§3518 Effect on existing laws and regulations

Summary

The Director named in this part has primary authority over how federal agencies set policies and rules for managing information resources. Other agency rules about information must follow the Director here, unless this part says otherwise. This does not change the powers of the Secretary of Commerce or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1977 (as amended) and the related Executive order about telecommunications, information policy, procurement and management of systems, spectrum use, and related matters. The rules in this part do not apply to collecting information in certain matters: criminal investigations or prosecutions; civil cases where the United States is a party; agency actions or investigations against specific people or entities; compulsory antitrust process under the Antitrust Civil Process Act and section 13 of the Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act of 1980; or intelligence activities as defined in section 3.4(e) of Executive Order No. 12333 (issued December 4, 1981) and successor orders, including cryptologic communications-security work. The part does apply to broad investigations of categories like a class of licensees or an entire industry. Nothing here changes the authority given by sections 11331 and 11332 of title 40 or the President’s, OMB’s, or agencies’ authority over substantive policies, including enforcing civil rights laws.