[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 183 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49323-49324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24026]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of April 29 
Through May 3, 1996

    During the week of April 29 through May 3, 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 10, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Appeal

Stoel, Rives LLP, 4/29/96, VFA-0145

    A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal from a determination 
issued by the DOE's Office of Inspector General (OIG) with respect to a 
request for information concerning the OIG's audit of the Bonneville 
Power Authority's (BPA) Energy Resource programs was considered by the 
Office of Hearings and Appeals. The Office of Hearings and Appeals 
issued a decision on April 29, 1996 remanding part of the Appeal to OIG 
and denying the Appeal in all other aspects. In reaching its 
determination, the Office of Hearings and Appeals found that: (1) the 
identities of audit information sources were properly withheld under 
Exemptions 6 and 7(C); and (2) the DOE is not required to produce a 
Vaughn index at the administrative appeal level.

Personnel Security Hearing

Albuquerque Operations Office, 5/1/96, VSO-0079

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 concerning eligibility of an individual for 
access authorization. After considering the testimony at the hearing 
convened at the request of the individual and all other information in 
the record, the Hearing Officer found that the individual has been a 
user of alcohol habitually to excess, which is derogatory information 
under 10 C.F.R. Sec. 710.8(j), and has an illness or mental condition, 
Substance Dependence, Alcohol, which, in the opinion of a board-
certified psychiatrist, causes or may cause a significant in judgment 
or reliability and is thus derogatory information under 10 C.F.R. 
Sec. 710.8(h). The Hearing Officer further found that the individual 
failed to present sufficient evidence of rehabilitation, reformation or 
other factors to mitigate the derogatory information. Specifically, the 
Hearing Officer found that the individual's abstention from alcohol for 
five months and participation in alcohol abuse counseling for two and a 
half months were not of sufficient duration to significantly reduce the 
risk that the Individual might resume drinking. Accordingly, the 
Hearing Officer recommended that the individual's access authorization, 
which had been suspended, should not be restored.

Oak Ridge Operations Office, 5/2/96 VSO-0068

    A Hearing Officer from the Office of Hearings and Appeals issued an 
Opinion regarding the eligibility of an individual to maintain an 
access authorization under the provisions of 10 C.F.R. Part 710. The 
individual was alleged to be alcohol dependent, based upon the 
diagnosis of a board-certified psychiatrist. The Hearing Officer found 
that the term ``alcohol dependence'' as used in DOE regulations meant 
alcohol dependence as it is commonly understood in the mental health 
community. However, the psychiatrist did not apply generally accepted 
standards in making his diagnosis of alcohol dependence. The Hearing 
Officer, consequently, could not find that the individual was alcohol 
dependent. However, the Hearing Officer did find that the individual 
was a user of alcohol habitually to excess. Accordingly, the Hearing 
Officer found that the individual's access authorization should not be 
restored.

Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office, 5/3/96, VSO-0081

    An OHA Hearing Officer issued an opinion concerning an individual 
whose access authorization was suspended because of doubts concerning 
his financial situation and his reliability and trustworthiness. The 
Hearing Officer found that the individual had failed to mitigate the 
DOE's concerns arising from the individual's unpaid debts of 
approximately $32,000. She found that although the individual's 
financial crisis appeard to have been caused by the loss of employment, 
the individual had failed to take any steps to reduce or eliminate the 
debt once he was reemployed. Accordingly, the Hearings Officer found 
that the individual had done nothing to mitigate the DOE's concerns 
regarding his reliability and trustworthiness, and that his acccess 
authorization should not be restored.

Request for Exception

Lakes Gas Company, 4/30/96, VEE-0018

    Lakes Gas Company (Lakes) 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 gross inequity or serious hardship. Therefore, the 
DOE denied Lake's Application for Exception.

Visa Petroleum, Inc., 4/30/96, VEE-0017

    Visa Petroleum, Inc., filed an Application for extension of the 
exception relief previously granted the firm from the requirement that 
it file Form EIA-782B, the ``Reseller/Retailer's Monthly Petroleum 
Product Sales Report.'' In view of the firm's precarious

[[Page 49324]]

financial condition resulting from continuing losses and the poor 
health of the owner's wife, who prepares the report, the DOE found that 
submitting the report would cause the firm unusally severe problems. 
Accordingly, exception relief was extended through May 1998.

Supplemental Order

Akin Energy, 4/30/96, VFX-0007

    The DOE issued a Supplemental Order regarding Akin Energy (Akin), a 
private filing service. In the Supplemental Order, the DOE announces 
that Akin, its officers and employees are barred from receiving future 
refund checks in any proceedings conducted by OHA under 10 C.F.R. Part 
205, Subpart V. DOE's action was prompted by two instances where Akin 
failed to repay money erroneously paid to it and are of its clients by 
DOE. Because Akin failed to repay the amount it owes to DOE, the DOE 
found that Akin should be barred from receiving refund checks on behalf 
of its clients.

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.

CAPITAL TRANSPORT CO., INC...............................  RR272-0198                                   04/30/96
CIMARRON VALLEY COOPERATIVE..............................  RF272-97138                                  05/03/96
AGRI-URBAN, INC..........................................  RF272-97158                                          
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND............................  RB272-00074                                  04/29/96
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUNDS...........................  RB272-00075                                  04/29/96
DALLAS CARRIERS CORPORATION ET AL........................  RK272-02251                                  05/03/96
DAVID VOLKERDING ET AL...................................  RK272-02400                                  05/02/96
EDWARD HUCKMAN ESTATE ET AL..............................  RK272-2920                                   04/29/96
GEORGIA WILLOUGHBY ET AL.................................  RK272-02640                                  05/02/96
GULF OIL CORPORATION/FRENCH & CURTIS, INC./WEBBER ENERGY   RF300-20417                                  04/30/96
 FUELS.                                                                                                         
LONDON & OVERSEAS FREIGHTERS ET AL.......................  RK272-2956                                   04/29/96
LYONDELL PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY...........................  RG272-00532                                  05/03/96
POWER PRO EQUIPMENT CO./E.V. MARTIN CORPORATION..........  RK272-03432                                  05/03/96
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL......................................  RC272-338                                    05/02/96
RENNER MOTOR LINES, INC..................................  RF272-97081                                  04/29/96
ROGERS DYE-FINISHING.....................................  RF272-69198                                  04/30/96
ROGERS DYE-FINISHING.....................................  RD272-69198                                          
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

                                                                        
                     Name                               Case No.        
                                                                        
CAMERON IRON WORKS...........................  RF272-98747              
COKER AVIATION, INC..........................  RF272-98731              
KITTY HAWK AIR CARGO, INC....................  RF272-98730              
RENTON-ISSAQUAH AUTO TRANSPORT...............  RF272-99069              
WILDER CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.................  RF272-77984              
                                                                        

[FR Doc. 96-24026 Filed 9-18-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P