[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 185 (Monday, September 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49768-49769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24297]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders Week of July 31 
Through August 4, 1995

    During the week of July 31 through August 4, 1995, 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, DC 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.

Decision List No. 931

Appeal

Esther Lyons, 8/3/95, VFA-0056

    Esther Lyons (Lyons) filed an Appeal from a determination issued to 
her by the Oak Ridge Operations Office (Oak Ridge) of the Department of 
Energy (DOE). In her Appeal, Lyons asserted that Oak Ridge failed to 
perform an adequate search for responsive documents in its possession 
regarding a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request she submitted. In 
her Request, Lyons requested copies of all documents containing 
information pertaining to her father, Michael D. Lyons. In its 
determination letter, the Oak Ridge stated that it could not find any 
documents which were responsive to her Request. In her Appeal, Lyons 
argued that Oak Ridge conducted an inadequate search for responsive 
documents and asserted that responsive documents must exist since her 
father operated various companies which did business with the Atomic 
Energy Commission. The DOE determined that Oak Ridge conducted an 
adequate search for responsive documents in light of the fact that the 
Lyons' Request only contained her father's name and none of the 
information provided in her subsequent Appeal. However, Oak Ridge 
agreed to conduct another search for responsive documents using the 
additional information provided in Lyons' Appeal. Consequently, the DOE 
remanded the matter to Oak Ridge so that it could conduct a further 
search for responsive documents.

Personnel Security Hearing

Albuquerque Operations Office, 8/3/95, VSO-0028

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
against restoring the security clearance of an individual whose 
clearance had been suspended because the Department had obtained 
derogatory information that fell within 10 CFR 710.8 (k) and (l). In 
reaching his conclusion, the Hearing Officer found that the individual 
had possessed and used marijuana after signing a certification that he 
would not use illegal drugs. In addition, the Hearing Officer found 
that current inconsistencies in the individual's testimony support the 
charge that the individual is not being honest, reliable and 
trustworthy within the meaning of 10 CFR 710.8(l).

Supplemental Order

THE 341 TRACT UNIT OF THE CITRONELLE FIELD, 8/1/95, VFX-0003

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order directing payment to a mediator 
for his services in connection with negotiations to settle litigation 
over the escrow funds concerning The 341 Tract Unit of the Citronelle 
Field. The DOE directed that $12,063.25 of the mediator's fee should be 
taken from the Citronelle escrow account. The remaining $4,461.75 of 
his fee is to be paid directly by the DOE.

Refund Applications

CITRONELLE-MOBILE GATHERING/GLOBE MANUFACTURING CO., ET AL., 8/3/95, 
RR336-75, ET AL.

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order directing payment of refunds to 
37 applicants in the Citronelle-Mobile Gathering (Citronelle) special 
refund proceeding. These funds had been collected from Citronelle 
pursuant to a March 17, 1988, a decision of the United States District 
Court for the Southern District of Alabama. On August 12, 1992, the 
court ordered the transfer of the Citronelle overcharges funds from the 
registry of the court to the DOE deposit escrow fund account, and 
ordered the transfer of any additional payments into the registry to 
the DOE escrow account on a quaterly basis. The court directed the DOE 
Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to make payments to the claimants, 
in proportion to the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum 
products purchased by each claimant, whenever the amount in the DOE 
escrow account exceeds $1,000,000, and no less often than once every 
two years. Two years had passed since the most recent disbursement of 
funds on August 3, 1993. Accordingly, the DOE directed that the funds 
in the Citronelle account be disbursed to the 37 eligible claimants.

NATIONAL HELIUM CORP./OREGON RM3-289;TIME OIL COMPANY/OREGON RM334-290; 
COLINE GASOLINE CORP./OREGON RM2-291; BELRIDGE OIL COMPANY/OREGON RM8-
292; PERRY GAS PROCESSORS/OREGON RM183-293; PALO PINTO OIL AND GAS/
OREGON, 7/31/95, RM5-294

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting a Motion for 
Modification filed by the State of Oregon in the National Helium Corp., 
Time Oil Company, Coline Gasoline Corp., Belridge Oil Company, Perry 
Gas Processors, and Palo Pinto Oil and Gas special refund proceedings. 
Oregon requested permission to modify its second-stage refund plan 
after the telecommuting program approved in National Helium/Oregon, 25 
DOE para. 85,017 (1995) failed to win approval from the Oregon state 
legislature. Oregon wished to reallocate the $500,000 previously 
intended for that program to its Public Buildings Energy Savings 
Program, which was approved in the same decision. The DOE determined 
that increased funding would extend the benefits of the Public

[[Page 49769]]

Buildings Energy Savings Program to a larger number of communities 
without upsetting the balance of Oregon's overall restitutionary 
program. Accordingly, Oregon's Motion for Modification was granted.

Texaco Inc. Vaughan Bassett Furniture Corp., 8/2/95, RF321-15350

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting an Application for 
Refund filed by the Vaughan Bassett Furniture Corp. (Bassett) in the 
Texaco Inc. Subpart V special refund proceeding. In its refund 
application, Bassett sought an above-volumetric refund based upon its 
claim that it incurred a disproportionate overcharge during the Texaco 
consent order period. In support of its claim to an above-voluetric 
refund Bassett submitted documents prepared by the DOE's Economic 
Regulatory Administration (ERA) based upon an ERA audit of Texaco's 
business records.
    The DOE found that the enforcement documents submitted by Bassett, 
and the Remedial Order issued to Texaco by DOE as a result of the ERA 
audit, support Bassett's claim to an above-volumetric refund. The 
overcharge amount established by the enforcement documentation (plus 
pre-judgment interest) was reduced by 57.5 percent of its total to 
reflect the nature of the DOE/Texaco settlement agreement. As an end-
user of Texaco refined product, Bassett was not required to submit 
detailed evidence of injury in order to receive a refund. Bassett was 
awarded a refund of $39,100 plus accrued interest.

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.

CITY OF NORTH AUGUSTA, SOUTH     RF272-95460                    07/31/95
 CAROLINA ET AL.                                                        
COLONIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ET AL.  RK272-75                       08/02/95
CONTISHIPPING DIVISION OF        RR272-126                      08/02/95
 CONTINENTAL GRAIN.                                                     
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND    RB272-36                       07/31/95
 DISTRIBUTION.                                                          
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND    RB272-31                       08/02/95
 DISTRIBUTION.                                                          
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND    RB272-34                       08/02/95
 DISTRIBUTION.                                                          
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND    RB272-17                       08/03/95
 DISTRIBUTION.                                                          
CRUDE OIL SUPPLEMENTAL REFUND    RB272-30                       08/03/95
 DISTRIBUTION.                                                          
GOLD LINE, INC. ET AL..........  RF272-77478                    08/02/95
LAKE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT....  RF272-95908                    08/02/95
HARTFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT.......  RF272-95951                            
MARYSVILLE JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL  RF272-95483                    08/02/95
 DISTRICT ET AL.                                                        
NEPERA, INC....................  RR272-129                      08/02/95
PETER FISHER & SON, INC. ET AL.  RK272-11                       08/02/95
TEXACO INC./BEAL'S TEXACO ET AL  RF321-11266                    08/03/95
TEXACO INC./ILAN PETROLEUM       RF321-20558                    08/02/95
 COMPANY.                                                               
INGLEWOOD OIL COMPANY..........  RF321-20559                            
TEXACO INC./MARITIME OIL         RF321-20445                    08/02/95
 COMPANY.                                                               
TEXACO INC./WILLIAM KRONENBERG   RF321-20467                    08/02/95
 TEXACO.                                                                
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Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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BARBER COUNTY, KANSAS........................  RF272-89047              
CARL COLTERYAHN DAIRY........................  RF272-97317              
CITY OF MITCHELL.............................  RF272-86647              
FARMERS CO-OP ASSOCIATIONS...................  RG272-172                
SOUTHWESTERN STATE HOSPITAL..................  RF272-86653              
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[FR Doc. 96-24297 Filed 9-20-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P