§6232 Protection against inadvertent release of restricted data and formerly restricted data

Summary

The Secretary of Energy and the Archivist of the United States must make a plan to stop accidentally releasing Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data when records are automatically declassified under Executive Order No. 13526. They must consult members of the National Security Council and talk with the Secretary of Defense and other relevant agencies. The plan must explain how records will be checked page by page unless they are judged "highly unlikely" to contain such data, define how to make that judgment, require training and supervision for staff who do declassification, say how much automated tools will be used, set up periodic checks of agency compliance with the Energy Secretary working with NARA’s oversight office, give a way to settle agency disagreements, list needed funding and staff, and include a timetable. Starting October 17, 1998, records may not be declassified without a page-by-page review unless the plan’s “highly unlikely” rule applies, and any record found to contain Restricted Data cannot be declassified until the Energy Secretary and the agency head agree. The plan must be sent to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and to the President’s National Security Advisor. The Energy Secretary must report past accidental releases before October 17, 1998, and then every even-numbered year beginning in 2010 report any accidental releases found in the prior two years under Executive Order No. 13526.