FOIA Appeal 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal; Appeal Granted; Exemption 4

On June 24, 2020, the Office of Hearings and Appeals  (OHA)  granted  a  Freedom  of  Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Argus Media, Inc. (Appellant) concerning  a  FOIA  request made  to  the  Department  of  Energy's  Strategic  Petroleum  Reserve  Project Management Office (SPR). Appellant's  FOIA  request  sought  copies  of  contracts  for  storage  of crude oil by private  companies  in  the  Strategic  Petroleum  Reserve.  SPR  provided  Appellant with nine contracts in response to its FOIA request, but redacted portions of the  contracts identifying the grade of crude oil contracted for storage and the amount of crude oil      the companies would leave  in  the  Strategic  Petroleum  Reserve  as  compensation  for  storage  on the basis that this information was commercial or financial information  exempt  from  disclosure under Exemption 4 of the FOIA. Appellant  asserted  on  appeal  that  the  companies had not provided the  redacted  information  under  an  assurance  of  privacy  and  that  they  had no reasonable expectation of privacy because SPR routinely published contract  information  related to the sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In  addition,  Appellant  argued that disclosure of the information could not cause harm to the companies' competitive position, and therefore that SPR should not have withheld the records pursuant to Exemption 4 even if it was applicable. OHA determined that SPR had not established that Exemption  4      was applicable to the redacted portions of the contracts because  there  was  insufficient  information as to the extent to which the information  was  customarily  maintained  as confidential, the companies had not provided the  information  under  an  assurance  of  privacy, and there was no reasonable basis for the companies to assume that the final contract terms     would remain confidential. In addition, OHA determined  that,  under  the  FOIA  Improvement Act of 2016, SPR was required to assess the extent  to  which  disclosure  of  the  information would cause genuine harm to an interest protected under Exemption 4 before withholding the information. Therefore, OHA granted  Appellant's  appeal.  OHA  Case  No.  FIA-20-0035.

Personnel Security Hearing (PSH) 

Personnel Security; Clearance Restored; Guideline G (Alcohol Consumption)

On June 26, 2020, an OHA Administrative Judge (AJ) issued a  decision  in  which  she  determined that an Individual's DOE access authorization should be restored. To support the Guideline G security concerns, the LSO relied upon the fact that the  DOE  Psychologist determined in her June 2019 report that the Individual suffered from Unspecified Alcohol Use Disorder without adequate evidence of rehabilitation  or  reformation.  In  addition,  the  LSO  relied upon (1) a statement from March 2016 by the Individual that he  never  intended  to  consume alcohol again, but he began drinking again in April 2018 and (2)  the  Individual's  October 2015 DWI charge.   Id.   The AJ found the Individual to be credible in his testimony.     His witnesses supported his testimony that he  has  not  consumed  any  alcohol  since  he  met  with the DOE Psychologist. The Individual is currently in aftercare and counseling. Both the Individual's counselor and the  DOE  Psychologist  opined  that  he  was  rehabilitated  and reformed from his alcohol use disorder. Consequently, based on all of the above, the Administrative Judge found that  the  Individual's  access  authorization  should  be  restored  at  this time. OHA Case No. PSH 20-0026 (Janet R. H. Fishman).