UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) CENTER FOR ) PUBLIC INTEGRITY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 18-1173 (ABJ) ) U.S. DEPARTMENT ) OF ENERGY, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ____________________________________) MEMORANDUM OPINION On September 21, 2017, the Center for Public Integrity (“plaintiff”), submitted a request for documents to the National Nuclear Security Administration (“NNSA”), a semi-autonomous agency within the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”), under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552. Suppl. Compl. [Dkt. # 9] ¶ 7. The request sought all “reports produced by national laboratories for consideration in the upcoming Nuclear Posture Review.” Id. On May 14, 2018, DOE issued a partial determination, stating that it had located seventeen documents responsive to the request. Id. ¶ 8. The seventeenth document would be withheld entirely by the agency, and the first sixteen were sent to the United States Department of State (“DOS”) for review. Id. ¶¶ 8–9. On May 18, 2018, plaintiff filed this lawsuit against DOE and DOS, demanding disclosure of the documents. See Compl. [Dkt. # 1] ¶ 14, Demand for Relief. On November 13, 2018, the government, through the United States Department of Defense (“DoD”), released the sixteen documents with redactions, claiming Exemptions 5, 6, and 7(F). Defs.’ Corrected Statement of Material Undisputed Facts [Dkt. # 21-3] (“Defs.’ SUMF”) ¶¶ 7, 11, 18–22. On March 1, 2019, defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that they have complied with their obligations under FOIA. Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 20] (“Defs.’ Mot.”); Corrected Mem. in Supp. of Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 21-2] (“Defs.’ Mem.”). Plaintiff opposed the motion and cross-moved for summary judgment on March 29, 2019. Pl.’s Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 22] (“Pl.’s Cross-Mot.”); Pl.’s Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Pl.’s Cross-Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 22] (“Pl.’s Mem.”). For the following reasons, the Court will grant defendants’ motion for summary judgment in part and deny it in part, and it will deny plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment. BACKGROUND In 2017, based on directives from both Congress and the President, DoD started drafting an “updated Nuclear Posture Review . . . to determine the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy.” Pl.’s Mem. at 1. Through its own investigation, plaintiff discovered that a number of national laboratories, “which are operated by contractors on behalf of the Department of Energy,” had offered information relevant to the Nuclear Posture Review (“NPR”). Id. On September 21, 2017, plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to NNSA seeking “[a]ll reports produced by national laboratories for consideration in the upcoming Nuclear Posture Review.” Suppl. Compl. ¶ 7. On September 25, 2017, NNSA sent the request to three laboratories: the Los Alamos Field Office, the Livermore Field Office, and the Sandia Field Office. Defs.’ SUMF ¶ 3. 1 1 The Court cites to defendants’ statement of undisputed facts only if plaintiff does not contest the fact at ...
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