Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 50 / Friday, March 14, 1997 / Notices 12165

[FR Doc. 97–6466 Filed 3–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and

Orders During the Week of February 17

Through February 21, 1997

Office of Hearings and Appeals

During the week of February 17

through February 21, 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: March 5, 1997.

George B. Breznay,

Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

DECISION LIST NO. 21

Appeals

Acadian Gas Pipeline System, 2/18/97,

VFA–0260

Acadian Gas Pipeline System

(Acadian) filed an Appeal from a

determination issued to it on November

26, 1996, by the Department of Energy’s

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project

Management Office (SPRP). That

determination was issued in response to

a request for information that Acadian

submitted under the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA). The request

sought all records regarding the DOE’s

sale of certain Strategic Petroleum

Reserve property. SPRP conducted a

search of its records and provided

Acadian with a complete file of

responsive documents. However, SPRP

withheld certain information pursuant

to Exemption 4 of the FOIA. The Appeal

challenged the adequacy of the search

conducted by SPRP. In considering the

Appeal, the DOE found that Acadian’s

request had not been subjected to a

search sufficiently thorough and

conscientious to meet the established

standards of reasonableness.

Accordingly, the Appeal was granted

and SPRP was directed to perform a

new search and issue a new

determination identifying all responsive

documents and justifying any

withholdings.

STAND of Amarillo, Inc., 2/20/97, VFA–

0261

The Office of Hearings and Appeals

(OHA) denied an Appeal that was filed

by STAND of Amarillo, Inc. (STAND)

pursuant to the Freedom of Information

ACT (FOIA). In the Decision, OHA

found that the search for responsive

documents performed by the

Albuquerque Operations Office was

adequate, that 91 documents requested

by STAND belonged to a DOE contractor

and were not agency records subject to

the FOIA, and that these documents

were not otherwise subject to release

under the DOE regulations.

William H. Payne, 2/20/97, VFA–0262

William H. Payne filed an Appeal

from a FOIA determination issued by

the Albuquerque Operations Office

(AOO). The DOE found that the

Albuquerque Operations Office (1)

properly withheld portions of legal

invoices based upon the attorney workproduct privilege recognize under FOIA

Exemption 5, but failed to segregate and

release non-privileged portions of the

documents; (2) correctly asserted that

records in the possession of a

government contractor were not

releasable under the FOIA because they

were not agency records or under the

control of DOE; (3) correctly refused to

confirm or deny the existence of records

that would indicate whether a former

DOE official had been accused of sexual

harassment or was the subject of a

‘‘security clearance action.’’

Accordingly, the matter was remanded

to the AOO, which was directed to issue

a revised determination concerning the

legal invoices withheld in their entirety

and to release any segregable, nonexempt information.

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.

Crude Oil Supple Ref Dist ................................................................................................................................... RB272–00094 2/18/97

O’Toole Mechanical Services .............................................................................................................................. RC272–362 1/18/97

Robert L. Helms Construction ............................................................................................................................. RJ272–00037 2/20/97

Dismissals

The following submissions were dismissed.

Name Case No.

Patrick G. Eddington ......................................................................................................................................................................... VFA–0270

Supervalu, Inc. .................................................................................................................................................................................. RK272–3906

Supervalu, Inc. .................................................................................................................................................................................. RR272–275

[FR Doc. 97–6467 Filed 3–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–M