Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal

On October 24, 2014, OHA issued a decision remanding an Appeal of a FOIA determination issued by the DOE Office of Information Resources (OIR).  The Appellant, DLA Piper, appealed OIR’s decision to withhold portions of a released document pursuant to Exemption 4.  Some of the withheld information originated with DOE and is not eligible for withholding under Exemption 4.  The remaining withheld information was commercial or financial information obtained from a person under Exemption 4; however, OIR’s analysis was insufficient to determinate whether the release of such information was likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the submitter.  Accordingly the OHA remanded the appeal to OIR to issue a new determination.  OHA Case No. FIA-14-0056