[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 26 (Monday, February 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6565-6566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3172]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

During the Week of December 15 Through December 19, 1997


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Office of Hearings 
and Appeals

    During the week of December 15 through December 19, 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, S.W., 
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: February 2, 1998.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 64 Week of December 15 through December 19, 1997

Appeals

Convergence Research, 12/19/97 VFA-0350

    DOE granted an Appeal of a determination that withheld information 
in response to a FOIA request. OHA remanded the matter to the DOE's 
Bonneville Power Administration BPA for a new determination that either 
releases additional information or explains in detail its reasons for 
withholding it.

Information Focus on Energy, 12/19/97 VFA-0353

    The DOE denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal that was 
filed by Information Focus on Energy (IFOE). In its Appeal, IFOE 
claimed that the determination issued to it by the Inspector General's 
Office was inadequate because it did not explain the contents of the 
documents that were provided to IFOE. IFOE also challenged the adequacy 
of a search for responsive documents. The DOE found that the FOIA does 
not require an agency to explain the contents of documents that it 
provides to FOIA requesters and that the search for responsive 
documents was adequate.

Refund Applications

Congress Financial Corp. (Central) Franciscan Health Partnership, Inc., 
12/16/97 RF272-04523, RF272-04692

    Congress Financial Corp. (Central), and Franciscan Health 
Partnership, Inc., filed Applications for Supplemental Refund in the 
Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. Congress applied for 
a supplemental refund based on its position as creditor of the 
recipient of the original refund, Hawthorn Mellody, Inc. (HMI). After 
receiving its original refund, HMI had declared bankruptcy and the 
bankruptcy case had been closed. The DOE found Congress was eligible to 
receive the refund because the trustee of HMI's bankruptcy proceeding 
submitted an affidavit stating that he was aware of the amount of the 
supplemental refund and that Congress should receive it. In addition, 
DOE found that Franciscan Health Partnership, Inc., was eligible to 
receive the refund that had originally been granted to St. Mary 
Hospital. Franciscan had owned St. Mary, a non-incorporated entity, and 
sold it to another hospital, after St. Mary received its original 
refund. The DOE determined Franciscan had retained the right to a crude 
oil refund. Accordingly, Congress' and Franciscan's Applications for 
Supplemental Refund were granted.

Hudson River Management Corp. RK272-04618
Hudson River Management Corp. D/B/A
Hudson River Inn & Conference Center RC272-00376
HS 3, INC. D/B/A Hudson River Inn & Conference Center, 12/15/97 RJ272-
00051

    Hudson River Management Corp. (HRMC) filed an Application for 
Supplemental Refund in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund 
proceeding.

[[Page 6566]]

The DOE determined that HRMC and HS 3, Inc. (HS 3) had been ineligible 
to receive a large portion of the refunds each received for petroleum 
product purchases on behalf of the Hudson River Inn & Conference Center 
(HRICC). The DOE determined that HRICC's owner, HS 3's predecessor 
company, had not purchased the inn property until September 1980. 
Therefore, HRMC, which had obtained the original refund on HS 3's 
behalf, was ineligible for most of that refund. Accordingly, both the 
supplemental and original refunds were modified to subtract the pre-
September 1980 purchase volumes, and HRMC's Application for 
Supplemental Refund was denied.

Durham Schools, 12/16/97 RR272-192

    The DOE granted two Motions for Reconsideration filed by Libson 
Schools and Durham Schools. DOE found that the two school systems had 
acted in a timely fashion in 1995 when they corrected the deficiencies 
which had caused DOE to dismiss their Applications in 1995, and 
accordingly, determined that they should receive refunds.

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.

ATLANTIC RICHFIELD CO./SATURN PETROLEUM CO...............  RF304-15511                                  12/18/97
INSTEEL WIRE PRODUCTS CO. ET AL..........................  RK272-04690                                  12/15/97
SOUTHWEST MOTOR FREIGHT ET AL............................  RF272-76531                                  12/16/97
UPSTATE MILK COOP. INC. ET AL............................  RF272-95740                                  12/16/97
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     NAME                               CASE NO.        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPSTATE MILK CO-OP, INC......................  RG272-00146              
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 98-3172 Filed 2-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P