[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6171-6172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3005]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Hearings and Appeals


Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of December 8 through 
December 12, 1997

    During the week of December 8 through December 12, 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, DC 20585-0107, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 
1 p.m. and 5 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: January 29, 1998.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Department of Energy

Office of Hearings and Appeals

[Decision List No. 63]

Week of December 8 Through December 12, 1997

Appeals

Dykema Gossett, PLLC, 12/11/97, [VFA-0349]

    The DOE granted in part a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal 
filed by Dykema Gossett, PLLC. In its decision, DOE found that the Oak 
Ridge

[[Page 6172]]

Operations Office failed to adequately explain why it withheld a 
document under FOIA Exemption 4. Accordingly, the matter was remanded 
to Oak Ridge for a new determination.

Tod Rockefeller, 12/11/97, [VFA-0351]

    Tod Rockefeller appealed a Determination issued to him by the 
Department of Energy in response to a request under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). In its Determination, the Albuquerque 
Operations Office (DOE/AL) released two responsive documents but 
redacted identifying portions under Exemption 6 of the FOIA. The DOE 
first determined that the Privacy Act did not apply to the two 
documents because they were not kept in a ``system of records.'' The 
DOE then concluded that Exemption 6 protects that the type of 
inflammatory material withheld in this case by DOE/AL. Accordingly, the 
DOE denied the Appeal.

Personnel Security Hearings

Personnel Security Hearing, 12/9/97, [VSO-0168]

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
regarding the eligibility of an individual to maintain an access 
authorization under the provisions of 10 CFR part 710. The individual's 
access authorization had been suspended because of his use of alcohol. 
The Hearing Officer found that the individual had not been abstinent 
long enough (nine months) and had not undergone sufficient 
rehabilitative treatment to warrant a finding that he is rehabilitated 
from his past alcohol use and current alcohol abuse. The Hearing 
Officer also concluded that none of the other arguments advanced by the 
individual in his defense mitigated the resulting security concerns. 
Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended that the individual's 
access authorization not be restored.

Personnel Security Hearing, 12/8/97, [VSO-0170]

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
concerning the continued eligibility of an individual for access 
authorization. The Hearing Officer found that questions as to the 
individual's eligibility for a security clearance arose under four of 
the criteria specified in 10 CFR Sec. 710.8: F (falsification), J 
(alcohol abuse), K (illegal drug use), and L (criminal behavior). The 
Hearing Officer further found that the individual failed to present 
sufficient evidence of rehabilitation, reformation or other factors to 
mitigate the derogatory information and that he had not corroborated 
his assertion that he had abstained from alcohol and illegal drugs for 
more than a year. The Hearing Officer rejected the individual's claim 
that he should be allowed a 24-month period to establish rehabilitation 
just as are participants in the DOE's Substance Abuse Referral Program. 
Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended that the individual's 
access authorization should not be restored.

Refund Application

Enron Corp./BTU Energy Corporation, 12/12/97, [RF304-20]

    The DOE denied an Application for Refund submitted in the Enron 
Corporation special refund proceeding concerning purchases from Enron 
made by BTU Energy Corporation. The DOE found that BTU was a reseller 
whose purchases from Enron were made on the spot market, were sporadic 
and discretionary in nature, and apparently were unrelated to any 
business obligations to its regular customers. Accordingly, the DOE 
found that BTU 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.

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.

Alma Farmers Union Co-Op et al...........................  RF272-94616                                  12/11/97
Atlantic Richfield Co./Frank & Leo'S Auto Service........  RF304-15510                                  12/11/97
Atlantic Richfield Co./Jerome Zielinski et al............  RF304-15200                                  12/11/97
Crude Oil Supple.........................................  RB272-00129                                  12/12/97
Gulf Oil Corporation/Arrow Lakes Dairy...................  RR300-00260                                  12/11/97
Gulf Oil Corporation/Interstate Gulf.....................  RR300-00247                                  12/12/97
Columbus Gulf #1.........................................  RR300-00248                                          
Gulf Oil Corporation/Sure Fire Butane Co. Inc............  RF300-18802                                  12/12/97
Midwest Energy Cementing, Inc. et al.....................  RK272-04670                                  12/12/97
Mountain View Coop-Fairfield.............................  RC272-00378                                  12/12/97
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

                                                                        
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                     Name                               Case No.        
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G.B.B. Corp..................................  RK272-04605              
Personnel Security Hearing...................  VSO-0180                 
TBS Industrial Recycling, Inc................  RK272-04685              
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[FR Doc. 98-3005 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P