Federal Register: December 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 244)
Notices               
Page 76449-76450
                    

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

 
Notice of Decennial Review of Operational Files Designations

AGENCY: Central Intelligence Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Decennial Review of Operational Files Designations.

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SUMMARY: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA or Agency) is soliciting 
comments regarding the historical value of, or other public interest 
in, the CIA files designated by the Director of Central Intelligence 
(DCI) pursuant to the CIA Information Act of 1984.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 20, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in writing to Edmund Cohen, Director of 
Information Management Services, Central Intelligence Agency, 
Washington, DC 20505, or by fax to (703) 613-3020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edmund Cohen, Director of Information 
Management Services, Central Intelligence Agency, telephone 703-613-
1215.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CIA Information Act of 1984, codified in 
section 431 of title 50 of the United States Code, authorizes the DCI 
to exempt operational files of the CIA from the publication, 
disclosure, search, and review provisions of the Freedom of Information 
Act. The statute defines operational files as:
    1. Files of the Directorate of Operations that document the conduct 
of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence operations or 
intelligence or security liaison arrangements or information exchanges 
with foreign governments or their intelligence or security services;
    2. Files of the Directorate of Science and Technology that document 
the means by which foreign intelligence or counterintelligence is 
collected through scientific and technical systems; and
    3. Files of the Office of Security that document investigations 
conducted to determine the suitability of potential foreign 
intelligence or counterintelligence sources; except that files that are 
the sole repository of disseminated intelligence are not operational 
files.
    The CIA Information Act of 1984 requires that, not less than once 
every ten years, the DCI shall review the exemptions in force to 
determine whether such exemptions may be removed from any category of 
exempted files or any portion thereof. The Agency completed its first 
decennial review exercise in March 1995. The following represents a 
summary of the general categories of operational files that have been 
maintained within the Directorate of Operations, the Directorate of 
Science and Technology, and the Office of Security since the first 
decennial review:
    1. Files of the Directorate of Operations that document the 
intelligence sources and methods associated with various operational 
and foreign liaison activities, that document the conduct and 
management of various operational and foreign liaison activities, and 
that document the assessment of the viability of potential operational 
and foreign liaison activities and potential intelligence sources and 
methods;
    2. Files of the Directorate of Science and Technology that document 
the use of scientific and technical systems in the conduct of and in 
support of various operational and intelligence collection activities;
    3. Files of the Office of Security that document various aspects of 
the investigations conducted to determine the suitability of potential 
foreign intelligence or counterintelligence

[[Page 76450]]

sources proposed for use in various operational activities.
    The CIA is in the process of conducting its second decennial review 
of its operational files to determine whether any of the previously 
designated files, or portions thereof, can be removed from any of the 
specified categories of exempted files. The CIA Information Act of 1984 
requires that the decennial review ``include consideration of the 
historical value or other public interest in the subject matter of the 
particular category of files or portions thereof and the potential for 
declassifying a significant part of the information contained 
therein.'' In accordance with this requirement, the CIA hereby solicits 
comments for the DCI's consideration during the decennial review of the 
CIA's operational files regarding the historical value of, or other 
public interest in, the subject matter of these particular categories 
of files or portions thereof described above and the relationship of 
that historical value or other public interest to the removal of 
previously designated files or any portions thereof from such a 
classification.

    Dated: December 7, 2004.
Edmund Cohen,
Director of Information Management Services, Office of the Chief 
Information Office.
[FR Doc. 04-27840 Filed 12-20-04; 8:45 am]

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