[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 183 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49320-49322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24024]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders From the Week of June 
24 Through June 28, 1996

    During the week of June 24 through June 28, 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, S.W., 
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: September 5, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Appeals

Anibal L. Taboas, 6/26/96, VFA-0171

    The OHA remanded on appeal a request to the Chicago Operations 
Office (COO) for information concerning complaints, investigations, or 
other information concerning the appellant. COO had withheld responsive 
documents in their entirety pursuant to Exemptions 5, 6, and 7A of the 
Freedom of Information Act. The OHA found that COO had failed to 
consider whether the withheld documents contained releasable material 
that could be reasonably segregated, and had failed to apply a 
foreseeable harm test to withheld material.

Bradley S. Tice, 6/26/96, VFA-0172

    Bradley S. Tice filed an Appeal from a determination issued to him 
on May 8, 1996 by the Department of Energy's Albuquerque Operations 
Office (AO) which denied a request for information he filed under the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The request sought information 
regarding ``aspects of nuclear propulsion for aircraft as well as 
Richard Feynman's patented design for a nuclear reactor to heat air for 
a jet engine.'' AO stated that it conducted a search of its records as 
the Los Alamos National Laboratory and found no responsive documents. 
The Appeal challenged the adequacy of the search conducted by AO. In 
considering the Appeal, the DOE found that AO conducted an adequate 
search which was reasonably calculated to discover documents responsive 
to Mr. Tice's Request. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.

David W. Smith, 6/27/96 VFA-0173

    David W. Smith filed an Appeal from a determination by the 
Department of Energy's Albuquerque Operations Office (AO). Mr. Smith's 
mother had filed a request for records relating to her late husband's 
exposure to radiation while he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission 
from 1948 to 1956. AO stated that it had conducted a search of its 
records at AO's Occupational Safety and Health Division (OSHD) and at 
the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and provided Mrs. Smith with 
a copy of the radiation dosimetry records it discovered at LANL. In his 
Appeal, Mr. Smith implicitly argued that AO conducted an inadequate 
search for records relating to his father. In considering the Appeal, 
the DOE found that AO conducted an adequate search which was reasonably 
calculated to discover documents responsive to Mrs. Smith's Request. 
Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.

Keith E. Loomis, 6/28/96 VFA-0166

    Keith E. Loomis filed an Appeal from a denial by the Office of 
Naval Reactors of a request for information that he filed under the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In considering one report that was 
withheld but was not addressed in either of the previous Decisions and 
Orders regarding this Appeal, the Director of Naval Reactors reviewed 
the report and identified it as Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information 
(NNPI) material. The DOE therefore determined that the report should be 
withheld under Exemption 3 of the FOIA. Accordingly, the Appeal was 
denied.

The Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/25/96 VFA-0169

    The Cincinnati Enquirer filed an Appeal from a determination issued 
to it by the Ohio Field Office of the Department of Energy (DOE) in 
response to a Request for Information submitted under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that 
the Ohio Field Office improperly withheld names of DOE evaluators of a 
contractor ``rebaseline'' preliminary proposal under Exemption 6 of the 
FOIA. In particular, the DOE found that, except in unusual cases, 
federal employees have no privacy interest either in being identified 
as federal employees or in their work for the federal government. The 
DOE also found that where as here a branch of the agency acts in the 
spirit of the FOIA and releases the substance of internal, 
predecisional, deliberative documents, it may be permissible to 
withhold the names of DOE reviewers/evaluators under the ``deliberative 
process'' privilege incorporated into Exemption 5

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of the FOIA when necessary to vindicate the policies protected by that 
Exemption. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied in part, granted in part, 
and remanded to the Ohio Field Office to determine whether withholding 
the names in this case would protect a valid FOIA exemption policy 
under Exemption 5.

Refund Applications

Eason Oil Co:/Propane Sales, et al., 6/24/96, RF352-4; RF352-5

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning refund applications 
that Propane Sales and Mangum Oil & Gas submitted in the Eason Oil 
Company (Eason) special refund proceeding. The DOE found that Propane 
Sales was a retailer of Eason products who qualified for a refund under 
the 60% mid-range presumption of injury, and that Mangum Oil & Gas was 
a retailer of Eason products who qualified for a refund under the small 
claim presumption of injury. The DOE granted Propane Sales and Mangum 
Oil & Gas a total refund of $59,701.

Tennessee Valley Authority, 6/28/96, RF272-23944

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting an Application for 
Refund filed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a utility and corporate 
agency of the Federal Government, in the Subpart V crude oil refund 
proceeding. A group of States and Territories (States) objected to the 
application on the grounds that the TVA passed through crude oil 
overcharges to its customers and that to the pass through the refund to 
its customers would constitute indirect restitution, a function that is 
reserved for the ``second-stage'' refunds distributed to the States. 
Both the States and Philip P. Kalodner, Counsel for Utilities, 
Transporters and Manufacturers (Kalodner) objected on the grounds that 
the DOE, by signing the Stripper Well Settlement Agreement, waived the 
rights of all Federal agencies to receive a crude oil refund. The DOE 
rejected the contention that public utility refund applicants should 
not be permitted to act as conduits for the distribution of refund 
benefits to their injured customers, and found that because the State 
and Federal governments are designated conduits for indirect 
restitution under the Settlement Agreement, neither waived its right to 
direct restitution with respect to its own purchases of refined 
petroleum products. The refund granted to the applicant in this 
Decision was $1,551,749.

Texaco Inc./Buster's Texaco, 6/24/96, RF321-21087

    The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order 
rescinding a refund that was granted to Buster's Texaco and its owner, 
Ida Williams. The refund was rescinded because the check was returned 
to the U.S. Treasury as undeliverable by the Postal Service. Despite 
the DOE's best efforts, it was unable to obtain an accurate address for 
Ms. Williams. The DOE therefore ordered the check to be redeposited 
into the Texaco 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.


ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY/M&A PETROLEUM.................  RF304-15339                                  06/26/96
CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY....................................  RF272-92544                                  06/27/96
CRUDE OIL SUPPLE. REF., ET AL............................  RB272-00078                                  06/26/96
DIRECT TRANSIT LINE, INC. ET AL..........................  RF272-78488                                  06/26/96
ESTELLINE COMMUNITY OIL CO. ET AL........................  RF272-94700                                  06/26/96
GALASSO TRUCKING INC.....................................  RC272-343                                    06/26/96
GULF OIL CORPORATION/JOHN'S GULF.........................  RF300-20087                                  06/24/96
GULF OIL CORPORATION/PIONEER OIL CO. OF MISSOURI, INC....  RF300-8134                                   06/26/96
JANICE MUELLER, ET AL....................................  RK272-01331                                  06/28/96
MARV'S TOWING SERVICE, INC...............................  RK272-03497                                  06/26/96
OLGA STARR, ET AL........................................  RK272-682                                    06/26/96
SIEMENS ALLIS, INC., ET AL...............................  RF272-91918                                  06/28/96
SILEX R.I. SCHOOL DISTRICT...............................  RF272-95950                                  06/27/96
BROOKFIELD LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT.........................  RF272-95992                            ..............
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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A.M. VOGEL, INC..............................  RF272-99113              
ASSUMPTION-CALVARY CEMETERIES................  RF272-98991              
AVALON PETROLEUM CO..........................  RF342-0001               
BARTLETT-COLLINS.............................  RF272-97797              
BARTLETT-COLLINS.............................  RF272-97900              
CATTARAUGAS-ALLEGANY-ERIE-WYOMING BOCES......  RF272-97714              
DIOCESE OF ST. CLOUD.........................  RF272-98990              
FARMERS COOPERATIVE ELEVATOR COMPANY.........  RG272-323                
LAKES GAS COMPANY............................  VER-0001                 
RYAN AVIATION CORPORATION....................  RF272-97958              
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SCHOOL...................  RF272-97839              
STU-BROCK SERVICE, INC.......................  RF304-15065              
YELLOW CAB OF MARTINSVILLE...................  RK272-2322               
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[FR Doc. 96-24024 Filed 9-18-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P