[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32202-32203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15722]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Hearings and Appeals


Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of March 30 
Through April 3, 1998

    During the week of March 30 through April 3, 1998, 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 7117, Comsat Building, 950 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 
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 2, 1998.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 79; Week of March 30 through April 3, 1998

Appeals

David R. Berg, 4/2/98, VFA-0376

    The Department of Energy denied a Privacy and Freedom of 
Information Acts (FOIA) Appeal filed by David R. Berg from a 
determination issued by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human 
Resources that certain documents relating to Mr. Berg and several co-
workers were exempt from mandatory disclosure. The DOE found that the 
withheld material was exempt from mandatory disclosure under subsection 
(d)(5) of the Privacy Act and Exemption 6 of the FOIA, but that 
Exemptions 7(C) and 7(F) of the FOIA were inapplicable because the 
documents were not compiled for law enforcement purposes.

Dr. Nicolas Dominquez, 4/2/98, VFA-0368, VFA-0387, VFA-0388, VFA-0389

    Dr. Nicolas Dominguez appealed four Determinations issued to him in 
response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The 
Appellant sought information concerning his termination by Lockheed 
Martin Energy Research Corporation (LMERC), including two memos, his 
job description and identifying information concerning a ``group of 
peers'' which heard testimony regarding the termination. In its 
Determination, the Oak Ridge Operations Office (ORO) found that all 
responsive documents were owned by LMERC. On appeal, the DOE rejected 
the argument that all records funded by the taxpayers were subject to 
release under the FOIA. The DOE, however, found that ORO did possess 
responsive agency records regarding the ``group of peers,'' and that 
some of the requested documents were subject to release because they 
were owned by DOE. Accordingly, two of the Appeals were granted and two 
were denied.

Eugene Maples, 3/30/98, VFA-0382

    Eugene Maples (Maples) appealed determinations issued to him by the 
Offices of the Inspector General (OIG) and the General Counsel (OGC). 
In his Appeal, Maples asserted that OIG improperly withheld, pursuant 
to FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C), names from documents relating to 
recoupment of Petroleum Violation Escrow (PVE) funds from the State of 
South Carolina. Maples also argued that OIG and OGC conducted 
inadequate searches for responsive documents. The DOE determined that 
OIG and OGC conducted adequate searches for responsive documents, but 
that OIG may have improperly applied Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to the 
withheld names. Consequently, Maples's Appeal was granted in part.

Personnel Security Hearing

Personnel Security Hearing, 4/3/98, VSO-0172

    A Hearing Officer recommended that the access authorization of an 
individual employed by a DOE contractor not be reinstated. The 
individual was charged with deliberately omitting information relevant 
to his eligibility for access authorization from two written security 
questionnaire forms, making false statements during a DOE personnel 
security interview, and with ``unusual conduct'' that tended to show he 
was not honest, reliable or trustworthy, including violation of a DOE 
Drug Certification and a pattern of repeated arrests. The Hearing 
Officer found that the individual had mitigated some of the charges, 
including a number of minor inconsistencies in his statements to the 
local DOE security office, and his violation of the Drug Certification 
five years before the hearing, but had failed to mitigate the charges 
that he had deliberately omitted or falsified

[[Page 32203]]

information relevant to his eligibility for access authorization. He 
thus recommended against reinstating the individual's access 
authorization.

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.

                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                
American Aggregates Corp. et al..........................  RF272-76986                                    4/1/98
John R. Olivares, Inc. et al.............................  RK272-04778                                    4/1/98
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Name                               Case No.        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cass County, North Dakota....................  RF272-86469              
Ikard & Newsom...............................  RF340-00134              
Patricia McCracken...........................  VFA-0392                 
Personnel Security Hearing...................  VSO-0196                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 98-15722 Filed 6-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P