Case No. VFA-0384, 27 DOE ¶ 80,120

March 24, 1998

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Appeal

Name of Appellant:Mary E. Burket

Date of Filing:February 24, 1998

Case Number: VFA-0384

This Appeal was filed by Mary E. Burket (the Appellant) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) at 10 C.F.R. § 1004. The Appellant seeks the review of a determination letter that DOE’s Office of General Counsel (GC) issued to her, which indicated that the DOE did not possess any documents responsive to a FOIA request she submitted. As explained below, we have determined that the present Appeal be denied.

The FOIA requires that documents held by federal agencies generally be released to the public upon request. If a requester has reasonably described the information he or she is seeking and has complied with the DOE's FOIA regulations, the agency is obliged to conduct a thorough and conscientious search for responsive documents. We have not hesitated to remand a case where it is evident that the search conducted was in fact inadequate. See, e.g., National Resources Defense Council, 26 DOE ¶ 80,229 (1997); Acadian Gas Pipeline System, 26 DOE ¶ 80,160 (1997); James H. Stebbings, 25 DOE ¶ 80,177 (1996); Butler, Vines and Babb, PLLC, 25 DOE ¶ 80,152 (1995). However, the FOIA requires that a search be reasonable, not exhaustive. "[T]he standard of reasonableness which we apply to agency search procedures does not require absolute exhaustion of the files; instead, it requires a search reasonably calculated to uncover the sought materials." Miller v. United States Dep't of State, 779 F.2d 1378, 1385 (8th Cir. 1985); accord, Weisberg v. United States Dep't of Justice, 745 F.2d 1476, 1485 (D.C. Cir. 1984). Accordingly, we review the adequacy of an agency's search under a "standard of reasonableness." McGehee v. CIA, 697 F.2d 1095, 1100-01 (D.C. Cir. 1983), modified in part on rehearing, 711 F.2d 1076 (D.C. Cir. 1983).

The Appellant’s original appeal requested any journals or logs concerning her father’s involvement in the decontamination and decommissioning of the SL-1 reactor at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Although the DOE did not locate any documents responsive to this request, it provided the Appellant with a related document that might be of interest to her.

On February 24, 1998, the Appellant filed the present Appeal, providing additional information which she believed might assist the DOE in locating responsive documents and requesting that the DOE conduct a further search for responsive documents.

We contacted Ms. Tonya Woods of Headquarters’ Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy and Mr. Carl Robertson, FOIA Officer, Idaho Operation Office. Idaho had performed a name search

on its records listing those individuals who were involved in the decontamination and decommissioning of the SL-1 reactor. GC’s files were searched because the SL-1 reactor had been the subject of litigation. These officials explained that an extensive search of Idaho’s SL-1 decontamination and decommissioning files and the Office of General Counsel’s files in Washington had been performed in response to the Appellant’s request. However, no responsive documents had been located. These officials also indicated that the additional information provided by the Appellant would not likely lead to the location of additional responsive information.

We find that the search conducted by GC and Idaho was more than reasonably calculated to uncover responsive documents. Accordingly, we find that this appeal should be denied.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Appeal filed by Mary E. Burket, Case Number VFA-0384, 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: March 24, 1998