Freedom of Information Act Appeal

On August 10, 2014, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a Decision and Order concerning a Freedom of Information Act Appeal (FOIA) filed by Tim Hadley (Appellant) of a determination issued by the DOE Office of Information Resources (OIR).  In his Appeal, the Appellant challenged OIR’s withholdings under Exemptions 4 and 6.  OHA found that OIR properly withheld personnel contact and financial information under Exemption 4, but with the possible exception of vendor-related information, which was remanded to OIR for a determination of whether the latter information is available at recovery.gov and, therefore, already public.  OHA also found that OIR properly withheld personal contact information pursuant to Exemption 6, on the ground that individuals had a significant privacy interest in that information which outweighed the minimal public interest in its disclosure.  Accordingly, the OHA granted the appeal in part and remanded the vendor-related information to OIR for consideration of whether it is publicly available at recovery.gov.  OHA Case No. FIA-14-0047