FAS Intro: The following plan was prepared in compliance with legislation adopted in the 105th Congress "to prevent the inadvertent release of records containing Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data during the automatic declassification of records." Its immediate impact will be to dramatically reduce or eliminate automatic declassification in 1999.
February 1, 1999
Senior Agency Officials of Entities Granted Original Classification Authority by the President
The development and coordination process mandated by the Act is now complete, and we are pleased to transmit the attached Special Historical Records Review Plan (the "Plan") to your agency for implementation, effective beginning January 28, 1999. The guiding principle of the Plan, as the President stated in signing the Act, is to protect RD and FRD from inadvertent release "in a manner that will ensure the maximum continuity of agency efforts, as directed by my Executive Order 12958, to declassify historically valuable records."
Except for records contained in file series that are exempt from the Plan's evaluation requirement, as provided in paragraph II.A.2., agencies may not declassify and release any 25-year-old records that have not been reviewed on a page-by-page basis until March 30, 1999, when this plan goes into full effect. In the meantime, however, you should begin applying the other provisions of the Plan to your declassification activity under Section 3.4 of E.O. 12958
The primary responsibility for implementing the Plan falls to DOE, which will (1) train other agencies' reviewers to identify RD/FRD and (2) conduct quality assurance/control reviews of declassified records to find any overlooked RD/FRD and recommend corrective action. For other agencies, the primary tasks will be to (1) evaluate all file series subject to Section 3.4 of E.O. 12958 to determine their likelihood of containing RD/FRD; (2) conduct page-by-page review of file series likely to contain RD/FRD; and (3) ensure that appropriate personnel receive the mandatory training offered by DOE.
In addition, the attached Implementation Guide prepared by DOE outlines three requirements that need to be addressed within the next 60 days, i.e., scheduling mandatory training, reporting record locations, and reporting RD/FRD inadvertent releases. The Guide also contains points-of-contact for each step. If you have any questions about other aspects of the Plan, please contact one of us at the numbers listed below.
Steven Garfinkel
Director
Information Security Oversight Office
(202)219-5250
A. Bryan Siebert
Director
Office of Declassification
Department of Energy
(301)903-3521
Attachments
January 13, 1999
B. Basis.
2. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
3. Executive Order 12958
D. Access to Classified Information. All access to classified information under this plan shall be in accordance with appropriate access authorization and need-to-know standards.
E. Applicability. This plan applies to all agencies and subagencies (hereafter referred to as agency) subject to section 3.4 of Executive Order 12958.
F. Scope. This plan covers those records subject to section 3.4 of Executive Order 12958, except for records and file series determined to be exempt from automatic declassification under section 3.4.
G. Funding. Additional funding will be required to fully implement the provisions of this Plan. Paragraph X provides estimates of the incremental funding needed by agencies to implement this plan. Agencies shall ensure that funds are allocated to implement this plan consistent with the President's budget.
H. Restrictions on Declassification of RD/FRD Records. Under this plan, no RD/FRD records are authorized to be declassified. RD and FRD records have special declassification requirements that are specified in 10 CFR 1045.32(b) and are prohibited from automatic declassification under 10 CFR 1045.38. Knowing, willful, or negligent action that results in the release of RD/FRD may be subject to sanctions under 10 CFR 1045.5. Note: The inadvertent release of RD/FRD does not automatically result in its declassification.
2. File Series Exempt from Evaluation Requirement.
b) All file series that have been reviewed for declassification before the implementation date of this plan are exempt from this requirement.
c) All file series proposed by an agency and accepted by the President as exempt from automatic declassification under section3.4(c) of Executive Order 12958 are exempt from this requirement.
4. Grouping of File Series. The agency may treat subsets or groups of file series as individual file series if they generally meet the definition of file series. In addition, the agency may treat segregable portions of file series as separate file series if the agency determines that one portion of the series is highly unlikely to contain RD/FRD but another segregable portion is likely to do so.
2. Recordkeeping. The agency shall retain these certifications and any survey notes or other work products that were created to document the agency's determination and make them available to the Department of Energy (DOE) upon request either prior to or during a quality assurance/quality control visit under paragraph VI. The agency shall also include a copy of the certifications, survey notes, or other work products when transferring file series to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
2. File Series Likely to Contain RD/FRD. A Historical Record RD Reviewer shall conduct a page-by-page review for RD/FRD of each record in such file series. Each record containing RD/FRD shall be identified to prevent the inadvertent release of the record; e.g., tabbed for ready identification during future processing. A Historical Record RD Reviewer may not declassify RD/FRD records. If during the page-by-page review it becomes evident that the file series is highly unlikely to contain RD/FRD, the agency may reevaluate that file series and certify its "highly unlikely" status under paragraph II. Such file series may then be processed under paragraph III.A.1.
3. All Other File Series. An agency reviewer shall conduct a page-by-page review of each record in those file series for which the likelihood of containing RD/FRD cannot be determined. If the reviewer finds any RD/FRD, marked or unmarked, then the series becomes likely to contain RD/FRD and is processed under paragraph III.A.2. If no marked or unmarked RD/FRD is found, then the agency shall process the file series under its regular automatic declassification procedures.
2. Seminar Content. This half-day seminar describes the requirements in this plan, assists agency personnel to recognize RD/FRD subject areas in the records, and discusses related records processing procedures (see Appendix 3 for seminar outline).
2. Content of Course. This 5-day course assists Historical Record RD Reviewers to recognize records potentially containing RD/FRD. Specifically, the course will enable such Reviewers to recognize nuclear information appearing in records not marked as containing RD/FRD which should be identified as potential RD/FRD and set aside. (See Appendix 4 for course outline.)
3. Location of Training. The training will be held primarily at DOE or other-agency facilities in the Washington, D.C., area. However, if there is sufficient interest, the training can also be provided at DOE or other-agency facilities outside the Washington, D. C. area.
4. Waiver or Modification of Training Requirements. An agency may request that DOE waive or modify the above training requirements for an individual or a group of individuals. Such a request may be based on any relevant factors; for example, previous training, classification/declassification experience, technical background of the individual(s), or passing a certification test without attending training.
B. Plan Contents. The agency's implementation plan shall include a description of how the work of each Historical Record RD Reviewer will be supervised and evaluated (e.g., the agency's quality assurance/quality control measures, reviewer qualifications, processing steps of documents under review, expected review quotas, security requirements).
C. DOE Review of Agency's Implementation Plan.
2. Other Review. An organization may send its implementation plan to DOE at any time for review and comment. DOE shall provide comments in a timely manner.
B. Location of Records. In order for DOE to evaluate an agency's compliance with this plan, DOE must know the geographic location where the agency is processing records under section 3.4 of the Executive order. Therefore, within 15 days of the implementation date of this plan, each agency shall notify the DOE Director of Declassification of each location, the approximate volume of the records at each location, and a point of contact (name and telephone number).
C. Conduct of the Review. DOE shall use quality assurance/quality control principles to assess the agency's implementation of this plan. (See Appendix 5 for description of areas to be covered during the review.)
D. Evaluation of Review Results. If the review reveals RD/FRD that was not identified during the agency's processing of the file series, then DOE shall evaluate the potential damage to the national security and recommend what course of action is required on a case-by-case basis. Such requirements may cover a broad spectrum of actions, including complete re-review of all records in the file series by the originating agency.
E. Report of Review Results. The Secretary of Energy shall submit a summary of the results of these reviews and evaluations to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs 15 days prior to submitting the report to the required congressional committees. Such report shall address an agency's overall program and not just focus on individual errors. The first report shall be submitted 6 months after the implementation date of this plan and periodically thereafter, but not less than once a year.
VIII. Notification of Inadvertent Releases.
2. DOE Notification Requirement.
b) Within 60 days of DOE's submission of the plan to Congress, the Secretary of Energy shall report such releases to the required congressional committees. Such report shall be submitted to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, with a copy of relevant portions to each appropriate agency, 7 days prior to submitting the report to the congressional committees.
2. DOE Notification Requirement.
b) As required in Section 3161(f)(2), the Secretary of Energy shall report inadvertent releases to the required congressional committees within 30 working days of notification or discovery. Such report shall be submitted to the Assistant to the President forNational Security Affairs, with a copy of relevant portions to each appropriate agency, 7 days prior to submitting the report to the congressional committees.
X. Estimated Resource Requirements. The following figures represent estimates of incremental costs to be incurred by DOE, Department of Defense (DOD), and NARA to implement this plan. The only costs estimated by other agencies are the costs of receiving traning offered by DOE, which are not included here.
FY 1999 Outyears A. DOE Estimated Costs 1. Cost for new Federal staff $ 350,000 $ 700,000 2. Cost for new contractor staff $5,420,000 $4,300,000 3. Cost for training DOE QA/QC reviewers (including travel) $ 180,000 $ 0 Total DOE Estimated Costs $5,950,000 $5,000,000 B. DOD Estimated Costs 1. Cost for new Federal staff $ 201,592 $ 201,592 2. Cost for new contractor staff $1,359,458 $ 676,342 3. Cost for travel associated with training $ 835,740 $ 224,000 Total DOD Estimated Costs $2,396,790 $1,101,934 C. NARA Estimated Costs 1. Cost for new Federal staff $ 68,000 $ 70,500 2. Cost for new contractor staff $ 0 $ 0 3. Other costs (including travel, upgrading access authorizations, and facility upgrades) $ 130,000 $ 7,500 Total NARA Estimated Costs $ 198,000 $ 78,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS $8,544,790 $6,179,934
XI. Timetable to Implement Plan. (See Appendix 7)
XII. Definitions.
B. Formerly Restricted Data (FRD). Information that is still classified under the Atomic Energy Act but which has been removed from the Restricted Data category because it is related primarily to the military utilization of nuclear weapons. FRD is exempt from Executive Order 12958, including the automatic declassification provisions in section 3.4.
C. Historical Record RD Reviewer. An individual trained and certified by DOE to recognize information potentially classified as RD/FRD in records that are subject to the automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 12958.
D. Page-by-Page Review. A review of the information contained on each page of a record by an agency reviewer or a Historical Record RD Reviewer to determine whether any page in that record contains information that is exempt from the automatic declassification provisions of section 3.4 of Executive Order 12958; e,g., RD/FRD.
E. File Series. File units or documents arranged according to a filing system or kept together because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, document a specific kind of transaction, take a particular physical form, or have some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use, such as restrictions on access and use. Generally handled as a unit for disposition purposes. For the purposes of this plan, subsets or groups of formal file series may be treated as individual file series if they generally meet the above definition. (Note: File series means record series.)
F. Record. Materials determined to have permanent historical value under title 44, United States Code, including federal records under 44 U.S.C. 3301, donated materials under 44 U.S.C. 2111, presidential historical materials of Richard M. Nixon under 44 U.S.C. 2111 note, and presidential records under 44 U.S.C. 2201.
1. Definition of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data. Restricted Data is defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, as "...all data concerning (1) design, manufacture, or utilization of atomic weapons; (2) the production of special nuclear material; or (3) the use of special nuclear material in the productionof energy..." Formerly Restricted Data is "...such data as the [DOE] and the Department of Defense jointly determine relates primarily to the military utilization of atomic weapons and which the [DOE] and Department of Defense jointly determine can be adequately safeguarded as defense information..."
2. Period Context of Records. All research on nuclear physics was unclassified prior to the formation of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) in June 1940. After the formation of the NDRC, publications on uranium research,which were at that time primarily concerned with isotope separation, were no longer made public. When the Manhattan Engineer District was formed on August13, 1942, it took over all matters involving the production of Special Nuclear Materials and nuclear weapons research and shrouded all work in a veil of secrecy.
The likelihood of the occurrence of RD or FRD in an other-agency file series depends on what issues the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) or its predecessor or successor agency was involved in at the time and the involvement of the other agency in the same issues.
3. Examples. The following activities are provided as examples of past involvement with the nuclear weapons program by certain agencies and are not meant to be considered as all-inclusive:
The Department of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) did weather modeling and forecasting on the basis of air, cloud,and temperature sampling during nuclear weapon testing.
The Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation) investigated spycases, such as Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is a successor to the Federal Civil Defense Administration, that directed Federal civil defense policies.
5. Other Available Information About File Series. Other information known about the file series, such as the originating office or previous owner of the records and the activities engaged in at the time the records were created, may provide further clues to the likelihood of the presence of RD or FRD in particular file series. Finding aids for the file series, if they exist, would contribute to the historical context.
6. Type of Categorization Review or Survey Performed by Agency. An agency's certification should be based on the depth of the review of a file series that was done to support the certification. A certification that a file series is highly unlikely to contain RD/FRD is more reliable if the file series was extensively sampled or surveyed without discovering marked RD or FRD as opposed to relying on a review of file series title alone or the titles of the boxes containing the records.
7. Quality of Descriptive Information and Existence of Database. The existence of a database in which box- or folder-level data and review results are recorded provides a firm documentation trail and extensive information about the file series. It is not a guideline per se, but it would provide more confidence in the results from applying other guidelines.
RECORD SERIES DETERMINED AS HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO CONTAIN RD/FRD
Agency's Name:
Responsible Official:
Point of Contact: (Name and telephone number)
1 . Record group to which file series belongs
2. File series title
3. File series volume (in linear feet)
4. File series location
5. Explain the basis for this determination and attach any survey notes or work products:
I certify that the file series identified above is determined as highly unlikely to contain RD/FRD.
(Signature of certifying official)
(Name and title of certifying official)
(Date)
Restricted Data / Formerly Restricted Data
Recognition and Records Processing Seminar
TOPIC COVERED TIME ALLOTTED Introduction and Overview of the Implementation Plan 1/2 hour In-depth review of the plan and specific requirements outlined in 1 hour the plan's procedures for processing of the affected records. Specific examples of how to use the procedures for various record sets will be provided RD/FRD Recognition Training 2 hours Review and Discussion of Questions 1 hour
COURSE OUTLINE FOR
HISTORICAL RECORD RD REVIEWERS
DAY SUBJECT TIME ALL0TED DAY 1 History of DOE and the RD/FRD Classification System 2 hours Overview of Nuclear-related Terms and Science 2 hours Nuclear Explosives Design/Manufacturing 4 hours DAY 2 Nuclear Explosives (Continued) Design/Manufacturing (Continued) 2 hours Military Utilization 6 hours DAY 3 Nuclear Explosives (Continued) Practical exercises (Review of nuclear explosive documents) 4 hours Nuclear Materials Production Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Production Reactors 2 hours Isotope Separation Technology 2 hours DAY 4 Nuclear Materials Production (Continued) Practical exercises (Review of nuclear materials documents) 2 hours Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) Used for the Production of Energy Naval Reactor Program 2 hours Other Reactors 1 hour Practical exercises (Review of SNM in the production of energy documents) 1 hour Review of Major Areas of Declassified RD 1 hour Procedures for Marking, Handling, and Protecting 1 hour Suspected RD DAY 5 Comprehensive Review and Practical Exercise 4 hours Certification Examination 2 hours
DOE QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL
DOE will periodically utilize Quality Assurance (QA)/ Quality Control (QC) methods to evaluate an agency's compliance with this plan.
QA focuses on the declassification review process itself (e.g., procedures, training, internal checks, etc.). QC focuses on the product that results from the process (i.e., the declassified records themselves).
QA/QC will be conducted by qualified DOE and DOE contractor personnel. Typically, DOE will examine records that have been declassified to ensure that no RD or FRD is being inadvertently released. Based on the results of this records examination, the agency's declassification review process will be analyzed and improvements may be recommended.
Quality Control Methods
Class ification/declassification guidance. A spot check of the guidance available to reviewers may be made to see if it is adequate and the topics identified as RD/FRD are consistent with DOE guidance. This may help DOE to identify if there is other guidance that would be useful to the reviewers.
Interview reviewers or individuals involved in the review process
REPORT OF INADVERTENT RELEASE
Responsible Official: (Name and telephone number)
Point of Contact: (Name and telephone number)
Date of Erroneous Release:
Date Erroneous Release Discovered:
1 Record group to which file series belongs
2. File series title
3. File series volume (in linear feet)
4. File series location
5. File series unclassified description, including
NOTE: When this form is completed, classify it at the level and category (RD or FRD) of the inadvertently released document
SEND TO: Director, Office of Declassification (Attn: NN-523) (Classified mailing address)
U. S. Department of Energy
P. 0. Box A
Germantown, MD 20874-0963
1. Implementation date of plan January 28, 1999 2. Secretary of Energy submits plan to Congress January 28, 1999 3. Agencies evaluate and certify record series as "highly unlikely" to contain RD/FRD Ongoing 4. Agencies may bulk declassify records they determine to be "highly unlikely" to contain RD/FRD Ongoing from March 29, 1999 5. Agencies begin to develop plan describing program to implement plan requirements January 28, 1999 6. DOE requests agencies to submit names of individuals to be trained as Historical Record RD Reviewers January 28, 1999 7. DOE begins conducting 5-day training courses for Historical Record RD Reviewers Ongoing from January 25, 1999 8. DOE/NARA conducts training seminars for agency personnel Ongoing from March 1, 1999 9. Agencies submit to DOE locations of records being processed under section 3.4 February 11, 1999 10. DOE evaluates agency compliance with plan requirements Ongoing from February 11, 1999 11. DOE conducts QC review of records Ongoing from January 28 in process at NARA until December 31, 1999 12. DOE submits first summary of results of QA/QC reviews to NSC and Congress July 28, 1999 13. Agencies notify DOE of inadvertent releases occurring before enactment of section 3161 March 1, 1999 14. DOE notifies agencies of suspected inadvertent releases occurring before enactment of section 3161 and not reported by agencies March 1, 1999 15. DOE notifies NSC and Congress of prior inadvertent releases March 30, 1999 16. Agencies notify DOE of inadvertent releases occurring after enactment of section 3161 ASAP after discovery 17. DOE notifies agencies of suspected inadvertent releases occurring after enactment of section 3161 ASAP after discovery 18. DOE notifies NSC and Congress of new inadvertent releases 30 working days later
TRAINING:
Points-of-Contact
Cathy Maus, (301)903-4863 (Questions about courses)
Pat Jamgochian, (301)903-7567 (Course registration)
The implementation plan requires all individuals involved in the review of records under section 3.4 of Executive Order 12958 to attend varying degrees of training, based on their involvement with Restricted Data (RD) and Formerly Restricted Data (FRD) in the review process. The two courses described below are intended to enhance individuals' ability to recognize, handle and protect RD and FRD properly, thus reducing the risk of inadvertent public release.
In order to expedite the review process, it is important that agencies schedule their reviewers for these courses as soon as possible.
Historical Record RD Reviewer Course
All individuals who conduct page-by-page reviews of records likely to contain RD/FRD are required to attend a 5-day Historical Record RD course. This course is intended to enable reviewers to recognize nuclear information appearing in records not marked as containing RD/FRD which should be identified as potential RD/FRD and set aside. Upon successful completion of this mandatory course, reviewers will be certified as Historical Record RD Reviewers.
Agencies should notify the Department of Energy (DOE) Director, Office of Declassification of the geographic location of records slated for processing under section 3.4 of Executive Order 12958, by February 11, 1999. This requirement will enable DOE to conduct quality assurance/ control reviews of agency records, thus facilitating the evaluation process. Agencies must report all locations of their affected records, the volume of records at each location, and the name and telephone number of the point-of-contact(s).
NOTIFICATION OF INADVERTENT RELEASE:
Point of Contact - John Lazor, (301)903-9968
Each agency should report to the DOE, Director, Office of Declassification, by March 1, 1999, all inadvertent releases of RD/FRD under the provisions of Executive Order 12958 which occurred before October 17, 1998. DOE will compile all instances of inadvertent release and report them to Congress, as required in the plan.