Issuance of Decisions and Orders the Week of May 23 through May 27, 1994

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Issuance of Decisions and Orders the Week of May 23 through May

27, 1994

During the week of May 23 through May 27, 1994, the decisions and

orders summarized below were issued with respect to appeals and

applications for 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.

Appeal

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, 5/26/94, LFA-0368

Akin Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld (Akin Gump) filed an Appeal from a

determination issued by the FOI and Privacy Acts Branch, Reference and

Information Management Division of the Department of Energy (DOE

Headquarters) in response to a request from Akin Gump under the Freedom

of Information Act (FOIA). Akin Gump sought the U.S.Russia Highly

Enriched Uranium Purchase Agreement signed by President Bill Clinton

and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (Purchase Agreement). In

considering the Appeal, the Office of Hearings and Appeals found that

DOE Headquarters performed an adequate search for the Purchase

Agreement. Accordingly, the Appeal was denied.

Introductory Order

Westinghouse Hanford Company, 5/26/94, LWZ-0031

Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) filed a Motion to Dismiss the

underlying complaint and hearing request filed by Helen ``Gai''

Oglesbee under the Department of Energy's Contractor Employee

Protection Program, 10 C.F.R. Part 708. On August 24, 1992, Oglesbee

filed a complaint under Part 708 with the DOE Richland Field Office

(DOE/RL) which was forwarded to the Office of Contractor Employee

Protection on October 2, 1992. In his Decision, the Hearing Officer

found that: (1) the OCEP Director did not abuse her discretion in

accepting Oglesbee's complaint as timely filed; (2) it was unnecessary

to determine whether Oglesbee's complaint specifically met each of the

criteria outlined in 10 C.F.R. Sec. 708.6, since the decision to accept

a complaint is clearly within the discretion of the OCEP; (3) WHC was

not prejudiced by the OCEP's acceptance of the complaint. Accordingly,

WHC's Motion was denied.

Implementation of Special Refund Procedures

County Fuel Company, INC., 5/24/94, LEF-0015

The DOE issued a Decision and Order implementing procedures for the

distribution of $38,214.98, plus accrued interest, in alleged

overcharges obtained from County Fuel Company, Inc. These funds were

remitted to settle possible pricing violations in its sales of motor

gasoline during portions of 1979 and 1980. The DOE determined that

these funds will be distributed in accordance with the DOE Petroleum

Overcharge Distribution and Restitution Act of 1986 (PODRA).

Accordingly, Applications for Refund will be accepted from any party

who purchased refined petroleum products during the specified periods,

March 1, 1979 through March 18, 1980. The specific information to be

included in Applications for Refund is included in the Decision.

Refund Application

National Railroad Passenger Corporation, 5/27/94, RF272-21241

The DOE issued a Decision and Order concerning an Application for

Refund filed on behalf of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation

(Amtrak) in the crude oil overcharge special refund proceeding being

conducted by the DOE under 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V. The DOE

determined that the refund claim was meritorious and granted a refund

of $535,554. The DOE denied the Objections filed by a group of States,

finding that the econometric data submitted by the States did not rebut

the presumption that the Applicant was injured by the crude oil

overcharges. In addition, the DOE denied the Objections filed by a

group of Utilities, Transporters, and Manufacturers, finding that (1)

Even if Amtrak were a government authority, it would still be eligible

for a refund for its own purchases of refined petroleum products and

(2) because Amtrak was specifically excluded from the Settlement

Agreement does not exclude it from the DOE's crude oil 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.

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

Name Case No. Date

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

Atlantic Richfield Company/H.H. RF304-13577 05/24/94

Irwin Dist. Co. et al.

City of Denham Springs, Louisiana et RF272-88624 05/24/94

al.

Dunlop Tire Corporation............. RF272-16583 05/23/94

Dunlop Tire Corporation............. RD272-16583

Eau Claire Public Schools et al..... RF272-82458 05/25/94

General Trailer Company et al....... RF272-90523 05/23/94

Gulf Oil Corp./Holiday West Gulf.... RF300-14381 05/25/94

Gulf Oil Corp./Keylock (Howard RF300-13466 05/24/94

Jackson Gulf).

Gulf Oil Corp./Mr. B'S.............. RF300-20922 05/24/94

Morwall Trucking Inc................ RF272-79581 05/27/94

Shell Oil Company/Oceana Terminal RF315-7195 05/26/94

Corporation.

Oceana Terminal Corporation......... RF315-7228

St. Lucie BD. of Cnty. Commissn. et RF272-86676 05/27/94

al.

Texaco Inc./Heber Valley Texaco et RF321-19223 05/27/94

al.

Texaco Inc./Robert R. Wiese et al... RF321-7680 05/23/94

Robert R. Wiese..................... RF321-7682

Texaco Inc./Shipley Oil Company et RF321-9293 05/23/94

al.

Texaco Inc./Stuckey's of Centerville RF321-7160 05/26/94

et al.

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

Dismissals

The following submissions were dismissed:

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

Name Case No.

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

California Nevada Golden Tours..................... RF272-89109

Chelsea Airlift.................................... RF272-89113

City of High Point................................. RF272-94027

Emporia Motor Freight, Inc......................... RF272-89177

Fowler & Williams, Inc............................. RF272-89121

Fruit Growers Express Company...................... RF272-89124

George Appel, Inc.................................. RF272-89126

Hudson County News Co.............................. RF272-81313

Key Line Air Freight, Inc.......................... RF272-89183

Mary Jane Disney................................... LFA-0369

Nevada Central Motor Lines......................... RF272-89132

Nevada Transit, Inc................................ RF272-89133

R.H. Prentiss Co................................... RF272-89227

Robert Crocket..................................... RF272-89224

Sevier Valley AVC.................................. RF272-80462

Siva Truck Leasing, Inc............................ RF272-90643

W.H. Hanna & Sons.................................. RF272-89172

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

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, DC 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: July 18, 1994.

George B. Breznay,

Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

[FR Doc. 94-17899 Filed 7-21-94; 8:45 a.m.]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P