Decisions were issued on: - Personnel Security (10 CFR Part 710) - Freedom of Information Act Appeal
Office of Hearings and Appeals
March 27, 2015
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Personnel Security Decision (10 CFR Part 710)
On March 25, 2015, an Administrative Judge determined that an individual’s access authorization should not be restored. In reaching this determination, the Administrative Judge found that the individual had not successfully addressed the DOE’s security concerns regarding his use of alcohol, which included frequent intoxication and had resulted in three alcohol-related arrests. These facts led a DOE-consultant psychologist to conclude that the individual consumed alcohol habitually to excess, to a degree that causes or may cause a significant defect in judgment or reliability. Although the individual had recently begun complying with the DOE psychologist’s recommendations for rehabilitation, the duration of his abstinence and treatment fell short of the recommended period of rehabilitation. OHA Case No. PSH-14-0110 (William M. Schwartz)
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal
On March 25, 2015, OHA denied a FOIA Appeal filed by FOIA Group, Inc. (FGI). In its Appeal, FGI challenged a determination issued to it by the Office of Information Resources (OIR). In that determination, OIR concluded that the information sought by FGI could not be readily reproduced in the “COMMA DELIMITED TEXT FILE” (CDTF) or “TAB DELIMITED TEXT FILE” (TDTF) formats requested by FGI, and that converting the information sought into Excel spreadsheets would cost over $8,000. OIR offered to provide the information in a searchable pdf. format, and also pointed out that all of the requested information was already available on the DOE’s website. In its Appeal, FGI contested OIR’s conclusion that the requested information was not “readily reproducible” in the CDTF or TDTF formats, and claimed that the estimated cost for providing the information in Excel spreadsheets was arbitrary and excessive. In its decision, OHA concluded that the information sought was not readily reproducible in either of the requested formats, and that the estimated cost of providing the information in Excel spreadsheets was reasonable. OHA therefore denied the Appeal. OHA Case No. FIA-15-0007