Case No. VFA-0324, 26 DOE ¶ 80,217

September 8, 1997

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Appeal

Name of Appellant: Bruce Darrow Gaither

Case Number: VFA-0324

Date of Filing: August 7, 1997

Bruce Darrow Gaither files this appeal from a determination letter issued by the Director of the Department of Energy's (the Department) Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Division (the Director). The determination letter replied to Gaither's request for information submitted to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).(1) In the determination letter, the Director said that no documents responsive to Gaither's request had been found. Gaither's appeal, if granted, would require the Department to conduct a further search for responsive documents.

Background

Pursuant to the FOIA, Gaither had requested "documents, photographs, and reports relating to operational space-borne laser systems to be used as antiballistic defense systems wherein the laser beams heat incoming enemy missiles." In his appeal, Gaither asserts that the records he requested do exist. Gaither has not provided a basis for this assertion.

The FOIA generally requires federal agencies to release agency records to the public upon request. If a requester has reasonably described the information he is seeking and has complied with the DOE's FOIA regulations, 10 C.F.R. Part 1004, the Department must conduct a thorough and conscientious search for responsive documents.

Adequacy of the Department's Search

In responding to a request for information filed under the FOIA, an agency must "conduct a search reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents." Truitt v. Department of State, 897 F.2d 540, 542 (D.C. Cir. 1990). The standard requires that the search be reasonable, however, not exhaustive. "The issue is not whether any further documents might conceivably exist, but rather whether the government's search for responsive documents was adequate." Perry v. Block, 684 F.2d 121, 128 (D.C. Cir. 1982) (emphasis in original).

The Office of Hearings and Appeals will remand a case where a search was inadequate. E.g., Petrucelly & Nadler, P.C., 25 DOE ¶ 80,187 (1996); Dennis McQuade, 25 DOE ¶ 80,158 (1996). To evaluate the adequacy of the search, we telephoned staff members of the Department's offices for Defense Programs and Energy Research, who had been tasked with the original search. An official at the Office of Defense Programs informed us that employees of the office searched for material responsive to the request and found no records. An official of the Office of Energy Research told us that a search had been made for any materials relating to lasers and found two projects concerning x-ray laser microscopes. Neither project, however, was responsive to Gaither's request for information about space-borne laser missile defense systems.

In addition, the official from Defense Programs suggested that we contact the Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology (Nuclear Energy), which had not previously been tasked with the request. We contacted the Office of Nuclear Energy, and an official from that office subsequently informed us that its files had been search and no records responsive to the request had been found. None of the Department's employees whom we contacted knew of any other office that might contain responsive records.

Conclusion

We believe that the Department has conducted a search that was reasonably calculated to uncover all materials relevant to Gaither's request. Consequently, we find no reason to remand this request for a further search. We will therefore deny Gaither's appeal.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The appeal filed by Bruce Darrow Gaither, Case No. VFA-0324, is hereby denied.

(2) This is a final order of the Department of Energy from which any aggrieved party may seek judicial review pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B). Judicial review may be sought in the district in which the requester resides or has a principal place of business; or in which the agency records are situated; or in the District of Columbia.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: September 8, 1997

(1) 5 U.S.C. § 552.