[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36803-36804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17893]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders by the Office of 
Hearings and Appeals

Week of June 9 Through June 13, 1997

    During the week of June 9 through June 13, 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: July 1, 1997.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Hearings and Appeals

[Decision List No. 37]

Appeals

Information Focus on Energy, Inc., 6/12/97, VFA-0295

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order denying a Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) Appeal that was filed by Information Focus on 
Energy (IFOE). In its Appeal, IFOE sought access to information that 
was withheld by the DOE's Office of General Counsel pursuant to the 
attorney work product privilege of Exemption 5. The withheld 
information consisted of the amounts of settlements negotiated in 
lawsuits involving DOE contractors. The DOE determined that this 
information was properly withheld under Exemption 5, and that release 
of the information was not in the public interest.

Sandra Clayton, 6/13/97, VFA-0289

    The DOE denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by 
Sandra Clayton. Clayton sought information concerning an investigation 
of sexual harassment allegedly conducted at the Western Area Power 
Administration (WAPA). The DOE found that WAPA's use of the Glomar 
response, neither confirming or denying the existence of relevant 
material, was appropriate under FOIA Exemption 6. The DOE found no 
overriding public interest in disclosure, and further concluded that 
the release of any information would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of the personal privacy of anyone allegedly involved. 
Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.

Personnel Security Hearing

Personnel Security Hearing, 6/10/97, VSO-0132

    A Hearing Officer issued an Opinion regarding the eligibility of an 
individual for access authorization under the provisions of 10 CFR Part 
710. After considering the record, the Hearing Officer found that the 
individual had demonstrated financial irresponsibility for 
approximately 12 years and that this conduct, as specified by 10 CFR 
Sec. 710.8(l) (Criterion L), indicated that the individual (i) may not 
be honest, reliable or trustworthy or (ii) may be subject to pressure, 
coercion, exploitation or duress.
    At the hearing, the individual presented some evidence that in the 
past 6 months he had changed the manner in which he had handled his 
financial affairs. However, the Hearing Officer concluded that the 
individual had not presented evidence sufficient to conclude that the 
individual had reformed his conduct regarding his

[[Page 36804]]

financial affairs. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended that 
the individual's access authorization not be restored.
Refund Application
Eason Oil Company/Presidio Exploration, Inc., 6/11/97, RF352-9

    The DOE granted an application for refund submitted by Presidio 
Exploration, Inc. (Presidio) in the Eason Oil Company (Eason) special 
refund proceeding, based on purchases by Home Petroleum Company (Home). 
Home was a reseller that purchased truck load lots of butane and 
propane from Eason, its base period supplier. The DOE concluded that 
Home's butane and propane purchases from Eason probably were not 
discretionary in nature, but were dictated by Home's requirements for 
supplying its regular customers. The DOE granted Presidio a full 
volumetric refund for Home's butane purchases, based on a competitive 
disadvantage analysis using imputed butane prices drawn from regional 
propane prices. The DOE limited Presidio's refund for Home's propane 
purchases from Eason to $5,776, Home's total gross excess cost for 
these purchases. Accordingly, the DOE granted Presidio a total refund, 
including interest, of $44,037.

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.

Frank's Burner Service, Inc..............................  RF272-57472                                   6/13/97
Gulf Oil Corporation/O.M. Johnson Gulf...................  RF300-16900                                   6/10/97
A.W. Strout, Inc.........................................  RF300-16923                            ..............
Hendries, Inc............................................  RF300-21657                            ..............
Inland Transport Co......................................  RF300-18794                            ..............
Hagglunds Denison Corp./MacGregor........................  RK272-04088                                   6/10/97
Luckey Farmers, Inc......................................  RG272-75                                      6/10/97
Finland Cooperative Co...................................  RG272-654                              ..............
Florence Cnty Coop.......................................  RR272-290                              ..............
Lydall, Inc..............................................  RF272-18674                                   6/13/97
M & S Transport, Inc.....................................  RF272-57209                                   6/11/97
Patsy K. Manning et al...................................  RK272-01476                                   6/11/97
Robert Sellhorst.........................................  RF272-15100                                   6/13/97
Sanitary Dairy of Sleepy Eye et al.......................  RK272-04247                                   6/13/97
Stone Container Corporation..............................  RK272-04304                                   6/13/97
Tate Logistics, Inc......................................  RK272-01868                                   6/13/97
W.R. Grace & Co..........................................  RG272-793                                     6/13/97
White Heavy Haulers, Inc.................................  RG272-606                                     6/11/97
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Name                               Case No.        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cherry Hill Processing, Inc..................  RK272-3739               
County of Bergen.............................  RG272-00536              
Hennenpin Co-op Seed Exchange................  RK272-03403              
Leckie Smokeless Coal Co.....................  RK272-03367              
Ranger Truck Lines, Inc......................  RF272-76441              
Roderick L. Ott..............................  VFA-0296                 
Schrof Oil Company...........................  RF300-20195              
Valley Steel Products Co.....................  RK272-3732               
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 97-17893 Filed 7-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P