[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 4, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68289-68292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24066]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 4, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 68289]]

                Executive Order 13741 of September 29, 2016

                
Amending Executive Order 13467 To Establish the 
                Roles and Responsibilities of the National Background 
                Investigations Bureau and Related Matters

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Executive Order 13467 of June 30, 2008, is 
                amended as follows:

                    (a) The preamble is replaced with the following: 
                ``By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including 5 U.S.C. 3301 and 7103(b), and in 
                order to strengthen and ensure a secure, efficient, 
                timely, reciprocal, and aligned system for 
                investigating and determining suitability or fitness 
                for Government employment, contractor employee fitness, 
                eligibility for access to classified information or to 
                hold a sensitive position, and authorization to be 
                issued a Federal credential, while taking appropriate 
                account of title III of Public Law 108-458, it is 
                hereby ordered as follows:''
                    (b) Section 1.1 is amended to read as follows:

                ``Section 1.1. Policy: Executive branch policies and 
                procedures relating to suitability, contractor or 
                Federal employee fitness, eligibility to hold a 
                sensitive position, authorization to be issued a 
                Federal credential for access to federally controlled 
                facilities and information systems, and eligibility for 
                access to classified information shall be aligned using 
                consistent standards to the extent possible, shall 
                provide for reciprocal recognition, and shall ensure 
                cost-effective, timely, and efficient protection of the 
                national interest, while providing fair treatment to 
                those upon whom the Federal Government relies to 
                conduct the Nation's business and protect national 
                security. Further, the Government's systems and 
                processes for conducting these background 
                investigations and managing sensitive investigative 
                information must keep pace with technological 
                advancements, regularly integrating current best 
                practices, to better anticipate, detect, and counter 
                malicious activities and threats posed by external or 
                internal actors who may seek to do harm to the 
                Government's personnel, property, or information. To 
                help fulfill these responsibilities, there shall be a 
                primary executive branch investigative service provider 
                whose mission is to provide effective, efficient, and 
                secure background investigations for the Federal 
                Government.''

                    (c) Sections 1.3(k) and (l) are redesignated as 
                sections 1.3(l) and (m).
                    (d) A new section 1.3(k) is added to read as 
                follows: ``(k) ``National Background Investigations 
                Bureau'' (NBIB) means the National Background 
                Investigations Bureau, established within the Office of 
                Personnel Management with responsibility for conducting 
                effective, efficient, and secure personnel background 
                investigations pursuant to law, rule, regulation, or 
                Executive Order.''
                    (e) Section 2.2(b) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(b) The Deputy Director for Management, Office of 
                Management and Budget, shall serve as Chair of the 
                Council and shall have authority, direction, and 
                control over the Council's functions. Membership on the 
                Council shall include the Suitability Executive Agent, 
                the Security Executive Agent, and the Under Secretary 
                of Defense for Intelligence of the Department of 
                Defense. These four officials collectively shall 
                constitute ``the Suitability and Security Clearance 
                Performance Accountability Council Principals.'' The 
                Director of

[[Page 68290]]

                the National Background Investigations Bureau shall 
                also serve as a member of the Council. The Chair shall 
                select a Vice Chair to act in the Chair's absence. The 
                Chair shall have authority to designate officials from 
                additional agencies who shall serve as members of the 
                Council. Council membership shall be limited to Federal 
                Government employees in leadership positions.''
                    (f) Section 2.4 is redesignated as section 2.5, and 
                a new section 2.4 is added to read as follows:

                ``Sec. 2.4. Roles and Responsibilities of the National 
                Background Investigations Bureau and the Department of 
                Defense.

                    (a) The National Background Investigations Bureau 
                shall:

  ``(1) serve as the primary executive branch service provider for 
background investigations for eligibility for access to classified 
information; eligibility to hold a sensitive position; suitability or, for 
employees in positions not subject to suitability, fitness for Government 
employment; fitness to perform work for or on behalf of the Government as a 
contractor employee; and authorization to be issued a Federal credential 
for logical and physical access to federally controlled facilities and 
information systems;

  ``(2) provide effective, efficient, and secure personnel background 
investigations for the Federal Government;

  ``(3) provide the Council information, to the extent permitted by law, on 
matters of performance, timeliness, capacity, information technology 
modernization, continuous performance improvement, and other relevant 
aspects of NBIB operations;

  ``(4) be headquartered in or near Washington, District of Columbia;

  ``(5) have dedicated resources, including but not limited to a senior 
privacy official;

  ``(6) institutionalize interagency collaboration and take advantage of 
expertise across the executive branch;

  ``(7) continuously improve investigative operations, emphasizing 
information accuracy and protection, and regularly integrate best 
practices, including those identified by subject matter experts from 
industry, academia, or other relevant sources;

  ``(8) conduct personnel background investigations in accordance with 
uniform and consistent policies, procedures, standards, and requirements 
established by the Security Executive Agent and the Suitability Executive 
Agent; and

  ``(9) conduct other personnel background investigations as authorized by 
law, rule, regulation, or Executive Order.

                    ``(b) The Secretary of Defense shall design, 
                develop, deploy, operate, secure, defend, and 
                continuously update and modernize, as necessary, 
                background investigation information technology systems 
                that support all Federal background investigation 
                processes conducted by the National Background 
                Investigations Bureau. Design and operation of the 
                information technology systems for the National 
                Background Investigations Bureau shall comply with 
                applicable information technology standards and, to the 
                extent practicable, ensure security and 
                interoperability with other Federal background 
                investigation information technology systems. The 
                Secretary of Defense shall operate the database in the 
                information technology systems containing appropriate 
                data relevant to the granting, denial, or revocation of 
                a security clearance or access pertaining to military, 
                civilian, or Government contractor personnel, see 50 
                U.S.C. 3341(e), consistent with and following an 
                explicit delegation from the Director of the Office of 
                Personnel Management pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1104.
                    ``(c) Delegations and designations of investigative 
                authority in place on the date of establishment of the 
                National Background Investigations Bureau shall remain 
                in effect until amended or revoked. The National 
                Background

[[Page 68291]]

                Investigations Bureau, through the Director of the 
                Office of Personnel Management, shall be subject to the 
                oversight of the Security Executive Agent in the 
                conduct of investigations for eligibility for access to 
                classified information or to hold a sensitive national 
                security position; and to the oversight of the 
                Suitability Executive Agent in the conduct of 
                investigations of suitability or fitness for Government 
                employment and logical and physical access, as provided 
                in section 2.3 of this order. The Council shall hold 
                the National Background Investigations Bureau 
                accountable for the fulfillment of the responsibilities 
                set forth in section 2.4(a) of this order.''

                Sec. 2. Updating Governance, Authorities, Roles, and 
                Responsibilities. (a) Within 90 days of the date of 
                this order, and building on the strength of the current 
                Suitability and Security Clearance Performance 
                Accountability Council and Executive Agent governance 
                structure, the Council shall review and update 
                executive-level authorities across the vetting 
                enterprise to clarify and de-conflict existing 
                authorities, to assign new responsibilities where gaps 
                may exist, and to address necessary governance changes.

                    (b) Specifically, the Council shall submit to the 
                President a recommendation to:

(i) update, clarify, or replace Executive Orders (such as Executive Order 
10450 of April 27, 1953, as amended, or Executive Order 12968 of August 2, 
1995, as amended) as necessary to accommodate adding new entities into the 
current governance structure, and to reflect changes to policies, 
governance, or operational structure; and

(ii) consolidate multiple authorities (such as Executive Order 10450 of 
April 27, 1953, as amended, or Executive Order 13467 of June 30, 2008) and 
reaffirm or clarify existing roles and responsibilities in new or existing 
Executive Orders.

                    (c) The Council's submission shall include, but 
                will not be limited to, the appropriate means to:

(i) create a Credentialing Executive Agent with responsibility for policy 
and oversight of credentialing matters that parallels the respective 
authorities and responsibilities of the Security and Suitability Executive 
Agents, which will clarify, align, and consolidate credentialing authority 
under a single Executive Agent;

(ii) make explicit the Suitability Executive Agent's oversight role;

(iii) de-conflict Security Executive Agent and Suitability Executive Agent 
authorities;

(iv) establish a definition of ``vetting'' as the overarching construct for 
investigations and the decisions based on them, inclusive of security, 
suitability or fitness, and credentialing; and

(v) establish clear lanes of responsibility for new overarching enterprise-
wide needs for example, acquisition, funding models, data security 
requirements, and contracting, and the respective roles of the Security, 
Suitability, and Credentialing Line of Business; and the Enterprise 
Investment Board.

                Sec. 3. Amendment to Executive Order 12171. Executive 
                Order 12171 of November 19, 1979, as amended, is 
                further amended by striking ``The Federal Investigative 
                Services Division'' in section 1-216 and inserting in 
                lieu thereof:

                    ``Agencies or subdivisions of the Office of 
                Personnel Management:
                    (a) The Federal Investigative Services.
                    (b) The National Background Investigations Bureau.
                    (c) Units with a primary Suitability Executive 
                Agent mission, including adjudicating suitability 
                investigations and conducting related policy, advisory 
                services, operations support, and agency oversight.
                    (d) Units with a primary mission of engineering, 
                information technology, and cybersecurity support for 
                personnel background investigations and 
                adjudications.''

                Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be 
                implemented consistent with applicable law and subject 
                to the availability of appropriations.

[[Page 68292]]

                    (b) If any provision of this order or the 
                application of such provision is held to be invalid, 
                the remainder of this order shall not be affected.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    September 29, 2016.

[FR Doc. 2016-24066
Filed 10-3-16; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P