UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NISKANEN CENTER, INC., Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 17-676 (JEB) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Niskanen Center, Inc. is seeking information about the National Coal Council, a chartered federal advisory committee that provides advice and recommendations to the Department of Energy. NCC was established in 1984 by the Secretary of Energy to “give coal . . . the same voice” in government that petroleum had long had. See ECF No. 18 (Pl. MSJ & Opp.), Exh. A (Website) at 1. NCC has an incorporated counterpart — NCC, Inc. — in which the Center is also interested. Plaintiff thus submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to DOE for thirteen categories of information regarding NCC and NCC, Inc. DOE has turned over two sets of responsive documents, but Plaintiff remains dissatisfied with the adequacy of the search and the extent of the withholdings. Suit having been filed, each party now moves for summary judgment. The Court will grant in part and deny in part both Motions. I. Background By letter dated March 10, 2017, Plaintiff explained that it is “engaged in a study of the long-term effectiveness of certain federal advisory committees” and requested from DOE thirteen categories of information regarding NCC and NCC, Inc., dating from 1986. See Pl. MSJ 1 & Opp., Exh. O (Plaintiff’s Request); ECF No. 16 (Def. MSJ), Exh. B (Email Amending Request). The Center sought such documents as membership lists, reports and studies, newsletters and announcements, agendas and transcripts, financial statements, tax filings, as well as information about NCC subgroups, NCC, Inc.’s incorporation and 501(c)(6) status, NCC Inc.’s finances and expenditures, and the relationship between NCC and NCC, Inc. See Pl. Request at 1–2. DOE responded on April 7, 2017, that it had “assigned” the request to DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (OFE) to conduct a search of its files for responsive documents. See Def. MSJ, Exh. C (DOE Response) at 2. Ten days later, when DOE failed to respond further by FOIA’s statutory deadline, the Center filed this lawsuit. See ECF No. 1 (Complaint). By letter dated July 7, 2017, DOE finally responded to Plaintiff, identifying eleven documents and one Windows Media Player file responsive to the request and indicating that partially withheld documents were redacted pursuant to FOIA Exemption 6. See ECF No. 16-1 (Declaration of Alexander C. Morris), ¶ 21; Def. MSJ, Exh. D (DOE First Response Letter) at 1–2. After reviewing the production, the Center advised DOE that it believed the search deficient, “including because DOE had failed to provide any documents falling within the categories of Plaintiff’s request specifically pertaining to NCC, Inc. and its relationship to [NCC].” Pl. MSJ & Opp., Exh. P (Declaration of David Bookbinder), ¶ 2; see also Morris Decl., ¶¶ 22–23. DOE then conducted a further search, identifying in a September 13, 2017, letter 21 additional documents and one additional VOB (Video Object) file. See Morris Decl., ¶ 31; Def. MSJ, Exh. ...
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