FIA-­24-0014 - In the Matter of Martin Pfeiffer

On February 22, 2024, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Martin Pfeiffer (Appellant) from a determination letter issued by the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). In the determination letter, NNSA stated that the requested records were contractor records and, therefore, not agency records subject to the FOIA. On appeal, the Appellant challenged the adequacy of NNSA's search and argued that DOE did not cite to the original contract governing the ownership of the records. After reviewing the contract, we found that the requested records were contractor -owned under the original contract and current contract. We further found that the government does not exert control over the records. Accordingly, we found that the requested records are not agency records and are not subject to the FOIA. For this reason, we deny the appeal. (OHA Case No. FIA-24-0014) (OHA Case No. FIA­24-0014)