocky Flats Field Office.....................  VSO-0033                 
San Diego Transit Corporation................  RF272-97153              
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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, 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 14, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 96-4402 Filed 2-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P