02-32334. Presidential Determination on Classified Information Concerning the Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, NV

AGENCY:

Department of the Air Force, DOD.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that the President has exempted the United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada from any Federal, State, interstate, or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information to any unauthorized persons.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. W. Kipling At Lee, Jr., Deputy General Counsel (Military Affairs), Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington DC 20330; telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

42 U.S.C. 6961 makes each department, agency and instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government (1) having jurisdiction over any solid waste management facility or disposal site, or (2) engaged in any activity resulting, or which may result, in the disposal or management of solid waste or hazardous waste subject to all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements, both substantive and procedural (including any requirement for permits or reporting or any provisions for injunctive relief and such sanctions as may be imposed by a court to enforce such relief), respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal and management in the same manner, and to the same extent, as any person is subject to such requirements, including the payment of reasonable service charges. 42 U.S.C. 6961 also states that the President may exempt any solid waste management facility of any department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive branch from compliance with such a requirement if he determines it to be in the paramount interest of the United States to do so and that any exemption shall be for a period not in excess of one year.

On September 13, 2002, the President exempted the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada from any Federal, State, interstate, or local provisions respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning that operating location to any unauthorized person. Therefore, the text of the Memorandum from the President to the Secretary of the Air Force is set forth below.

Pamela D. Fitzgerald,

Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.

Presidential Determination No. 2002-30

September 13, 2002

Memorandum for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency [and] the Secretary of the Air Force

Subject: Classified Information Concerning the Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada

I find that it is in the paramount interest of the United States to exempt the United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, the subject of litigation in Kasza v. Browner (D. Nev. CV-S-94-795-PMP) and Frost v. Perry (D. Nev. CV-S-94-714-PMP), from any applicable requirement for the disclosure to unauthorized persons of classified information concerning that operating location. Therefore, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), I hereby exempt the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, State, interstate or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning the operating location to any unauthorized person. This exemption shall be effective for the full one-year statutory period.

Nothing herein is intended to: (a) Imply that in the absence of such a Presidential exemption, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or any other provision of law permits or requires disclosure of classified information to unauthorized persons; or (b) limit the applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, except those provisions, if any, that would require the disclosure of classified information.

The Secretary of the Air Force is authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

George W. Bush