U.S. Department of Energy
February 6, 1996, Openness Press Conference Fact Sheets

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELEASES DRAFT DECLASSIFICATION GUIDE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Congressional, Public, and Intergovernmental Affairs
Media Contact: Barbara Wetherell
(202) 586-5806

U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nonproliferation and National Security
Program Contact: A. Bryan Siebert
(301) 903-3521

Today the Department of Energy is releasing a draft declassification guide for public comment. On June 27, 1994, the Department of Energy provided the public with a description of general classification policies, "Public Guidelines to Department of Energy Classification of Information." Based on comments received and interest expressed, the Department of Energy is continuing that initiative by the development and release of expanded guidelines for declassification of information currently classified as National Security Information in accordance with Presidential Executive Orders.

SPECIFICALLY

  • The document released today -- the "Historical Records Declassification Guide" -- is an actual guide to be used by the Department of Energy and other Government personnel to review Department of Energy National Security Information in accordance with the automatic declassification provisions in the Presidential Executive Order on National Security Information, Executive Order 12958 of April 17, 1995. The release permits members of the public with an interest in historical Department of Energy records both to comment on the guidelines and to track the activities of Agencies involved in public release of information in old classified records. National Security Information is classified in accordance with Presidential Executive Orders. It requires a positive action by a Federal official to classify National Security Information. National Security Information is distinct from Restricted Data which is automatically classified upon its inception by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. It requires a positive action by a Federal official to declassify Restricted Data prior to public release.
  • The draft guide discusses the 11 National Security Information subject areas that the Department of Energy desires to continue to protect in documents that are 25 years or older and have permanent historical value. These 11 subject areas are safeguards and security information, transportation safeguards systems, compromise of classified information, unrecovered nuclear weapons and classified components, nuclear emergency search teams, vulnerability and hardening technologies, high altitude nuclear weapons effects information, nuclear proliferation, intelligence and cryptology, foreign government information, and naval nuclear propulsion. All other National Security Information outside these 11 subject areas will be declassified.
  • The draft guide may be revised during interagency review; it has not yet been approved by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.
  • The Department of Energy invites public comments on the guide.

BACKGROUND

  • By issuing Executive Order 12958 governing National Security Information, the President has taken another major step toward greater openness in Government. Responding to significant changes in threats to national security, the order shifts the burden of proof from justification for declassification of information to justification for continued classification.
  • Specifically, the new Executive Order directs that, unless positive action is taken to identify and satisfactorily justify continued classification of historically valuable information in Agency records, that information will automatically be declassified when it is 25 years old.
  • The Executive Order also provides continuous and systematic review of all classification decisions, with the twin goals of minimizing the amount of classified information and documents and maximizing the declassification of information that can be released without jeopardizing national security interests.
  • To facilitate and expedite declassification reviews, the Department of Energy has prepared the guide released today. It provides the interested public and the Government officials performing declassification reviews with criteria for areas of information that are unclassified or may be declassified, and those that must remain classified because of national security considerations. It also permits a better understanding of current national security concerns.

BENEFITS

  • The guide provides the general public with an overall perspective of the classification and declassification process, thus allowing the public to offer focused comments on Department of Energy policies.
  • The guide adds credibility to the classification process by ensuring a framework for the Department of Energy's compliance with the automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 12958.
  • Implementation enhances national security through long-term cost savings by directly focusing protection on only that information and material which are directly related to national security interests.
  • Accuracy and efficiency will be promoted by the guide in the review of Department of Energy documents under the automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 12958 by both Department and other Agency personnel.
  • The guide strikes a proper balance between the need to declassify documents for public release and the need to protect legitimately classified information.
  • Public release of the guide for comment affords the Department of Energy the benefit of the public's views of the Department's policies.

WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?

  • The Public. The Department of Energy policy on automatic declassification will be available to the general public for review, comment, and informed discussion.
  • Researchers. Environmental, safety, and health specialists; historians; and individuals seeking information through Freedom of Information Act requests, among others, will be able to focus their requests with greater precision, facilitating more responsive service by the cognizant Government Agency.
  • Other Government Agencies. Agencies working with Department of Energy classified information will be able to expedite coordination of declassification actions.
  • Other Governments. Greater understanding of United States classification policies will facilitate development of international standards and agreements on sharing of information.
  • Public Interest Organizations. Organizations interested in information classification and declassification issues will have more specific information on Department of Energy policies.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. How do I get a copy of the Historical Records Declassification Guide?

A. Write or call:

W. Gerald Gibson
Director, Technical Guidance Division (NN-522)
Room C-371
U.S. Department of Energy
19901 Germantown Road
Germantown, Maryland 20874-1290
(301) 903-3689

Q. When are comments due?

A. Public comments are requested 90 days from today's release of the Historical Records Declassification Guide.

Q. What will you do with my comments?

A. All comments will be evaluated for feasibility of inclusion in the guide.

Q. Is the declassification guide being used since it is a draft?

A. The declassification guide is being used by the Department. It is marked draft since approval is pending by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT "A REVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CLASSIFICATION POLICY AND PRACTICE"

U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Congressional, Public, and Intergovernmental Affairs
Media Contact: Barbara Wetherell
(202) 586-5806

U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nonproliferation and National Security
Program Contact: A. Bryan Siebert
(301) 903-3521

The Secretary of Energy requested the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an independent review of the Department of Energy's classification and declassification policies and practices. The National Academy of Sciences established a Committee on Declassification of Information for the Department of Energy's Environmental Remediation and Related Programs to conduct the independent review. The committee was composed of eminent scientists and other distinguished individuals. The report was issued in August 1995 and found that the Department of Energy is on a proper course to increase openness, but acknowledges that more work needs to be done.

SPECIFICALLY

  • The report is supportive of the Department's Openness Initiative. As Committee Chairman Richard Meserve stated and the Executive Summary of the report concludes:

    "Secretary O'Leary and the Department of Energy have undertaken important initiatives to achieve greater public access to information and greater Departmental accountability for the information the Department of Energy controls. The Committee on Declassification of Information for the Department of Energy Environmental Remediation and Related Programs commends these efforts. The Openness Initiative is an essential part of the Government's re-evaluation of the classification system in the aftermath of the Cold War. The availability of more information about past and current policies should help to restore public confidence in institutions and to foster a more informed public debate on essential policy choices."

    The Department is gratified to have received a vote of confidence from such a distinguished body.

  • The Committee's recommendations fell into four general areas:
    • Minimize areas that are classified. The Department of Energy should seek to maintain stringent security around sharply defined and narrowly circumscribed areas, but to reduce or eliminate classification around areas of less sensitivity; in other words, the Department of Energy should "construct high fences around narrow (classified) areas."
    • Shifting the burden of proof for classification. The burden of proof should be on those who want to classify, not on those who propose declassification.
    • Balancing costs and risks. Information should be classified only if the damage to national security that would result from disclosure demonstrably outweighs both the public benefit from disclosure and the costs of attempting to prevent it.
    • Enhancing openness and public access. The Department of Energy's goal should be "open policies openly arrived at."
  • The Department of Energy is implementing most of the Committee's recommendations.
    • In order to minimize classification, the Department of Energy is conducting the Fundamental Classification Policy Review to determine what should be classified and what can be declassified in light of the end of the Cold War, and today is releasing the draft report.
    • A key feature of the Department of Energy's draft classification regulation is to shift the burden of proof from those who argue for declassification to those who argue for classification.
    • In order to balance costs and risks, the draft classification regulation incorporates the concept of "risk management" rather than "risk avoidance."
    • To promote openness and public access, the Department of Energy continues to solicit public input to its classification policies.
    • Thousands of document titles, both unclassified and declassified, have been placed on the OpenNet, making them accessible to the public. The Department of Energy has embraced the goal of "open policies openly arrived at." The Department of Energy OpenNet is available through the Department of Energy Home Page at http://www.doe.gov. The complete Internet address for the Opennet is http://www.doe.gov/html/osti/opennet/opennet1.html.

    Attached is a summary which compares the National Academy of Sciences report recommendation with the Department's proposed regulation and the Fundamental Review draft report.

BACKGROUND

  • Dr. Richard Meserve, Chairman, Committee on Declassification of Information for the Department of Energy Environmental Remediation and Related Programs, National Research Council, presented the report to the Secretary of Energy on August 9, 1995. The study was an outgrowth of a request by the Secretary of Energy in a February 2, 1994, letter to Dr. Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences, for joint sponsorship of a workshop on openness held on February 16, 1994. The purpose of the study was to provide an independent look at the Department of Energy's classification and declassification policies and practices in light of the end of the Cold War.
  • The Department of Energy is in agreement with a vast majority of the recommendations made by the committee. Several recommendations require further examination, and there are a few with which the Department of Energy does not agree.
  • The report is an affirmation that the Department is on a proper course regarding its Openness Initiative, but that it still has things to do. It is a course that ultimately will reduce the large costs associated with the classification and security of information, while at the same time promoting public trust and confidence in the Department of Energy and the Government as a whole.

BENEFITS

  • The Academy's report provided important input to the Department in the form of a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the Department's classification, policies, and practices.
  • As a direct result of the Academy's report, the Department's draft classification regulation has been specifically written to primarily implement many of their recommendations, including minimizing classified subject areas, prohibition on the abuse of classification, and adding the requirement for a Restricted Data systematic review program.
  • Implementation of the Academy's recommendation to use artificial intelligence and other technologies as it proceeds with its Declassification Productivity Initiative will result in newer, more efficient methods for review of classified documents.
  • Implementing the Academy's recommendation to form an Openness Advisory Panel will provide the Department with an effective means of formalizing the method by which public comments and concerns are incorporated into the Department of Energy's classification policy making process.

WHO ARE THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS?

  • Regulators, the public, and public interest organizations. More information will be declassified and made accessible.
  • Freedom of Information Act Requestors. Requestors will have greater access to formerly classified information.

Comparison of Office of Declassification Initiatives

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. Why did the Secretary of Energy request the study by the National Academy of Sciences?

A. The Secretary believed that it would be beneficial to have an independent group, composed of distinguished individuals and free from any Government influence, perform a study of Department of Energy classification policies and practices to see if we are on the right track.

Q. How may I obtain a copy of the report?

A. Copies of the report may be purchased from the National Academy of Sciences by writing to:

National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW.
Box 285
Washington, D.C. 20055

or by calling 1-800-624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The title of the report is A Review of the Department of Energy Classification Policy and Practice.

Q. How was the committee chosen, who chaired it, and who were the committee members?

A. The committee was chosen by the National Academy of Sciences, which is in the best position to explain the criteria for selection. The committee was chaired by Dr. Richard Meserve, a physicist and a partner with the law firm of Covington and Burling, Washington, D.C., and the members were Dean E. Abrahamson, Lynda L. Brothers, Thomas A. Cotton, Paul P. Craig, George A. Ferguson, H. Jack Geiger, Michele S. Gerber, Konrad B. Krauskopf, Wolfang K. H. Panofsky, Richard B. Setlow, and Patricia A. Woolf. The biographies of the members are contained in the report.

Q. What are the major recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences study and does the Department of Energy agree with them?

A. The major recommendations concern the following four basic principles:

  • The Department of Energy should construct "high fences around narrow areas," which means that it should maintain very stringent security around sharply defined and narrowly circumscribed areas but reduce or eliminate classification around areas of less sensitivity.
  • The burden of proof should be shifted from the proponents of declassification to the proponents of continued classification.
  • A balancing test for declassification should be based on an agreed-upon set of criteria that has been developed with adequate opportunity for public input.
  • The Department's goal should be "open policies openly arrived at."

The Department of Energy agrees with the basic principles and with the vast majority of the specific recommendations made by the study.

Q. What is the cost to implement the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences study?

A. The Department of Energy is implementing most of the recommendations that do not require additional resources. A few other recommendations cannot be implemented because of substantial costs. For example, there would be a prohibitive cost to code and index all documents so that they could be tracked, identified, and reviewed for declassification when classification guides change.

Q. Who funded the study? How much did it cost?

A. The Department of Energy's Office of Declassification funded the study. The total cost was about $180,000.

Q. What are the next steps now that the Department of Energy has received the report?

A. The vast majority of recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences are supported by the Department of Energy, and actions are already underway to implement most of them. For example, the Fundamental Classification Policy Review is completing its technical review work and the report is scheduled to be completed by the Spring of 1996; a Department-wide large-scale document review program is currently underway; and a draft regulation concerning the Restricted Data system has been developed and will shortly be published for public comment.

Q. How does the National Academy of Sciences study relate to the Fundamental Classification Policy Review?

A. The two studies were different efforts. The National Academy of Sciences study was conducted by an independent body of outside experts with access to information about policy and procedures for classified material. The Fundamental Classification Policy Review is being conducted by internal technical experts to determine what information should be classified and what should be declassified. The National Academy of Sciences report has been provided for consideration to the Fundamental Classification Policy Review team.

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