Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices 25737

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL

Procedures for Obtaining Access to

National Security Council (NSC)

Records

AGENCY: National Security Council.

ACTION: Notice of NSC Issuance of

Access Procedures.

SUMMARY: The NSC is today publishing

a Removal of Final Rule in the Federal

Register that removes the NSC

regulations for processing Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) requests for

NSC records. Although NSC records are

no longer subject to disclosure under

the FOIA, a Presidential Memorandum

of March 24, 1994, directed the NSC to

establish procedures for continued

public access to appropriate NSC

records.

DATES: These procedures take effect on

May 8, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rod

Soubers, 202–456–9201.

Public Access to National Security

Council Records

Introduction

Sec. 1.1 Background

As an organization in the Executive

Office of the President that advises and

assists the President, the National

Security Council (NSC) is not subject to

the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

However, the NSC accepts and

processes requests from the public and

releases information as appropriate on a

discretionary basis.

Sec. 1.2 Purpose

These procedures set forth an orderly

process for public access to important

national security information, consistent

with protecting national security,

ensuring the rights of individuals, and

promoting open and effective

government.

Requests From the Public for Records

Sec. 2.1 Access Policy

a. The NSC will review for release: (1)

certain records of the current

administration: namely, those internal

records created by and transmitted

exclusively among NSC staff members

as well as all communications sent or

received from outside the Executive

Office of the President; and (2) records

remaining in NSC custody from past

Presidential administrations.

b. Because of the NSC’s statutory role

in advising and assisting the President

with respect to national security issues,

many of the records maintained by the

NSC are extremely sensitive; most are

classified under Executive Order 12958

or predecessor orders. Consequently, a

main emphasis of the NSC staff in

reviewing records for release to the

public is assuring that sensitive national

security information remains protected

as records are released. In releasing

documents, the NSC will follow

generally accepted access principles,

such as those articulated in FOIA case

law.

c. Records of the current

administration are not subject to the

mandatory review provisions of

Executive Order 12958. However, all

requests for classified records not

otherwise restricted will be processed in

a manner consistent with the mandatory

review provisions of Executive Order

12958, or its successor.

d. A record, or portion thereof, may be

exempted from release only if it

contains information within one or

more of the following categories:

1. Information that is specifically

authorized under criteria established by

an Executive Order to be kept secret in

the interest of national defense or

foreign policy and is in fact properly

classified pursuant to such Executive

Order.

2. Information relating to

appointments to Federal office or

entirely to the internal practices of the

NSC, including formats maintained in

confidence to authenticate internal

issuances.

3. Information that is specifically

exempted from disclosure by statute.

4. Trade secrets and commercial or

financial information obtained from a

person and privileged or confidential.

5. Communications requesting or

submitting advice, or any other

privileged communications, between

presidential advisers, including NSC

staff, or between NSC staff and other

government officials.

6. Personnel files and similar

information the disclosure of which

would constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy.

7. Information compiled for law

enforcement purposes.

Sec. 2.2 Submitting Requests for

Records

All requests from the public for

records should be addressed to:

Director, Access Management, National

Security Council, Washington, D.C.

20504. Requests for records must be

sufficiently specific to enable the NSC

staff to locate the record with a

reasonable amount of effort. When a

request does not reasonably and

specifically describe the record sought,

the NSC staff will notify the requester

that no further action will be taken until

additional information is provided, or

the scope of the request is narrowed.

Sec. 2.3 Processing Requests for

Records

a. The NSC staff will process and

answer all requests, including

conducting searches for responsive

records, providing copies of all

releasable records, providing a negative

reply if no responsive records are

located, and providing a reason for

withholding of any record or portion

thereof.

b. Public requests to the NSC are

generally handled on a ‘‘first-in/firstout’’ basis. The Access Management

Staff will maintain a queue of requests

and will service each request in turn. In

the interest of economy and efficiency

the staff may establish separate queues

for requests of different degrees of

difficulty.

c. There are three routine procedural

exceptions to this ‘‘first-in/first-out’’

policy: (1) when it is readily apparent

that requested documents have been

previously declassified and released, the

request is answered without regard to its

position in the queue; (2) when a new

document request is identical to or

involves part of a previous but still

pending document request (i.e., no

additional research is required), the new

request is processed along with the

pending request; and (3) when the

processing of a particular request

requires coordination with agencies of

subject matter interest, a response

cannot be provided to a requester until

the coordination is complete.

d. Exceptions to the ‘‘first-in/first-out’’

policy may also be made in order to

hasten response to (1) requests that may

affect the personal safety of an

individual or (2) requests that are of

broad and pressing public interest.

e. In order to assure equitable access

to records by all members of the

requesting public, initial production of

documents in response to any single

request, at the discretion of the Access

Management staff, may be limited to

what can reasonably be retrieved

without burdensome effort. After the

initial production of documents the

request will be placed at the end of the

queue to await further action in turn

after other waiting requesters have been

served.

f. After any materials responsive to a

particular public request are collected,

they are reviewed for declassification

and release. In reviewing documents for

declassification, the Access

Management staff often seeks the subject

matter expertise of interested Federal

agencies. This expertise is obtained

through the referral of copies of
25738 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices

responsive documents to appropriate

agencies for review and

recommendation or through

consultation.

g. Copies of responsive documents

that were originated by a Federal agency

but located among NSC files may be

referred to the originating agency for a

release determination and direct

response by the agency to the requester.

h. In light of the NSC’s official

recordkeeping practices, records

normally will be made available in

paper form. Exceptions to this policy

will be made where electronic versions

of records exist in an accessible form,

and it is feasible for the NSC to provide

public access to records in that form.

Sec. 2.4 Requests for Reconsideration

a. Requests for reconsideration of

decisions not to release requested

documents, or portions thereof, should

be addressed to the Executive Secretary,

National Security Council, Washington,

D.C. 20504, within sixty (60) days from

the date the requester receives written

notification of the denial. This appeal

process does not include

reconsideration of notifications that no

responsive documents were located in a

search of NSC files.

b. Requests for reconsideration will be

placed in a separate queue to be acted

on in turn. The Access Management

staff will process such requests as

expeditiously as possible.

Sec. 2.5 Availability of Released

Records

Upon release to an individual

requester, NSC numbered policy

documents are also deposited with the

National Archives and Records

Administration for general public

reference.

Sec. 2.6 Fee Schedule

The NSC reserves the right to

establish a fee schedule for the search

and reproduction of information

available under this public access

policy.

Glyn Davies,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12343 Filed 5–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3150–01–P