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On May 23, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).  The Appellant appealed the NETL’s decision to apply Exemption 7(a) to withhold the requested documents regarding stimulus grants that were awarded to the North American Power Group.  OHA determined that the NETL sufficiently invoked exemption 7(a) as the withheld information pertained to ongoing law enforcement investigations involving the Inspector General’s Office and the

On May 20, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office (ROO). The Appellant, the Hanford Challenge, contested the ROO’s denial of a fee waiver in processing its FOIA request.

On May 9, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision remanding an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Loan Guarantee Program Office (LGPO).  The Appellant appealed LGPO’s decision to withhold certain portions of the payroll documents pursuant to Exemptions 4 and 6.

On May 6, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision remanding an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of General Counsel (NA-GC).  The Appellant appealed the NA-GC’s decision to withhold information from documents responsive to the Appellant’s request under FOIA Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(C), and challenged the adequacy of NA-GC’s search for responsive document.  OHA concluded that NA-GC’s search was adequate, but that its determination did not adequately explain how FO

On April 29, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC). The Appellant, Glen Bowers, contested the adequacy of EMCBC’s search of for documents responsive to his FOIA Request. The OHA reviewed EMCBC’s description of its search, and determined that it conducted an adequate search for responsive documents. Therefore, the OHA denied the Appeal.

On April 25, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision remanding an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Office of Information Resources (OIR) and Office of Nuclear Energy (NE).  The Appellant appealed the OIR and NE’s decision to withhold a draft plan in its entirety pursuant to Exemption 5.

On April 24, 2013, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted in part a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by the Cause of Action (Appellant) of a determination issued by the Loan Guarantee Program Office (LGPO). In its request, the Appellant asked for the names of 460 applicants who have applied to LGPO since its inception along with additional information about those applicants.

On April 25, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Office of Information Resources (OIR).  The Appellant appealed the OIR’s decision to withhold portions of the released documents pursuant to Exemption 5 and contested the adequacy of its search.  The OIR stated that portions of the documents were withheld pursuant to the attorney-client and deliberative process privileges of Exemption 5.

On April 11, 2013, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issued a decision denying an appeal (Appeal) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued by the Department of Energy’s Bonneville Power Administration. BPA released information responsive to a request that the Appellant filed. However, BPA redacted, pursuant to Exemption 5 of the FOIA, some of the information in the responsive records. The Appellant appealed BPA’s determination, asserting that it did not justify how the withheld information was part of the deliberative process of BPA.

On April 11, 2013, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted in part a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by the Sierra Club (Appellant) of a determination issued by the Loan Guaranty Program Office (LGPO). In its request, the Appellant asked for all documents generated since January 2009 related to or referring to requests made to the IRS for information about whether an applicant for a loan under any DOE program has a delinquent tax account. LGPO released documents to the Appellant but withheld some information under Exemptions 4 and 6.