FIA-18-0030 - In the Matter of Jay Horowitz

On August 23, 2018, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted in part, and denied in part, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Mr. Jay Horowitz (Appellant) from a final determination issued by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). On Appeal, the Appellant alleged that NNSA withheld responsive records without justification, and failed to satisfy his request for certain video records in the "highest resolution/quality available," because NNSA referred him to publicly available videos on YouTube. After review, OHA determined that NNSA had not identified all of the responsive records in its possession in its determination letter, and did not properly explain its determination to withhold those records. However, OHA determined that the Appellant was not entitled to videos in a different format on appeal because NNSA represented that the YouTube videos were the highest quality video available and the Appellant failed to specify the format in which he wished to receive the videos in his FOIA request. OHA Case No. FIA-18-0030.