[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60697-60698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30448]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of 
October 7 Through October 11, 1996

    During the week of October 7 through October 11, 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: November 20, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 2

Week of October 7 Through October 11, 1996

Personnel Security Hearing

ALBUQUERQUE OPERATIONS OFFICE, 10/9/96, VSO-0099

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
addressing the continued eligibility of an individual for access 
authorization under the provisions of 10 C.F.R. Part 710. The Hearing 
Officer found that the Albuquerque Operations Office had presented 
sufficient evidence to show that the individual (i) deliberately 
omitted significant information from a security questionnaire, (ii) is 
a user of alcohol habitually to excess and suffers from alcohol abuse, 
and (iii) has engaged in conduct which tends to show that he is not 
reliable. The Hearing Officer also found that the individual had not 
shown he was rehabilitated or presented evidence which mitigated the 
security concerns of the DOE. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer 
recommended that the individual's access authorization not be restored.

Whistleblower Proceeding

META, INC., LOGISTICS APPLICATIONS, INC., 10/08/96, VWA-0006, VWA-0012

    Eugene Greer filed a complaint under the Department of Energy's 
Contractor

[[Page 60698]]

Employee Protection Program. Greer alleged that he lost his employment 
with META, Inc., as a result of his cooperation with an investigation 
conducted by the Office of Inspector General into misuse of government 
property by two DOE employees responsible for supervising the META 
contract. The investigation resulted in a reprimand for one of the DOE 
employees. There was no allegation that META intentionally did anything 
improper, but that the two DOE officials who were the subjects of the 
IG investigation orchestrated Greer's dismissal by making negative 
comments about his work to META officials. META claimed that Greer's 
dismissal was the result of a corporate reorganization and that the DOE 
officials had no input into the decision.
    The Hearing Officer found that Greer had not sustained his burden 
of demonstrating that DOE officials contributed in any way to his 
dismissal. The Hearing Officer noted that it is often impossible for 
the complainant to find a ``smoking gun'' that proves an employer's 
retaliatory intent and that the testimony of contractor officials who 
have been accused of retaliating must be viewed with some skepticism. 
However, since there was no allegation of intentional wrongdoing and 
the testimony presented by META officials was consistent and 
reasonable, the Hearing Officer found their testimony to be credible. 
Consequently, he found that Greer's role in the IG investigation had no 
bearing upon the loss of his employment. Consequently, the relief Greer 
requested was denied.

Refund Applications

STATE ESCROW DISTRIBUTION,  10/11/96, RF302-19

    The Office of Hearings and Appeals ordered the DOE's Office of the 
Controller to distribute $15,400,000 to the State Governments. The use 
of the funds by the States is governed by the Stripper Well Settlement 
Agreement.

THE 341 TRACT UNIT OF THE CITRONELLE FIELD/NATIONAL COOPERATIVE 
REFINERY, ET AL., 10/10/96, RF345-69, ET AL.

    The Department of Energy granted Applications for Refund filed by 
five refiner cooperatives in the 341 Tract Unit of the Citronelle Field 
refund proceeding. The DOE rejected arguments by a group of Utilities, 
Transporters and Manufacturers and a group of States to the effect that 
these refiner cooperatives had previously waived their rights to 
receive more than the 5.4 percent share allocated to other refiners. 
The DOE also determined that the refunds should not be disbursed until 
it was clear that no appeal of the determination had been filed. The 
funds will be placed in a separate interest bearing account earmarked 
for these refiner cooperatives, who will be entitled to their refunds 
as well as accrued interest, should the outcome of any litigation be 
favorable to them. The total refund granted was $1,746,845.

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.

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                       Name of firm                                       Case No.                   Received   
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CITY OF KERNERSVILLE.....................................  RC272-354                                    10/10/96
TOWNSHIP OF PRINCETON....................................  RC272-355                                            
CRUDE OIL SUPPLE REF DIST................................  RB272-00088                                   10/8/96
EAST POINT TRAWLERS, INC.................................  RJ272-23                                      10/7/96
GRAY TRUCK CO., ET AL....................................  RF272-97946                                  10/11/96
KEIGHTLY BROS. INC.......................................  RC272-333                                     10/8/96
POLK CNTY FARMERS COOP., ET AL...........................  RF272-97804                                   10/8/96
REDWING CARRIERS, INC., ET AL............................  RG272-00096                                   10/7/96
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Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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AMERICAN FALCON CORP.........................  RF272-90314              
COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. CONSOLIDATED..........  RF272-92518              
COLUMBUS CONSOLIDATED GOVT...................  RF272-95156              
EQUITY COOPERATIVE...........................  RG272-706                
GREAT WESTERN AIRLINES, INC..................  RG272-1004               
ITALIANO & PLACHE, L.L.P.....................  VFA-0219                 
MONTGOMERY TANK LINES........................  RG272-465                
OAK RIDGE OPERATIONS OFFICE..................  VSO-0107                 
SCHENECTADY NAVAL REACTORS OFF...............  VSO-0112                 
SQUAW LAKE COOPERATIVE CO....................  RG272-707                
SUTHERLAND FARMERS COOP......................  RG272-491                
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[FR Doc. 96-30448 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
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