FIA-19-0024 - In the Matter of Martin Pfeiffer

On July 17, 2019, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Martin Pfeiffer (Appellant) from a final determination issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) that neither confirmed nor denied the existence of responsive records. On Appeal, the Appellant alleged that NNSA had applied its "No Comment Policy" too broadly and interpreted his request too narrowly. He further alleged that DOE had previously acknowledged that responsive records existed. After review, the OHA determined that NNSA had reasonably interpreted the request and properly applied the "No Comment Policy." The OHA also held that official acknowledgement waiver of the "No Comment Policy" applied only to the specific documents acknowledged and found that the documents Appellant cited as official acknowledgement were already publicly available. Accordingly, OHA denied the Appeal. OHA Case No. FIA-19-0024