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.
“The Pentagon”3 pages
6404 THE WHITE HOUSE ’97 SEP 2$ am8:27 WASH INGTON September 24, 1997 ACTION MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT THROUGH: SAMUEL R. BERGERFROM: SUBJECT: Purpose Background While ruling 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." Presidential Determination on RCRA Exemption for the Operating Location at Groom Lake cc: Vice President Chief of Staff 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. 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. THE EXECUTIVE CLERK © 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. 24 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.