Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders by the Office of Hearings and Appeals; Week of July 1 through July 5, 1996

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Issuance of Decisions and Orders by the Office of

Hearings and Appeals; Week of July 1 through July 5, 1996

During the week of July 1 through July 5, 1996, 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, S.W.,

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: August 28, 1996.

Thomas O. Mann,

Acting Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Decision List No. 979

Week of July 1 through July 5, 1996

Appeals

Marlene Flor, 7/2/96, VFA-0175

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Decision and Order granting

a Freedom of Information Act Appeal that was filed by Marlene Flor. In

her Appeal, Ms. Flor contested the accuracy of a cost estimate provided

to her by the DOE's Albuquerque Operations Office for processing her

request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. In the

Decision, the OHA found that Ms. Flor fell into the ``all other

requesters'' category of FOIA requesters, and that she could not be

charged for time spent by DOE employees in reviewing responsive

documents for exempt material. The DOE therefore remanded her request

to the Albuquerque Office for the formulation of a new estimate.

Tenaska Washington Partners II, L.P., 7/2/96, VFA-0176

Tenaska Washington Partners II, L.P. (TWP) filed an Appeal from a

determination issued to it on May 21, 1996 by the Deputy Inspector

General for Audit Services of the Office of Inspector General (IG) of

the Department of Energy (DOE). In that determination, the IG partially

denied a request for information that TWP filed pursuant to the Freedom

of Information Act (FOIA). In its Appeal, TWP contends that the IG

improperly withheld factual information pusuant to FOIA Exemption 5 and

that the IG ``waived'' its ability to withhold a document pursuant to

FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7. In considering the Appeal, the DOE confirmed

that the redacted information does not contain any factual information

and that the IG properly withheld the requested information pursuant to

Exemption 5. The DOE also found that there is no merit to TWP's

argument that the IG ``waived'' its ability to withhold a document

pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7. Accordingly, the DOE denied the

appellant's request.

Refund Applications

Moore Brothers, 7/2/96, RR272-232

Moore Brothers was a trucking company that filed an Application for

Refund in the Subpart V crude oil refund proceeding. In its original

application (Case No. RF272-4527), Moore Brothers was denied a refund

due to a lack of adequate documentation (January 26, 1990). On February

20, 1996, Moore Brothers filed a Motion for Reconsideration, requesting

that the DOE reconsider its 1990 Decision. In the Motion for

Reconsideration, Moore Brothers provided documentation adequate to

substantiate the applicant's estimate of petroleum products consumed

during the price control period. Accordingly, the Motion for

Reconsideration was granted.

Perry Gas Processors, Inc./Alabama, RQ183-604, Charter Company/Alabama,

RQ23-605, National Helium Corp./Alabama, RQ3-606, Coline Gasoline

Corp./Alabama, 7/2/96, RQ2-607

The DOE issued a Decision and Order granting a second-stage refund

application filed by the State of Alabama. Alabama requested that all

remaining funds allocated to it in the Perry Gas Processors, Charter

Company, National Helium Corp. And Coline Gasoline special refund

proceedings be used to fund the state's Energy Conservation Loan

Program. As of May 31,1996, the amount of those funds totaled $370,540

($102,445 in principal and $268,095 in interest). The DOE found that

Alabama's proposal would provide timely restitutionary benefits to

injured consumers of refined petroleum products. Accordingly, Alabama's

second-stage refund application was granted.

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.

Allied-Signal, Inc....................................... RF272-77990 07/01/96

Bronaugh Motor Express, Inc. et al....................... RF272-89203 07/05/96

Crude Oil Supple. Ref.................................... RB272-00082 07/01/96

[[Page 47923]]

First Piedmont Corp. et al............................... RF272-89011 07/03/96

Gulf Oil Corporation/Dearman's Grovery & Service RF300-13743 07/02/96

Stationet al.

Gulf Oil Corporation/Union Petroleum..................... RF300-17257 07/03/96

Kimbob, Inc. et al....................................... RG272-00607 07/02/96

Montgomery Farmers Coop et al............................ RF272-94512 07/01/96

Virgin Air, Inc. et al................................... RF272-97969 07/03/96

Dismissals

The following submissions were dismissed:

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Name Case No.

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Allied Oil Company........................... RF339-14

Darigold, Inc................................ RG272-368

Denholm Ship Management Ltd.................. RG272-618

Heber Elementary............................. RF272-87065

Valley Materials Transport................... RF272-98118

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[FR Doc. 96-23181 Filed 9-10-96; 8:45 am]

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