§2254a — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can keep certain military flight safety records out of public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. To do that, the Secretary must write a decision saying the information is sensitive about military planes, units, or flight crews and that the public’s interest in seeing it is not greater than the need to keep it secret. A “data file” means files from the military flight operations quality assurance (MFOQA) system, including raw MFOQA databases and any reports or analyses made from MFOQA data. Even if only parts of a file are sensitive, those parts can be kept secret. Only a later law that specifically changes this rule can override it. The Secretary must make rules so all military departments apply this the same way. Each secrecy decision must be in writing, explain why, and be available to the public on request.

Title 10, §2254a

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary of Defense may exempt information contained in any data file of the military flight operations quality assurance system of a military department from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, upon a written determination that—

(A)the information is sensitive information concerning military aircraft, units, or aircrew; and

(B)the public interest consideration in the disclosure of such information does not outweigh preventing the disclosure of such information.

(2)In this section, the term “data file” means a file of the military flight operations quality assurance (in this section referred to as “MFOQA”) system that contains information acquired or generated by the MFOQA system, including—

(A)any data base containing raw MFOQA data; and

(B)any analysis or report generated by the MFOQA system or which is derived from MFOQA data.

(3)Information that is exempt under paragraph (1) from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5 shall be exempt from such disclosure even if such information is contained in a data file that is not exempt in its entirety from such disclosure.

(4)The provisions of paragraph (1) may not be superseded except by a provision of law which is enacted after the date of the enactment of this section and which specifically cites and repeals or modifies those provisions.

(b)The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section. Such regulations shall ensure consistent application of the authority in subsection (a) across the military departments.

(c)Each determination of the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be made in writing and accompanied by a statement of the basis for the determination. All such determinations and statements of basis shall be available to the public, upon request.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (a)(4), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 112–81, which was approved Dec. 31, 2011.

Amendments

2023—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 118–31 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c), struck out “, or the Secretary’s designee,” after “Secretary” and “, through the Office of the Director of Administration and Management” after “request”, and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (c) read as follows: “The Secretary of Defense may delegate the authority to make a determination under subsection (a) to the Director of Administration and Management of the Department.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title X, § 1082(b), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1601, provided that: “Section 2254a of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to any information entered into any data file of the military flight operations quality assurance system before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 31, 2011].”

§2254a Data Files of Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance Systems: Exemption From Disclosure Under Freedom of Information Act