[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 12165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6467]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of
February 17 Through February 21, 1997
Office of Hearings and Appeals
During the week of February 17 through February 21, 1997, 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: March 5, 1997.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
DECISION LIST NO. 21
Appeals
Acadian Gas Pipeline System, 2/18/97, VFA-0260
Acadian Gas Pipeline System (Acadian) filed an Appeal from a
determination issued to it on November 26, 1996, by the Department of
Energy's Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project Management Office (SPRP).
That determination was issued in response to a request for information
that Acadian submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The
request sought all records regarding the DOE's sale of certain
Strategic Petroleum Reserve property. SPRP conducted a search of its
records and provided Acadian with a complete file of responsive
documents. However, SPRP withheld certain information pursuant to
Exemption 4 of the FOIA. The Appeal challenged the adequacy of the
search conducted by SPRP. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that
Acadian's request had not been subjected to a search sufficiently
thorough and conscientious to meet the established standards of
reasonableness. Accordingly, the Appeal was granted and SPRP was
directed to perform a new search and issue a new determination
identifying all responsive documents and justifying any withholdings.
STAND of Amarillo, Inc., 2/20/97, VFA-0261
The Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied an Appeal that was
filed by STAND of Amarillo, Inc. (STAND) pursuant to the Freedom of
Information ACT (FOIA). In the Decision, OHA found that the search for
responsive documents performed by the Albuquerque Operations Office was
adequate, that 91 documents requested by STAND belonged to a DOE
contractor and were not agency records subject to the FOIA, and that
these documents were not otherwise subject to release under the DOE
regulations.
William H. Payne, 2/20/97, VFA-0262
William H. Payne filed an Appeal from a FOIA determination issued
by the Albuquerque Operations Office (AOO). The DOE found that the
Albuquerque Operations Office (1) properly withheld portions of legal
invoices based upon the attorney work-product privilege recognize under
FOIA Exemption 5, but failed to segregate and release non-privileged
portions of the documents; (2) correctly asserted that records in the
possession of a government contractor were not releasable under the
FOIA because they were not agency records or under the control of DOE;
(3) correctly refused to confirm or deny the existence of records that
would indicate whether a former DOE official had been accused of sexual
harassment or was the subject of a ``security clearance action.''
Accordingly, the matter was remanded to the AOO, which was directed to
issue a revised determination concerning the legal invoices withheld in
their entirety and to release any segregable, non-exempt information.
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.
Crude Oil Supple Ref Dist................................ RB272-00094 2/18/97
O'Toole Mechanical Services.............................. RC272-362 1/18/97
Robert L. Helms Construction............................. RJ272-00037 2/20/97
Dismissals
The following submissions were dismissed.
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Name Case No.
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Patrick G. Eddington......................... VFA-0270
Supervalu, Inc............................... RK272-3906
Supervalu, Inc............................... RR272-275
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[FR Doc. 97-6467 Filed 3-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M