Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of January 29 Through February 2, 1996

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 181 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48946-48948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23735]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Issuance of Decisions and Orders; Week of January 29 Through 
February 2, 1996

    During the week of January 29 through February 2, 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, 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 www.oha.doe.gov.

    Dated: September 4, 1996.
George B. Breznay,
Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

Appeal

PSI Energy, Inc., 1/30/96, VEA-0001

    PSI Energy, Inc. (PSI) filed an Appeal from a determination issued 
by the DOE's Office of Environmental Management (OEM). PSI claimed 
that: (i) the OEM erroneously determined its liability for payment into 
the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (D&D 
Fund) established under the Energy Policy Act of 1992; (ii) Indiana 
state law would prohibit PSI from passing through its assessment to its 
ratepayers; and (iii) the assessment of utilities for payment into the 
D&D Fund was an unconstitutional taking of property. The DOE found 
that: (i) the firm was properly assessed for uranium enrichment 
services that it purchased from the DOE and did not sell in the 
secondary market; (ii) Indiana state law would be preempted by the 
federal Energy Policy Act; and (iii) while the DOE will ultimately 
defer to the rulings of the federal courts, the collection of 
assessments will continue while the courts are considering the 
constitutionality of the relevant provisions of the Energy Policy Act. 
Accordingly, PSI's Appeal was denied.

Personnel Security Hearings

Albuquerque Operations Office, 1/31/96, VSA-0020

    The Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals issued an 
Opinion concerning a Request for Review that was filed by the DOE's 
Office of Security Affairs (OSA). In its submission, the OSA requested 
that a security clearance matter be remanded to the Hearing Officer so 
that the Hearing Officer could render an opinion concerning an 
individual's eligibility for access authorization. In the Hearing 
Officer's initial Opinion, she stated that because the individual 
attended, but did

[[Page 48947]]

not participate in, his security clearance hearing, she would not 
address the merits of the individual's eligibility for a clearance, but 
would instead transfer the proceeding to the Manager of DOE/Albuquerque 
for a final determination as to the individual's eligibility. In the 
Director's Opinion, he stated that the regulations governing these 
proceedings do not contemplate the transferral of a security clearance 
matter to a DOE Manager under the circumstances in this case. He added 
that because a hearing was held and additional testimony was received, 
an evaluation by the Hearing Officer of the individual's eligibility 
for access authorization was required. Accordingly, the Director 
remanded the matter to the Hearing Officer for the issuance of such an 
evaluation.

Rocky Flats Field Office, 1/30/96, VSO-0046

    An Office of Hearings and Appeals Hearing Officer issued an opinion 
against restoring the security clearance of an individual whose 
clearance had been suspended because the Department had obtained 
derogatory information that fell within 10 C.F.R. Sec. 710.8(f). In 
reaching his conclusion, the Hearing Officer found that the individual 
deliberately misrepresented, falsified, or omitted significant 
information during the Personnel Security Interview.

Rocky Flats Field Office, 2/7/96, VSO-0060

    An OHA Hearing Officer issued an opinion on a request for review 
from an individual employed by a Rocky Flats contractor whose DOE 
security clearance had been suspended. The individual's ``Q'' access 
authorization was suspended after Rocky Flats security officials had 
received information from Personnel Security Interviews (PSIs) with two 
confidential sources about the individual's extensive marijuana use in 
the five or six years immediately after he had signed a DOE Drug 
Certification in 1980. At the hearing which was held in this case, 
neither of the two sources would testify about the instances of 
marijuana use or distribution by the individual that they had reported 
in their PSIs. However, the individual himself refused to testify in 
his own behalf at the hearing, and submitted no direct evidence to 
contravene the derogatory information in the statements by the two 
sources in their PSIs. Instead, the individual relied upon statements 
made in his own PSIs with Rocky Flats security personnel, in which he 
categorically denied any post-1980 marijuana use. After considering the 
record in this case, the Hearing Officer concluded that the individual 
had failed to meet his burden of coming forward with evidence to show 
that restoring his access authorization would not endanger the common 
defense and security and would be clearly consistent with the national 
interest. Accordingly, the Hearing Officer recommended that the 
individual's access authorization not be restored.

Implementation of Special Refund Procedures

OXY USA, Inc., 01/31/96, VEF-0030

    The DOE issued a Decision and Order setting forth procedures for 
the distribution of $275 million (plus interest) in alleged overcharges 
remitted or to be remitted to the DOE by Occidental Petroleum 
Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary OXY USA, Inc. (OXY). The 
DOE determined that these funds should be distributed in accordance 
with the DOE's Modified Statement of Restitutionary Policy in Crude Oil 
Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). Accordingly, the DOE 
determined that 20 percent should be reserved for Subpart V Claimants 
and the remaining 80 percent should be divided equally between the 
federal government and the states.

Refund Applications

Citronelle/Texas Cities Refining, Inc., et. al., 1/30/96, RF345-1, et. 
al.

    The DOE issued a Supplemental Order disbursing $144,204,002 from an 
escrow account in connection with the 341 Tract Unit of the Citronelle 
Field. The disbursements were made pursuant to a Settlement Agreement 
that was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District 
of Texas on December 6, 1995.

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.

Alaska Gold Company et al......  RC272-327                      01/30/96
Atlantic Richfield Company/      RF304-13239                    01/30/96
 Oscar B. Chao et al.                                                   
Metromedia Co et al............  RF272-95102                    01/30/96
                                                                        

Dismissals

    The following submissions were dismissed:

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                     Name                               Case No.        
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Airline Snack Bar............................  RF300-19839              
Albuquerque Operations Office................  VSO-0064                 
Anderson Super Gulf-Parkway..................  RF300-18803              
Bayer & Mingolla Industries, Inc.............  RF300-21419              
Brink's, Inc.................................  RF300-15179              
Buffalo Aeronautical.........................  RF300-16947              
Central Telephone Co. of Florida.............  RF300-14816              
Charles F. Morris............................  RF300-21659              
Continental Baking Co........................  RF300-21479              
D.L. Stowe Trucking..........................  RF300-18841              
Daniels Gulf.................................  RF300-19586              
Dans Rental..................................  RF300-19585              
Dix Gulf.....................................  RF300-19588              
Ellex Transportation.........................  RF300-13113              
Garden Street Gulf...........................  RF300-15086              
Garvie Marks Gulf............................  RF300-21406              
Hilltop Gulf.................................  RF300-18730              
Honeywell Inc................................  RF272-67216              
J.D.'s Gulf..................................  RF300-13159              
Jackson & Michael Gulf Service...............  RF300-19659              

[[Page 48948]]

                                                                        
John L. Sutton, Jr...........................  RF300-21420              
Lake & Sam Williams Gulf Dist................  RF300-13245              
Lee-Hy Paving Corporation....................  RR272-137                
Mart Gulf....................................  RF300-16505              
Minden City Oil & Gas Co.....................  RF300-19560              
Murphey's Gulf & U-Haul......................  RF300-19528              
Richland Operations Office...................  VSO-0056                 
Sam's Auto Service...........................  RF300-10924              
Sanders Gulf.................................  RF300-18795              
Wade's Rent-a-Car............................  RF300-18092              
Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley..........  VFA-0118                 
Wiley Fuel Oil...............................  RF300-19541              
Williams Gulf................................  RF300-18405              
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[FR Doc. 96-23735 Filed 9-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P