On September 7, 2023, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Anna Noteboom from a final determination letter (Determination Letter) issue by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). On Appeal, the Appellant argued that the agency failed to conduct an adequate search.
An examination of the information provided revealed that the Appellant had clearly stated the responsive documents she was seeking and had provided information regarding the location of the files. The NNSA issued a Determination Letter indicating that no responsive documents had been located. The Appellant filed a timely appeal and indicated that the search had been limited to email when she had asked for a search of the Documents folder of the Microsoft Windows profile associated with her user identification. The search performed by NNSA was inadequate, as the NNSA not only failed to use methods which could be reasonably expected to produce the information requested, but it failed to search the location most likely to hold the records. (OHA Case No. FIA-23- 0026)