[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[January 30, 1996]
[Pages 117-118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders on the United States Air Force Operating 
Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada
January 30, 1996

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
    Consistent with section 6001(a) of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) (the ``Act''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), 
notification is hereby given that on September 29, 1995, I issued 
Presidential Determination 95-45 (copy attached) and thereby exercised 
the authority to grant certain exemptions under section 6001(a) of the 
Act.
    Presidential Determination No. 95-45 exempted the United States Air 
Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, 
State, interstate, or local hazardous or solid waste laws that might 
require the disclosure of classified information concerning that 
operating location to unauthorized persons. Information concerning 
activities at the operating location near Groom Lake has been properly 
determined to be classified and its disclosure would be harmful to 
national security. Continued protection of this information is, 
therefore, in the paramount interest of the United States.
    The Determination was not intended to imply that in the absence of a 
Presidential exemption RCRA or any other provision of law permits or 
requires the disclosure of classified information to unauthorized 
persons, but rather to eliminate any potential uncertainty arising from 
a decision in pending litigation, Kasza v. Browner (D. Nev. CV-S-94-795-
PMP). The Determination also was not intended to limit the applicability 
or enforcement of any require-


[[Page 118]]

ment of law applicable to the Air Force's operating location near Groom 
Lake except those provisions, if any, that would require the disclosure 
of classified information.
        Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 31. 
The Presidential determination of September 29, 1995, was published in 
the Federal Register at 60 FR 52823.