[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13149-13151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6013]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Hearings and Appeals


Issuance of Decisions and Orders During the Week of November 14 
Through November 18, 1994

    During the week of November 14 through November 18, 1994, the 
decisions and orders summarized below were issued with respect to 
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

Brenda Wolfenbarger, 11/16/94, VFA-0007

    Brenda Wolfenbarger (Wolfenbarger) filed an Appeal under the 
Freedom of Information Act of a September 30, 1994 Determination Letter 
issued to her by the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge 
Operations Office (Oak Ridge). Wolfenbarger had requested all medical 
and personnel records held by Oak Ridge concerning her father, who had 
worked for a contractor at Oak Ridge during the 1940's. On Appeal, 
Wolfenbarger contended that the DOE's search for responsive documents 
was inadequate. After considering her Appeal, the DOE found that Oak 
Ridge's search for responsive documents was adequate and therefore 
denied her Appeal.

Robert Heitmann, 11/16/94, VFA-0005

    Robert Heitmann filed an Appeal from a denial by the FOI and 
Privacy Acts Branch, Reference and Information Management Division, at 
the Department of Energy Headquarters (DOEHQ) of a Request for 
Information which he had submitted under the Freedom of Information 
Act. In considering the Appeal, the DOE found that one office had not 
adequately searched for responsive documents, and that the records of 
the searches of two other offices were contradictory. The matter was 
therefore remanded for a new search of these three offices.

Requests for Exception

Leonard Wall Oil Co., 11/18/94, LEE-0155

    Leonard Wall Oil Company (Leonard Wall) filed an Application for 
Exception requesting permanent relief 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 Leonard Wall was not 
experiencing a serious hardship, gross inequity or an unfair 
distribution of burdens as a result of the requirement that it file 
Form EIA-782B. On September 26, 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 within the prescribed time period. Therefore, the DOE issued the 
Proposed Decision and Order in final form, denying Leonard Wall's 
Application for Exception.

Shuster Oil Co., Inc., 11/17/94, LEE-0142

    [[Page 13150]] Shuster Oil Company, Inc., 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 a gross inequity or serious 
hardship. On September 13, 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 within 
the prescribed time period. Therefore, the DOE issued the Proposed 
Decision and Order in final form, denying Shuster's Application for 
Exception.

Tommy Carr's Tire and Automotive Service Center, Inc., 11/18/94, LEE-
0151

    Tommy Carr's Tire and Automotive Service Center, Inc. (Carr) filed 
an Application for Exception from the provisions of the Energy 
Information Administration (EIA) reporting requirements in which the 
firm sought relief from filing Form EIA-782B, entitled ``Resellers'/
Retailers' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report.'' The DOE determined 
that Carr should be granted exception relief for a period of three 
years because it was experiencing a gross inequity. The recent 
destruction of the business by fire as well as pressing financial 
obligations in Mr. Carr's personal life, i.e., the facial operations 
his newborn baby has received, made the filing of Form EIA-782B 
unusually burdensome. Accordingly, exception relief was granted.

Supplemental Order

Ronald A. Sorri, 11/18/94, LWX-0014

    This Decision supplements an Initial Agency Decision, dated 
December 16, 1993, issued by an OHA Hearing Officer in a case involving 
a ``Whistleblower'' complaint filed by Ronald A. Sorri (Sorri) under 
the DOE Contractor Employee Protection Program, 10 CFR Part 708. In the 
December 16 Decision, the Hearing Officer determined that Sorri should 
be awarded backpay lost as a result of the reprisals taken against him, 
as well as all costs and expenses reasonably incurred by him in 
bringing his complaint.
    After submitting a full accounting of his hourly charges for 
attorney's fees together with costs, expenses, and expert witness fees 
incurred in representing Sorri, Thad M. Guyer (Guyer), attorney for 
Complainant, filed a Motion for attorney's fees and costs on September 
26, 1994. In considering the motion, the Hearing Officer found that 
Guyer's request for attorney's fees, legal assistant costs, and 
litigation costs and expenses was reasonable and should be approved. 
Accordingly, Guyer's Motion for attorney's fees and costs was granted. 
The Hearing Officer awarded Guyer $25,356.43 in attorney's fees and 
costs.

Refund Applications

Hay & Forage Industries, 11/16/94, RF272-92459

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning one Application for 
Refund in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund proceeding. The 
refund application was filed by Hay & Forage Industries. The DOE 
determined that Hay & Forage Industries was not entitled to a refund 
since a parent company had filed a Surface Transporters Escrow 
Settlement Claim Form and Waiver. In this filing, a parent company of 
Hay & Forage Industries requested a Stripper Well refund from the 
Surface Transporters escrow, thereby waiving Hay & Forage Industries' 
right to a Subpart V crude oil refund. Accordingly, the DOE denied Hay 
& Forage Industries' Application for Refund.

Nekoosa Papers, Inc., et al., 11/14/94, RC272-257, et al.

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning Applications for 
Refund submitted in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding by four 
affiliates of Great Northern Nekoosa Corporation: Nekoosa Papers, Inc., 
Bibler Bros., Inc., Great Northern Paper Company, and Great Southern 
Paper Company. The DOE previously granted crude oil refunds to these 
four applicants. The four applicants, however, were subsequently found 
to have been affiliated with both Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad 
(Chattahoochee) and Great Southern Plywood (Plywood) on August 7, 1986. 
Chattahoochee had filed a refund claim in the Rail and Water 
Transporters Stripper Well proceeding, and Plywood had filed a refund 
claim in the Surface Transporters Stripper Well proceeding. In doing 
so, Chattahoochee and Plywood had executed waivers and releases waiving 
their rights and the rights of their affiliates on August 7, 1986, to 
receive crude oil overcharge refunds. Accordingly, this Decision 
rescinded the original refunds granted to the four applicants.

Scalzo Utilities, Inc., 11/18/94, RF272-92378

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning the Application for 
Refund of a claimant in the Subpart V crude oil overcharge refund 
proceeding. The Application for Refund was based on purchases of 
kerosene and residual fuel the applicant purchased and resold during 
the crude oil price control refund period. The DOE determined that the 
applicant had filed to show that it has been unable to pass on the 
crude oil overcharges in its sales of kerosene and residual fuel. 
Therefore, the DOE concluded that the claimant was not injured by any 
of the overcharges associated with the gallons that it purchased. 
Accordingly, the DOE denied the Application for Refund.

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.

Anaheim Union High School District et al..................................  RF272-79602                 11/14/94
Arundel Corporation.......................................................  RF272-85                    11/17/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/Ray Lumber Co. et al...........................  RF304-14624                 11/17/94
Atlantic Richfield Company/Searles Arco et al.............................  RF304-14720                 11/18/94
Chambersburg Area School District et al...................................  RF272-95574                 11/18/94
Clark Oil & Refining Corp./Commonwealth Edison Company....................  RF342-325                   11/17/94
D.L. Stowe Trucking et al.................................................  RF272-91020                 11/17/94
E.D.G. Inc./Smith Oil Company, Inc........................................  RR311-2                     11/18/94
Gulf Oil Corporation/Winston C. Bresett...................................  RR300-258                   11/16/94
Macke Laundry Service et al...............................................  RF272-97127                 11/17/94
Newark Housing Authority..................................................  RF272-68961                 11/18/94
Ralston Purina Company et al..............................................  RC272-261                   11/17/94
Stanley G. Flagg & Co. et al..............................................  RF272-92009                 11/18/94
Texaco Inc./Art and Speck's Texaco et al..................................  RF321-17165                 11/18/94
[[Page 13151]]                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                
Texaco Inc./Hershey Foods Corporation.....................................  RF321-17106                 11/16/94
Texaco Inc./Richmond Texaco et al.........................................  RF321-20188                 11/14/94
Texaco Inc./Rodriguez Service Station et al...............................  RF321-20852                 11/18/94
Texaco Inc./Shorts Oil Co., Inc...........................................  RF321-20443                 11/14/94
T.B. Smith Co., Inc.......................................................  RF321-20651           ..............
Texaco Inc. V&F Svara, Inc................................................  RF 321-20946                11/18/94
V&F Svara, Inc............................................................  RF321-20951           ..............
Texaco Inc./Windsor Texaco................................................  RF321-16854                 11/17/94
Delsea Texaco Service Station.............................................  RF321-16855           ..............
Burlington Texaco.........................................................  RF321-16856           ..............
Woodbury Service Station..................................................  RF321-16857           ..............
                                                                                                                

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                       Name                               Case No.      
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Cass County, MN...................................  RF272-86744         
Edmonson County Trucking Co.......................  RF300-21532         
General Motors Saginaw Division...................  RF272-93270         
Homer Tesoro Service..............................  LEE-0165            
Jessee Rogers Sand & Gravel.......................  RF272-95291         
L.P. Shanks Company...............................  RF272-94627         
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine......................  RF321-20801         
Philip Morris Management Corp.....................  RF272-93294         
Rodriguez Texaco..................................  RF321-20642         
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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, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, 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.

    Dated: February 28, 1995.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 95-6013 Filed 3-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P