Documents / Official release
This Clinton Presidential Library file from the National Security Council holds Presidential Determination No. 97-35, dated September 26, 1997. It renews the exemption for the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The file also contains memoranda from Samuel Berger, James Baker, the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall. They describe the Kasza v. Browner litigation and say the exemption shields classified information from disclosure but leaves environmental standards in force.
.u»/zzza/ MUrt 18:45 FAA 7036939355 SAF GC 0003 SEP I 9 1997 MEMORANDUM FOR THE DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ( SUBJECT: PURPOSE: Protect classified information concerning the operating location near Groom Lake ITFS OtJXidM As discussed in the memoranda requesting the exemption the last two years, the activities undertaken at the operating location near Groom Lake are crucial to national security. The nature of the activities requires that virtually all information about the location remain classified. To protect national security in the pending litigation, I have made a formal claim of the military and state secrets privilege, which the court has found procedurally and substantively proper. FROM: SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE, SHEILA E. WIDN. Prepared by: Mr. Slater, SAF/GC, 697-4406 In the ruling at issue, the court nonetheless held that classified information must be produced pursuant to the public disclosure provisions of Section 3007(b) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. § 6927(b), unless an exemption is granted by the President pursuant to Section 6001(a) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. § 6961(a). EP A, through briefs filed by the Justice Department, has contested that construction, arguing that RCRA is properly interpreted as not mandating disclosure of classified information, which is consistent with other statutes, the common law, and separation of powers considerations. That issue is now on appeal. To protect classified information concerning the operating location near Groom Lake while the issue is litigated, the President granted such an exemption on September 29,1995, which he renewed on September 28, 1996. To ensure continued protection of the information during the appeal process, a further renewal is required now. DISCUSSION: I recommend and request that you seek from the President a renewal of the exemption he issued on September 28, 1996, protecting from public disclosure classified information concerning an Air Force operating location near Groom Lake in the Nellis Range Complex in Nevada. By statute, the exemption granted last year is effective for one year, unless renewed. The exemption was prompted by a judicial decision in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, Kasza v. Browner, which is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In the meantime, continued protection through a renewed exemption is necessary. Renewal of Presidential Exemption for Classified Information Concerning the Air Force’s Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada - ACTION MEMORANDUM SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE WASHINGTON sol J
Not linked to a story yet.
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 24 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.