Documents / Official release
This Clinton Presidential Library release holds the National Security Council file for Presidential Determination No. 97-35, which President Clinton signed on September 26, 1997. The determination renewed for one more year an exemption under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The exemption keeps classified information about the Air Force operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from public disclosure while Kasza v. Browner is on appeal. The file also contains supporting memos from Secretary of the Air Force Widnall, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Samuel Berger.
“The Pentagon”2 pages
6404 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON September 25, 1997 ACTION MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT THROUGH: THE EXECUTIVE CLERK FROM: SAMUEL R. BERGE SUBJECT: Purpose Background While ruling cc: Vice President Chief of Staff Presidential Determination on RCRA Exemption for the Operating Location at Groom Lake Continuation of this exemption does not prejudge our review of the health and environmental record at the Air Force location. General Kerrick and Jamie Baker are scheduled to visit the To continue to exempt the Air Force from public disclosure requirements concerning the inspection and inventory of hazardous waste at the Air Force "operating location near Groom Lake." You have twice issued an exemption under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) protecting from disclosure classified information concerning an Air Force location near Groom Lake, Nevada. By statute, the exemption is effective for one year, unless renewed. As a result, the attached exemption should be signed by September 27. The exemption was necessitated by litigation over RCRA compliance at the facility. While ruling that the information in question was appropriately classified, the Federal district court ruled that under RCRA classified information could only be protected from public disclosure pursuant to a Presidential exemption. That ruling remains under appeal. In the interim, Deputy Secretary of Defense Hamre and Secretary of the Air Force Widnall recommend that you renew the exemption to provide continued protection for national security information. EPA Administrator Browner and the Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division concur in this recommendation as does Katie McGinty. As with last year's exemption, the attached document is worded to exempt the location only from disclosure requirements and not from applicable environmental standards.
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Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 29 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.