§2672 — Title 50 War and National Defense | U.S. Code

Summary

Require the Secretary of Energy and the Archivist to make a plan, after talking with the National Security Council members, the Secretary of Defense, and other federal agency heads, to stop accidental releases of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data when records are automatically declassified under Executive Order No. 13526. The plan must say how records will be checked page by page unless they are decided to be “highly unlikely” to contain such data; explain how to decide that; set out training, supervision, and testing for people who review records; say how and when automated tools will be used; create procedures for agency compliance checks and for resolving disputes; and list needed money, staff, and a timetable. Starting October 17, 1998, an agency may not declassify a record unless it reviews it page by page for Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data, except that after the plan has been sent to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and 60 days have passed, the page-by-page rule does not apply to records judged highly unlikely to contain such data. If a review finds Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data, the Secretary of Energy and the agency head must agree before it is declassified. The Secretary of Energy must send the plan to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and must report past inadvertent releases before October 17, 1998, and then every even-numbered year starting in 2010 on any inadvertent releases found in the prior two years.

Title 50, §2672

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Energy and the Archivist of the United States shall, after consultation with the members of the National Security Council and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, develop a plan to prevent the inadvertent release of records containing Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data during the automatic declassification of records under Executive Order No. 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note).

(b)The plan under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1)The actions to be taken in order to ensure that records subject to Executive Order No. 13526 are reviewed on a page-by-page basis for Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data unless they have been determined to be highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(2)The criteria and process by which documents are determined to be highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(3)The actions to be taken in order to ensure proper training, supervision, and evaluation of personnel engaged in declassification under that Executive order so that such personnel recognize Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data.

(4)The extent to which automated declassification technologies will be used under that Executive order to protect Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data from inadvertent release.

(5)Procedures for periodic review and evaluation by the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives and Records Administration, of compliance by Federal agencies with the plan.

(6)Procedures for resolving disagreements among Federal agencies regarding declassification procedures and decisions under the plan.

(7)The funding, personnel, and other resources required to carry out the plan.

(8)A timetable for implementation of the plan.

(c)(1)Effective on October 17, 1998, and except as provided in paragraph (3), a record referred to in subsection (a) may not be declassified unless the agency having custody of the record reviews the record on a page-by-page basis to ensure that the record does not contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(2)Any record determined as a result of a review under paragraph (1) to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data may not be declassified until the Secretary of Energy, in conjunction with the head of the agency having custody of the record, determines that the document is suitable for declassification.

(3)After the date occurring 60 days after the submission of the plan required by subsection (a) to the committees referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d), the requirement under paragraph (1) to review a record on a page-by-page basis shall not apply in the case of a record determined, under the actions specified in the plan pursuant to subsection (b)(1), to be a record that is highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(d)The Secretary of Energy shall submit the plan required under subsection (a) to the following:

(1)The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.

(2)The Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

(3)The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.

(e)(1)The Secretary of Energy shall submit to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d) a report on inadvertent releases of Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data under Executive Order No. 12958 that occurred before October 17, 1998.

(2)The Secretary of Energy shall, in each even-numbered year beginning in 2010, submit to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d) a report identifying any inadvertent releases of Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data under Executive Order No. 13526 discovered in the two-year period preceding the submittal of the report.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Executive Order No. 12958, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), which was formerly set out as a note under section 435 (now section 3161) of this title, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13526, § 6.2(g), Dec. 29, 2009, 75 F.R. 731. Codification Section was formerly set out as a note under section 435 of this title prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 108–136.

Amendments

2016—Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 114–328 redesignated subsec. (f) as (e) and struck out former subsec. (e). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (e) read as follows: “The Secretary of Energy shall, in each even-numbered year, submit a summary of the results of the periodic reviews and evaluations specified in the plan pursuant to subsection (b)(5) to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d).” 2014—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3142(m)(1), substituted “Executive Order No. 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note)” for “Executive Order No. 12958 (50 U.S.C. 435 note)”. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3142(m)(2), substituted “Executive Order No. 13526” for “Executive Order No. 12958”. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3142(m)(3), substituted “Executive Order No. 13526” for “Executive Order No. 12958”. 2013—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 113–66 struck out subsec. (g) which defined “Restricted Data”. 2008—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 110–417, § 3121(a)(1), (b), substituted “in each even-numbered year” for “on a periodic basis” and “subsection (b)(5)” for “subsection (b)(4)”. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 110–417, § 3123(a)(2), added par. (2) and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “Commencing with inadvertent releases discovered on or after

October 30, 2000, the Secretary of Energy shall, on a quarterly basis, submit a report to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d). The report shall state whether any inadvertent releases described in paragraph (1) occurred during the immediately preceding quarter and, if so, shall identify each such release.” 2003—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 108–136, § 3141(h)(12)(D)(i), substituted “

October 17, 1998,” for “the date of the enactment of this Act”. Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 108–136, § 3141(h)(12)(D)(ii), substituted “

October 17, 1998” for “the date of the enactment of this Act”. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 108–136, § 3141(h)(12)(D)(iii), substituted “Commencing with inadvertent releases discovered on or after

October 30, 2000, the Secretary” for “The Secretary”. 2000—Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 106–398 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “Not later than 30 days after any such inadvertent release occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall notify the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d) of such releases.” 1999—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted “Committee on Armed Services” for “Committee on National Security”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [div. C, title XXXI, § 3193(b)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–481, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] apply [sic] with respect to inadvertent releases of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data that are discovered on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].”

§2672 Protection Against Inadvertent Release of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data