Documents / Official release
This 1995 Clinton Presidential Library file contains Presidential Determination No. 95-45, signed by President Clinton on September 29, 1995, and its supporting papers. The determination exempts the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any hazardous waste law requirement to disclose classified information, following the lawsuits Kasza v. Browner and Frost v. Perry. The file also includes Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall's unclassified declaration invoking the military and state secrets privilege, along with recommendation memos from Widnall, Deputy Secretary of Defense White and Anthony Lake.
t TOP ClWf 7055 WASHINGTON September 27, 1995 ACTION MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRE' DENT THROUGH: THE EXECUTIVE CLERK FROM: ANTHONY SUBJECT: Purpose Background CC: TOR-REGRETv CLINTON LIBRARY PHOTOCOPY To exempt the Air Force from public disclosure requirements concerning the inspection and inventory of hazardous waste at the "operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada." RCRA Exemption for the Operating Location at Groom Lake UNCLASSIFIED with ■TOD DECRET^ODDIi^eR^ Attachment DECLASSIFIED E.0.12958, As Amended, the white house White House Guidelines, August 28,1997 Ry P»M<NARA,Date SAi £7 UNCLASSIFIED with Attachment Lawsuits have been brought against EPA, the Air Force and other government officials for failure to enforce the requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) at a classified AF operating location near Groom Dry Lake Bed, Nevada (the operating location). Plaintiffs allege EPA failed to (1) conduct a RCRA inspection; (2) compile an inventory of wastes and (3) publicly disclose the inspection and inventory. Subsequent to this suit, the EPA, in agreement with the Air Force, conducted a RCRA inspection and compiled a RCRA inventory. The Air Force has committed to conducting its activities at the operating location in accordance with RCRA requirements. EPA agrees that annual RCRA inspections will be conducted at the operating location. On this basis, the district court has granted summary judgment for the Government regarding plaintiffs' inspection and inventory claims. The only remaining issue is RCRA's requirement of public disclosure of the inspection and inventory. The Secretary of the Air Force presented a classified affidavit to the Court explaining that public disclosure would compromise sensitive national security information. She explained that the presence of certial chemicals or chemical compounds could reveal military operational capabilities or the nature and scope of classified operations and could provide critical information on the makeup Vice Presrcfent Chief of Staff PHOTOCOPY WJC handwriting
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Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 34 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.