[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29340-29342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14165]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Hearings and Appeals


Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of March 24 
Through March 28, 1997

    During the week of March 24 through March 28, 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.


[[Page 29341]]


    Dated: May 21, 1997.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 26

Appeals

Alexander German, 3/28/97, VFA-0275

    The DOE denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by 
Alexander German. German sought information concerning a particular 
Office of the Inspector General (IG) investigation. In its decision, 
the DOE found that the IG's withholding of the identities of 
individuals who had provided information to the IG was appropriate 
under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Burlin McKinney, 3/28/97, VFA-0273

    The DOE granted in part a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal 
filed by Burlin McKinney. McKinney sought information concerning a 
particular Office of the Inspector General (IG) investigation. In its 
decision, the DOE found that the IG's withholding of the identities of 
individuals who had provided information to the IG was appropriate 
under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C). The DOE also concluded that the IG's 
withholding of a portion of an internal DOE memorandum under Exemption 
5 was proper. However, the DOE found that the IG redacted some 
information that it had released to McKinney previously and remanded 
the matter to the IG for a review of the withheld material.

Chemical Weapons Working Group, Inc., 3/25/97, VFA-0272

    Chemical Weapons Working Group, Inc., filed an Appeal from a 
Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC) determination that partially 
granted a request for information made under the Freedom of Information 
Act (FOIA). In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that certain cover 
sheets, background information and headings could not be withheld 
pursuant to any FOIA Exemption and ordered the release of this 
information or an explanation for withholding. The DOE also found that 
the FETC adequately searched for responsive information and that the 
FETC properly withheld some material pursuant to Exemption 3, 4, and 5, 
of the FOIA.

Personnel Security Review

Personnel Security Review, 3/24/97, VSA-0102

    An individual whose access authorization had been suspended filed a 
request for review of a DOE Hearing Officer's recommendation against 
its restoration. The individual's access authorization had been 
suspended by virtue of a DOE Office's receipt of derogatory information 
indicting that the individual had used marijuana, an illegal drug, and 
had provided DOE with false information in a Personnel Security 
Interview (PSI). At a hearing a DOE Hearing Officer found that the 
individual had failed to show sufficient mitigation from his recent 
drug use or the falsification. In his Appeal, the individual requested 
that he be given an opportunity of complete a year of rehabilitation 
and challenged the Hearing Officer's findings regarding the weight of 
evidence to be accorded his character witnesses. The individual also 
challenged the Hearing Officer's determination the he was a frequent or 
regular user of marijuana and argued that his recent job performance 
should be used in the decision regarding his clearance. Upon review, 
the Director found that the individual could not be given an 
opportunity to complete a year of rehabilitation and that the Hearing 
Officer had properly accorded the character witnesses sufficient 
evidentiary weight. The Director also found that the individual's 
recent job performance did not mitigate the security concerns raised by 
the individual's recent use of marijuana and falsification. However, 
the Director found that there was not sufficient evidence for the 
Hearing Officer to conclude that the individual was a frequent or 
regular user of marijuana. Despite this finding, the Director 
determined that the individual had failed to present sufficient 
evidence to mitigate the security concerns raised by his recent 
marijuana use and that the Hearing Officer had sufficient grounds to 
support his finding regarding falsification. Consequently, the Director 
recommended that the individual's clearance not be restored.

Refund Applications

Enron Corp./H.C. Oil Company, Inc., 3/28/97, RF340-1

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning an application for 
refund in the Enron Corporation (Enron) special refund proceeding filed 
by H.C. Oil Company, Inc. (HCOC). The DOE found that HCOC was a 
reseller whose purchases from Enron were made on the spot market, were 
sporadic and discretionary in nature, and were unrelated to any of 
HCOC's business obligations to its regular customers. Accordingly, the 
DOE found that HCOC fit the spot market presumption of non-injury for 
resellers, and that the firm had not made a showing of injury to 
overcome this presumption. The DOE, therefore, denied the application 
for refund.

Oivind Lorentzen Shipping AS, 3/26/97, RR272-281

    The DOE granted a Motion for Reconsideration filed on behalf of 
Oivind Lorentzen Shipping AS (Oivind) in the crude oil overcharge 
refund proceeding. Oivind's original Application for Refund was denied 
because the DOE found that the estimation method used by Oivind to 
determine its petroleum purchases was unreasonable. Upon 
reconsideration the DOE found that Oivind's new estimation method was 
reasonable and granted the firm a refund.

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.

BUFFALO PAPERBOARD CORPORATION...........................  RK272-04124                                   3/26/97
CENTRAL COAT & APRON, INC. ET AL.........................  RK272-03646                                   3/28/97
DFDS A/S.................................................  RG272-00490                                   3/26/97
FT. THOMAS UNIFIED DISTRICT 7 ET AL......................  RF272-95354                                   3/28/97
HAROLD HENLEY............................................  RJ272-41                                      3/26/97
JOSEPH B. HENDERSON ET AL................................  RK272-04135                                   3/28/97
ROGGEN FARMERS ELEVATOR ASSOC. ET AL.....................  RG272-00009                                   3/26/97
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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AYRES CORP...................................  RF272-98694              

[[Page 29342]]

                                                                        
BERTIE COUNTY SCHOOL BUS GARAGE..............  RG272-739                
BLUE BELL, INC...............................  RF272-98666              
CLARKSTOWN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT...........  RF272-98799              
COLUMBUS COUNTY BD OF EDUCATION..............  RF272-89674              
DAKOTA OIL COMPANY...........................  RF355-24                 
FLEMING COMPANIES, INC.......................  RK272-3910               
GARDEN STATE ROAD MATERIALS, INC.............  RG272-282                
GIBBEL BROTHERS, INC.........................  RF272-98674              
GRANITE ROCK CO..............................  RF272-98649              
GREEN COUNTY BD OF EDUCATION.................  RG272-989                
H.B. FULLER AUTOMOTIVE CO....................  RK272-4061               
KARL SCHMIDT UNISA, INC......................  RK272-4060               
LAWRENCE TEXTILE, INC........................  RK272-3907               
MARITIME OVERSEAS CORP.......................  RF272-98775              
PERSONNEL SECURITY HEARING...................  VSO-0127                 
PIONEER NURSERY..............................  RK272-4059               
SIMONDS INDUSTRIES, INC......................  RK272-4062               
STEVEDORING SERVICES OF AMERICA, INC.........  RK272-3908               
UNION COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.................  RF272-88995              
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY..................  RF272-86876              
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[FR Doc. 97-14165 Filed 5-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P