[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 128 (Thursday, July 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36060-36061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17484]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Hearings and Appeals


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of May 26 
Through May 30, 1997

    During the week of May 26 through May 30, 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: June 26, 1997.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 35; Week of May 26 Through May 30, 1997

Appeals

Martha J. McNeely, 5/27/97, VFA-0291

    Martha J. McNeely filed an Appeal from a determination issued by 
the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Division (FOI/PAD). In that 
determination, FOI/PAD indicated that it could not locate Ms. McNeely's 
medical records. In her Appeal, Ms. McNeely asserted that a letter she 
had received from Dr. Tara O'Toole, DOE Assistant Secretary, contained 
information that could only have come from her medical records. The DOE 
rejected that contention, indicating that Dr. O'Toole's letter was 
based solely on information Ms. McNeely had submitted. Therefore, the 
Appeal was denied.

Mary Feild Jarvis, 5/29/97, VFA-0292

    Mary Feild Jarvis filed an Appeal from a determination issued to 
her by the Richland Operations Office (Richland Operations) of the 
Department of Energy (DOE) in response to a Request for Information 
submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Ms. Jarvis' 
request sought the names listed in, and the substance of, a report of a 
possible breach of the standards of ethical conduct by a DOE employee. 
Richland Operations had withheld this information under Exemption 6 of 
the FOIA, protecting personal privacy. In considering the Appeal, the 
DOE found, in a case of first impression, that a person reporting a 
potential ethical concern by a DOE employee has a protectable privacy 
interest for the purposes of Exemption 6 for the same reason that 
others who report alleged governmental misconduct have a privacy 
interest. In this case, the DOE found no public interest that 
outweighed the privacy interest and thus found that Richland Operations 
properly withheld the name, identifying information, and associated 
phrases of the person who reported the ethics concern. However, in this 
case, the DOE found no protectable privacy interest in the names and 
affiliations of persons with actual knowledge of the alleged ethics 
infraction nor in the report of the ethics concern. In the case of the 
former, the DOE determined that there was nothing private revealed 
about the named people, and in the case of the latter, the DOE found 
the concern written in such a manner that it was highly unlikely that 
one could determine who reported the ethics concern. Accordingly, the 
Appeal was granted in part, denied in part, and remanded to the 
Richland Operations Office with instructions to issue a new 
determination either releasing the specified material or asserting and 
explaining further privacy interests and balancing them with any public 
interest.

Personel Security Hearing

Personnel Security Hearing, 5/29/97, VSO-0136

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 concerning the continued 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 had violated a DOE Drug Certification, and that this raised 
security concerns under 10 C.F.R. Sec. 710.8(1). However, the Hearing 
Officer further found that the individual presented sufficient evidence 
to mitigate the security concern. Specifically, the Hearing Officer 
found that the individual (i) used an illegal drug only one time in the 
16 years since he signed the Drug Certification, (ii) convincingly 
expressed his commitment not to violate his Drug Certification in the 
future, and (iii) provided ample evidence that he would not use illegal 
drugs in the future. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended that 
the individual's access authorization, which had been suspended, should 
be restored.

Refund Application

Burkland Oil Company, Cal's Supply, Inc., T.A. Weisman, Milkiken & 
Servas, Inc., Johnson Oil Company, Fraser Oil Company, Brookline Avenue 
Service, Schlottman Oil Company, Mike Junker, 5/29/97, RR72-00024, 
RR272-00025, RR272-00026, RR272-00027, RR272-00028, RR272-00029, RR272-
00030, RR272-00031, RR272-00032

    The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order 
concerning Motions for Reconsideration filed in the Crude Oil Subpart V 
Special Refund Proceeding. Each of the nine applicants had been denied 
a refund in that proceeding on the grounds that they were either a 
retailer or repeller and had not rebutted the presumption that these 
classes of persons were not harmed by overcharges in the pricing of 
crude oil during the period of controls. In their Motions for 
Reconsideration, each of the applicants attempted to rebut the non-
injury presumption by relying on the statements of Dr. Peter D. 
Linneman given while the DOE was considering evidence during its 
preparation of the Report on Stripper Well Overcharges for the United 
States District Court of Kansas. In accord with precedent, the DOE 
found Dr. Linneman's general econometric statements are not sufficient 
to demonstrate that any particular claimant was injured by crude oil 
overcharges. In addition, the applicants did not submit any further 
evidence to show injury. Accordingly, the Motions for Reconsideration 
were denied.

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.

[[Page 36061]]



Allied Signal, Inc.......................................  RR272-285                                     5/27/97
American Tar Company (ATCO)..............................  RJ272-00042                                   5/30/97
Calcasieu Refining Co....................................  RG272-76                                      5/30/97
Farmers Cooperative, Thorp...............................  RG272-679                                     5/29/97
Heritage FS, Inc et al...................................  RG272-160                                     5/30/97
Missouri Farm Bureau SVC et al...........................  RK272-01761                                   5/27/97
Norwood School District et al............................  RF272-96313                                   5/29/97
Perkins Drilling, Inc., et al............................  RK272-03757                                   5/27/97
Sidney & Darlene Daily et al.............................  RK272-04058                                   5/30/97
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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Arch Bilt Container Corp./G. Fisher..........  RK272-04198              
Cortland Bulk Milk Prod. Co-Op, Inc..........  RG272-00868              
Pilot Freight Lines, Inc.....................  RG272-00583              
The Trane Co.................................  RF272-98768              
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[FR Doc. 97-17484 Filed 7-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P