§6232 Protection Against Inadvertent Release of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data

Summary

The Secretary of Energy and the Archivist must make a plan, after talking with the National Security Council and other federal agencies, to stop accidentally releasing Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data when records are automatically declassified under Executive Order 13526. The plan must say that records will be checked page-by-page unless they are shown to be “highly unlikely” to contain such data, explain how to decide what is “highly unlikely,” require training and supervision for people who review records, say how automated tools will be used, set up agency compliance checks and ways to resolve disagreements, and list needed money, staff, and a timetable. Starting October 17, 1998, a record may not be declassified unless the agency in custody reviews it page-by-page, and any record found to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data cannot be declassified until the Secretary of Energy and the agency head agree. After the plan is sent to Congress, the page-by-page rule does not apply to records the plan labels “highly unlikely,” 60 days after that submission. The plan must be sent to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Secretary of Energy must report past inadvertent releases before October 17, 1998, and must report every even-numbered year starting in 2010 on releases found in the prior two years.