[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 178 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48150-48151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23358]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of
January 22 Through January 26, 1996
During the week of January 22 through January 26, 1996, the
decisions and orders summarized below were issued with respect to
appeals, applications, petitions, or other requests 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.
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. 20585-0107, 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. Some decisions and
orders are available on the Office of Hearings and Appeals World Wide
Web site at http://www.oha.doe.gov.
Dated: August 28, 1996.
Thomas O. Mann,
Acting Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
Appeals
David R. McMurdo, 1/25/96, VFA-0109
David R. McMurdo (Appellant) filed an Appeal under the Privacy Act
of a December 7, 1995 determination issued to him by the DOE's Richland
Operations Office (Richland). The Appellant, who had been employed by a
sub-contractor on the Hanford Reservation, had requested all medical
and personnel records held by Richland concerning him. On Appeal, the
Appellant contended that the DOE's search for responsive documents was
inadequate. After considering his Appeal, the DOE found that Richland's
search for responsive documents was adequate. Accordingly, the Appeal
was denied.
Nathaniel Hendricks, 1/26/96, VFA-0106
Nathaniel Hendricks (Appellant) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued by the DOE's Office of Human Radiation Experiments
(OHRE) in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). The request related to the alleged release of radiation in the
Chicago area in the early 1940s. The Chicago Operations Office (COO)
and the OHRE conducted searches for responsive documents. The Appellant
did not appeal the COO's determination, but appealed the OHRE
determination, claiming that the OHRE had not performed an adequate
search for responsive documents. In the interests of a factually
complete determination, the DOE investigated the searches of the COO
and the OHRE. With respect to the COO search, conducted by its
contractor, Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), the DOE discovered
that Argonne possessed 5,000 notebooks of possibly responsive material,
which had been determined likely to be radioactive. According to
Argonne, the notebooks had never been examined due to the high costs of
conducting the
[[Page 48151]]
necessary radioactivity study and examination of such a large quantity
of material. In its Decision, the DOE determined that it was
unreasonable to require the COO to review the notebooks and concluded
that the COO's search was adequate. However, the DOE concluded that the
OHRE's search of the two databases available to it was inadequate
because of the failure to search for certain prominent terms used in
the Appellant's request. Accordingly, the DOE granted the Appeal and
remanded the matter to the OHRE for further action.
Terrence Willingham, 1/22/96, VFA-0100
Terrence Willingham (Appellant) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued to him by the DOE's Office of the Executive
Secretariat (ES). The Appellant asserted that the ES failed to conduct
an adequate search for documents responsive to two Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Appellant requested copies of all
documents containing information pertaining to various job
announcements concerning the Director and Deputy Director of the DOE's
Office of Civil Rights. In its determination letter, the ES produced 42
documents. The Appellant asserted that the ES conducted an inadequate
search. The DOE found that the ES conducted an adequate search with
regard to almost all of categories of information. The DOE further
found, however, that the search concerning several of the requested
categories of information was inadequate. Finally, the DOE found that a
portion of one of the documents provided to the Appellant, minutes of a
meeting (Minutes Document), had been deleted without providing the
Appellant a statement of the reasons for the withholding. Consequently,
the DOE remanded the matter for a (i) further search for responsive
documents and (ii) a determination concerning whether the withheld
portion of the Minutes Document was releasable.
Williams & Trine, P.C., 1/25/96, VFA-0108
William & Trine, P.C. (Appellant) filed an Appeal from denials
issued by the Ohio Field Office (DOE/OH) and the FOIA/Privacy Act
Division (DOE/HQ) of a Request of Information which the firm had
submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (the FOIA). In
considering the Appeal, the DOE found that the requested information,
documentation of the shipment of hazardous or radioactive material from
any DOE facility to a facility of the Appellant's client, Cotter
Corporation in Colorado, did not exist because no shipments of such
material were ever made. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Personnel Security Hearing
Oak Ridge Operations Office, 1/25/96, VSO-0057
An OHA Hearing Officer issued an opinion concerning the eligibility
for restoration of access authorization of an individual who
untruthfully stated on a Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions and in
two Personnel Security Interviews that he had a college degree. The
Hearing Officer found that due to this falsification the individual was
untrustworthy. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer found that the
individual's access authorization should not be restored.
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/Easy Times ARCO............... RF304-13145 01/22/96
ARCO Mini Market......................................... RF304-15479 ..............
Crude Oil Supple. Refund Dist............................ RB272-62 01/22/96
Crude Oil Supple. Refund Dist............................ RB272-64 01/22/96
Crude Oil Supple. Refund Dist............................ RB272-63 01/22/96
Crude Oil Supple. Refund Dist............................ RB272-42 01/22/96
Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Dist....................... RB272-00033 01/24/96
Elmer Hendrix, Jr., et al................................ RK272-00110 01/24/96
Libby Rink, et al........................................ RK272-01616 01/22/96
Northern Ohio Trucking, et al............................ RF272-85025 01/22/96
St. Patrick's Church, et al.............................. RF272-99107 01/22/96
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed:
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Name Case No.
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Americair, Inc............................... RF272-97954
Amerijet International....................... RF272-97948
Aviation Associates, Inc..................... RF272-98721
Boston and Maine Corporation................. RF272-97248
Executive Airlines........................... RF272-97988
Flight International, Inc.................... RF272-97992
I.E. Miller & Company........................ RF272-98429
Long Island Airlines......................... RF272-97989
Maine Central Railroad....................... RF272-97251
Maxair, Inc.................................. RF272-97990
Portland Terminal Company.................... RF272-97249
Springfield Terminal Railway................. RF272-97250
Tanana Air Service........................... RF272-97994
Taylor's ARCO................................ RF304-14251
Wellen Oil and Chemical...................... RF300-18517
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[FR Doc. 96-23358 Filed 9-11-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P