[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9679-9681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4190]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders by the Office of 
Hearings and Appeals During the Week of October 3 Through October 7, 
1994

    During the week of October 3 through October 7, 1994 the decisions 
and orders summarized below were issued with respect to appeals and 
applications for exception or other relief 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.

Appeals

E.O. Smelser, 10/4/94, LFA-0420

    E.O. Smelser filed an Appeal from a denial by the Bartlesville 
Project Office of a Request for Information which he submitted under 
the Freedom of Information Act (the FOIA). In considering the Appeal, 
the DOE found that the requested documents were not ``agency records'' 
and so were not subject to the FOIA. Accordingly, the Appeal was 
denied. In reaching this decision, the DOE considered that although the 
agency had access to the records, it did not possess the records when 
the request was made. Furthermore, the grant assistance agreement 
between the DOE and the grantee did not assign ownership of the records 
to the DOE.

John P. Connelly, 10/7/94, LFA-0419

    John P. Connelly (Connelly) filed an Appeal from a determination 
issued to him by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The 
determination partially denied a Request for Information which Connelly 
submitted under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts. Connelly 
requested documents relating to employment announcements made by OIG 
for the position of Criminal Investigator at various DOE facilities, 
along with all records created by a former Assistant Inspector General 
regarding the specified announcements. In its determination, the OIG 
provided Connelly with various documents responsive to his Freedom of 
Information Act request. Connelly, in his Appeal, argued that (1) 
further responsive documents existed, (2) the documents that were 
provided to him were not provided to him in any logical order, and (3) 
OIG failed to make a search pursuant to the Privacy Act. In considering 
the Appeal, the DOE found that (1) the records responsive to his 
request were not contained in a system of records that was subject to 
the Privacy Act, (2) OIG had no obligation under the FOIA to provide 
responsive records in a particular order, and (3) an adequate search 
had been conducted in response to the request. Accordingly, Connelly's 
Appeal was denied.

Physicians for Social Responsibility, Inc., 10/6/94, LFA-0426

    Physicians for Social Responsibility, Inc. (PSRI) filed an Appeal 
from a determination issued to it on August 26, 1994, by the Chief of 
the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Branch of the Reference and 
Information Management Division. In that determination, the Chief 
stated that responsive documents could not be found pursuant to a 
Freedom of Information Act request. Specifically, the Chief denied a 
request for documents relating to a study allegedly done involving the 
Integral Fast Reactor. PSRI's request and subsequent appeal concerned 
the identical documents involved in another case. In that case, the DOE 
had confirmed the possible existence of documents responsive to the 
appellant's request and remanded the case for a search of the DOE Oak 
Ridge Operations Office and the DOE [[Page 9680]] Office of Nuclear 
Energy. Accordingly, in view of the fact that the Appeals were 
identical, the DOE also remanded the PSRI request for a search of the 
same DOE Offices.

William H. Payne, 10/7/94, LFA-0416

    William H. Payne filed an Appeal from a determination issued to him 
by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on a Request for 
Information submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In 
considering the Appeal, the DOE found that the OIG did not have the 
office-wide rosters of contacts between OIG staff members and employees 
of Sandia National Laboratory and of the Department of Justice that Mr. 
Payne sought. In addition, the DOE determined that making a burdensome 
survey of all OIG personnel for such records on an individual basis was 
not required by the FOIA. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.
Requests for Exception

Brennan Oil & Heating Company, Inc., 10/3/94, LEE-0130

    Brennan Oil & Heating Company, Inc. (Brennan) of North Providence, 
Rhode Island, filed an Application for Excepton from the Energy 
Information Administration (EIA) requirement that it file Form EIA-
782B, the ``Resellers'/Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales 
Report''. In considering this request, the DOE found that the firm was 
not suffering gross inequity or serious hardship. On July 19, 1994, the 
DOE issued a Proposed Decision and Order determining that the exception 
request should be denied. No Notice of Objection to the Proposed 
Decision and Order was filed, the DOE issued the Proposed Decision and 
Order in final form, denying Brennan's Application for Exception.

Schwebel Petroleum Company, 10/3/94, LEE-0126

    Schwebel Petroleum Company (Schwebel) of Bakersfield, California, 
filed an Application for Exception from the Energy Information 
Administration (EIA) requirement that it file Form EIA-782B, the 
``Resellers'/Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report.'' In 
considering this request, the DOE found that the firm was not suffering 
gross inequity or serious hardship. On July 18, 1994, the DOE issued a 
Proposed Decision and Order determining that the exception request 
should be denied. No Notice of Objection to the Proposed Decision and 
Order was filed, and the DOE issued the Proposed Decision and Order in 
final form, denying Schwebel's Application for Exception.

Refund Applications

Mid-State Coop, Tri-County Non-Stock Coop Association, Farmers 
Cooperative Oil Association, 10/5/94, RF272-92061, RF272-92062, RF272-
92063

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning the Application for 
Refund of three cooperatives in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge 
refund proceeding. Each of the refund applications was filed by the 
Cooperative Finance Association (CFA) and requested that any refund 
check be made payable to CFA. The DOE determined that the CFA was not 
entitled to refunds based upon purchases made by the cooperatives. 
Accordingly, the Applications for Refund were denied.

Texaco Inc./Major Oils, 10/4/94, RR321-165

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order denying a Motion for 
Reconsideration filed by George R. Dunn in the Texaco Inc. Subpart V 
special refund proceeding on behalf of Major Oils. The DOE had 
previously denied Major Oils' Application for Refund on the basis that 
Mr. Dunn had failed to establish that Major Oils purchased Texaco 
products or the volume of any such Texaco purchases. In the Motion for 
Reconsideration, Mr. Dunn failed to present any compelling reasons or 
new evidence that would warrant the reconsideration of Major Oils' 
refund claim. Accordingly, Major Oils' Motion for Reconsideration was 
denied with prejudice to any further refiling in the Texaco Inc. 
Subpart V special refund proceeding.
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.

Appleton School District City of Tulia....................................  RF272-79246, RF272-         10/04/94
                                                                             83088                              
Atlantic Richfield Company/Ray's Arco et al...............................  RF304-14673                 10/03/94
Callanan Industries, Inc..................................................  RF272-69469                 10/07/94
Davidson Cooperative Assoc. et al.........................................  RF272-94587                 10/07/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Farley Oil Co........................................  RF300-18716                 10/04/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Line Garage..........................................  RF300-20439                 10/07/94
Kankakee Valley School Corp. et al........................................  RF272-95533                 10/07/94
Melchior Armstrong Dessau Inc. Ray W. Malow Co............................  RC272-255, RC272-256        10/05/94
Metropolitan Petroleum & Fuel/Michael Campanile et al.....................  RF349-13                    10/03/94
Sterling Paving Co........................................................  RF272-68993                 10/07/94
Sterling Paving Co........................................................  RD272-68993           ..............
Sim J. Harris Co..........................................................  RF272-86593           ..............
Sloan Construction Co.....................................................  RF272-86920           ..............
Texaco Inc./Buz Olsen's Casino Texaco.....................................  RF321-20683                 10/07/94
Casino Texaco.............................................................  RF321-21036           ..............
Texaco Inc./Howard's Texaco et al.........................................  RF321-11277                 10/03/94
Village of Willowbrook et al..............................................  RF272-84678                 10/07/94
Wynn-Fowler Trading Co., Inc..............................................  RF272-67234                 10/07/94
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                       Name                               Case No.      
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Chester County Aviation...........................  RF272-97996         
City of Marianna..................................  RF272-97206         
Gackle Cooperative Oil Co.........................  RF272-94980         
Garrett County Commissioners......................  RF272-93478         
[[Page 9681]]
                                                                        
Grizzard West End Texaco..........................  RF321-20446         
Guinn Oil Company.................................  Lee-0133            
Independent School Dist. 706......................  RF272-96102         
Jackson County Board of Education.................  RF272-97817         
Jordano's Inc.....................................  RF321-20457         
Lincoln County Board of Education.................  RF272-97974         
Midwest Aviation..................................  RF272-98732         
New Jersey........................................  RM3-271             
Oklahoma Natural Gas Co...........................  RF272-93981         
Seaboard Coastline R.R............................  RF272-93763         
Stewart's Texaco..................................  RF321-20606         
Town of Murfreesboro..............................  RF272-84705         
Western Maryland R.R..............................  RF272-93752         
York Aero, Inc....................................  RF272-98746         
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  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, 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.

    Dated: February 9, 1995.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-4190 Filed 2-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P