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).