[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57633-57634]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-27866]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Air Force


Presidential Determination on Classified Information Concerning 
the Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 (703) 695-5663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 42 U.S.C. Section 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. Section 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

[[Page 57634]]

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 20, 1999, the President exempted 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 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.
Janet A. Long,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.

Presidential Determination No. 99-37
September 20, 1999
Memorandum for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency [and] the Secretary of the Air Force
Subject: Presidential Determination on 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 that 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.
William J. Clinton

    Editorial Note: The Office of the Federal Register did not 
receive the original of Presidential Determination No. 99-37.

[FR Doc. 99-27866 Filed 10-25-99; 8:45 am]
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