Case No. VFA-0547, 27 DOE ¶ 80,261

February 29, 2000

DECISION AND ORDER

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Appeal

Name of Petitioner: Alice L. Thomas

Date of Filing: January 27, 2000

Case Number: VFA-0547

On January 27, 2000, Alice L. Thomas filed an Appeal from a determination issued to her by the Freedom of Information Officer at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). The WAPA issued its determination in response to a request for information that Ms. Thomas submitted in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C § 552, as implemented by the DOE in 10 C.F.R. Part 1004. The FOIA generally requires that documents held by the federal government be released to the public upon request. The Appeal, if granted, would require the WAPA to release certain documents to Ms. Thomas.

In her FOIA request, Ms. Thomas sought access to a 1996 job announcement for a position in the Salt Lake City Area Office of the WAPA, documentation supporting the hiring of a specified individual for another position, and information pertaining to any awards or special recognition given to that individual and two other WAPA employees.

In response to this request, the WAPA provided Ms. Thomas with documents pertaining to any awards or special recognition given to the three named employees. However, in its determination letter the WAPA informed Ms. Thomas that the job announcement and documentation for the hiring of the individual for the other position had been destroyed pursuant to WAPA’s records retention policies.

In her Appeal, Ms. Thomas contests the WAPA’s claim that these records no longer exist. She asserts that the documents in question are “unscheduled” records, and that according to the Western Records Management Manual, such records must be maintained in the agency’s files until a disposition has been approved by the Archivist of the United States. She therefore contends that these records should still be in the WAPA’s files.

In its response to the Appeal, the WAPA has cooperated with this office and enclosed pages 21 and 22 of its Merit Promotion Plan, dated July 5, 1988. Paragraph 6 states, in pertinent part, that a

“promotion case folder for each such position filled through competitive procedures must be maintained by the servicing personnel office for 2 years following the effective date of the personnel action . . . .” The WAPA then reiterated that, in accordance with this policy, the job announcement and the documentation supporting hiring for the other position were destroyed in 1998. Based on the record before us, we find no reason to question the veracity of the WAPA’s response or to find that the destruction of the documents was improper. We will therefore deny Ms. Thomas’ Appeal.

It Is Therefore Ordered That:

(1) The Appeal filed by Alice L. Thomas on January 27, 2000 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 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 located, or in the District of Columbia.

George B. Breznay

Director

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Date: February 29, 2000