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.
n rn 2 RECOMMENDATION That you sign the exemption at Tab A. Tab C Tab D Attachments Tab A Tab B The Justice Department and Air Force believe the RCRA statute should be read to include an implicit exception for classified information, and they are appealing the judge's decision on that basis. However, given the uncertainties of an appeal and the sensitivity of the information at stake, Deputy Secretary of Defense White and the Secretary of the Air Force have recommended that you provide a statutory exemption to the operating location. ERA Administrator Browner has concurred on the basis of the Air Force's determination that the information must remain classified. Draft Presidential Determination Unclassified Declaration of Secretary Widnall to the Court Classified Declaration of Secretary Widnall Incoming Recommendation from Deputy Secretary White . UNCLASSIFIED with TOD S-ECRET^CODEWORD Attachment I concur in the recommendation, as do Ab Mikva and Katie McGinty. The classified declaration of Air Force Secretary Widnall at Tab C elaborates on the need to keep the information concerning the operating location at Groom Lake classified. UNCLASSIFIED with ^FOP -SEeRET/CODEWORU Attachment and vulnerability of materials analyzed. The court agreed the information was appropriately classified but found that it could only be protected from disclosure if you invoked authority under RCRA to exempt the location from RCRA's disclosure requirements. DECLASSIFIED E.0.12958, As Amended, White House Guidelines, August 28,1997 By. .^-NARA, Date The proposed exemption is worded narrowly, to exempt the location only from disclosure requirements and not from applicable environmental standards. It needs to be filed with the court by October 2.
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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.