On July 15, 2022, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied the Freedom of Information ( FOIA) Appeal filed by Inteum Company (Appellant) from a final determination letter (Determination Letter) issued by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Public Information (OPI). On Appeal, the Appellant argued that the agency improperly made redactions pursuant to FOIA Exemption 3.

The Appellant argued that the Exemption 3 redactions were inappropriate because the 41 U.S.C. § 2102 only prohibits the release of contractor information before the award of a contract. However, the Determination Letter cites 41 U.S.C. § 4702 as the statute justifying the Exemption 3 redactions. 41 U.S.C. § 4702 prohibits agencies from releasing any proposal submitted by a contractor that has not been incorporated into a contract between the agency and the contractor. The redactions here were made to prevent the release of documents submitted to DOE by contractors who made ultimately unsuccessful bids. Therefore, the redactions were appropriate, and the appeal is denied. (OHA Case No. FIA-22-0023)