CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

Transcription

1 CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION Members of Congress and their staffs often request information from the NRC. To fulfill its obligations under 303 of the Atomic Energy Act and maintain open channels of communication between the NRC and Congress, the Commission strives to provide the Congress, on a non-partisan basis, with the information requested to allow the Congress to carry out its legislative and oversight responsibilities. At the same time, the Commission must preserve its ability to make independent public health, safety, and security determinations and to ensure that sensitive information is appropriately protected. The guidelines and procedures presented below set forth the general process governing the handling of incoming requests (both oral and written), the coordination of responses, and the provision of information. While the procedures in this section are established to ensure that Congressional requests for information are handled under a consistent policy and responded to promptly, the Commission acknowledges that Congressional requests for information often present unique or special factual circumstances that must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In recognition of these considerations, the procedures promote the agency's exploration of options for accommodating the interests of those requesting information and require the Commission to have an opportunity to approve, or reasonable opportunity to object to, a proposed response 'related to sensitive information. GENERALLY APPLICABLE GUIDELINES 1. The Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA) is the proper office to coordinate the agency's responses to requests for information from Members of Congress or Congressional committees and their staffs. In the event such requests are received elsewhere in the NRC, they should be referred to OCA. 2. Responses to either the Chairperson or Ranking Member of an NRC oversight committee or subcommittee and the accompanying transmittal letter should be provided to both the Chairperson and the Ranking Member, unless the non-requesting Chairperson or Ranking Member advises OCA otherwise or unless precluded by law (e.g., by the Privacy Act or Trade Secrets Act). Where appropriate, OCA may inquire whether the non-requesting Chairperson or Ranking Member does wish to receive copies of the documents. September 24, 2013 Chapter VI-Page 1

2 3. When the NRC receives a request for voluminous records OCA should work with the requestor in an effort to narrow the scope of the request. OCA should keep the Commission informed of these efforts. REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION 1. Where the information requested is publicly available, the agency will strive to provide the information in a timely manner. 2. Where a response to a request for information could include both public as well as sensitive (non-public) information, the agency will first provide the information that is publicly available. The agency will then work expeditiously to address the remainder of the request in accordance with the guidelines and procedures presented below. REQUESTS FOR SENSITIVE (NON-PUBLIC) INFORMATION As used in this chapter, sensitive documents are agency records that have not been disclosed to the public. Some sensitive documents carry particular sensitivity. Documents within this category include those relating to adjudications, ongoing security activities, pending enforcement actions, ongoing investigations, predecisional budget documents -associated with the President's annual budget proposal (including the NRC's proposed budget, which serves as input to the President's budget), and predecisional deliberative documents addressing the agency's thought processes on how to respond to specific Congressional document requests and inquiries by the media. There may also be other types of documents that could conceivably qualify as particularly sensitive, depending on the circumstances. Particularly sensitive documents may require special treatment. General Policies Related to Congressional Requests for Sensitive Information 1. When sensitive documents are requested, OCA, in consultation with the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), should first pursue appropriate alternatives to meet the requester's need for information that do not involve production of September 24,2013 Chapter VI-Page 2

3 sensitive documents. The Commission should be informed of any efforts to pursue alternatives to production of sensitive documents. 2. Potential alternatives to production of sensitive documents that may be considered and discussed with the requester include: deferring the request until after the agency (or the President, in the case of predecisional budget information as permitted by OMB Circular A-11 or other Administration policies) has decided the matter at issue; narrowing the scope of the request; responding to specific questions in letters or briefings; OCA staff providing updates; and. other approaches that would be as responsive as possible to the request without releasing sensitive documents. 3. Sensitive documents may be provided only upon written request by a Chairperson or Ranking Member of one of NRC's Congressional oversight committees or subcommittees, acting in his or her capacity as Chairperson or Ranking Member (e.g., via letter or from the Chairperson or Ranking Member or from committee staff with authority to act on behalf of the Chairperson or Ranking Member). When sensitive documents are requested orally, OCA should inform the requestor that the document or documents requested contain sensitive information and ask that a written request be made to the agency. 4. In the absence of an appropriate waiver by the owner of the proprietary information or the individual with the privacy interest, requests for Trade Secrets Act and Privacy Act information would only be provided when requested by an oversight committee or subcommittee Chairperson on behalf of that committee. 5. Individual members of Congress who request sensitive information should be provided publicly available information that is responsive to their requests and offered briefings. The Commission's expectation is that requests for sensitive information will come from the Chairperson or Ranking Member of an NRC oversight committee or subcommittee. Responsibilities 1. It is the Commission's role and responsibility to determine how to respond to requests for sensitive, nonpublic information. In recognition of the Commission's decision-making responsibilities, OCA is to ensure that the September 24,2013 Chapter VI-Page 3

4 Commission receives an opportunity to approve, or a reasonable opportunity to object to, the initial staff tasking that would include the compilation of sensitive documents as well as a proposed response that would include production of sensitive documents. 2. In coordinating with Commissioner offices, OCA should collect the requested documents in coordination with the Office of the Secretary (SECY), OGC,. and the other relevant Commission-level or staff offices. Once the documents have been compiled and a cover letter drafted, the documents, the draft cover letter, and a proposed date for transmittal should be provided to each Commissioner for his or her review. For particularly voluminous document collections, special accommodations may be made in providing for Commissioner review. 3. In cases where the sensitivity of documents warrants special care in document handling or distribution, the Commission may wish to consider alternatives to direct transmittal. It is the responsibility of the Director, OCA, and of the General Counsel, the Executive Director for Operations (EDO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), or the relevant Office Director to call the attention of the Commission to especially sensitive documents that in their judgmen_t may require special handling. 4. Responses to requests for investigative records compiled for law enforcement purposes should be coordinated by OCA with the EDO, OGC, and/or the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), depending upon the nature of the records requested. 5. Responses to requests for documents containing classified or Safeguards Information should also be coordinated by OCA with the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response. Established procedures for handling and storing classified or Safeguards Information should be followed and delivery made only to Congressional staff persons with the appropriate clearance and need-to-know. 6. Requests for lists of SECY papers and other administrative records relating to the deliberative, decision-making process of the Commission should be coordinated by OCA with SECY. September 24, 2013 Chapter VI-Page 4

5 7. Responses to requests for sensitive documents used in the deliberative, consultative, or predecisional activities of the Commission itself must be reviewed by the Commission. These documents include the following items: a. transcripts, electronic recordings, or meeting summaries of Commission meetings closed pursuant to the Government in the Sunshine Act (e.g., pending adjudications and enforcement actions, pending investigations, litigation strategy, and discussion of individuals where release would invoke privacy issues); b. interoffice communications between and among Commissioners and their personal staff containing predecisional advice, recommendations, or opinions; c. documents containing predecisional staff advice, recommendations or opinions prepared by a member of a Commissioner's personal staff or a special consultant to a Commissioner; and d. documents containing predecisional staff advice, recommendations, or opinions of an office reporting directly to the Chairman or to the Commission. (These documents specifically include those subject to the attorney-client privilege and documents prepared by legal counsel which reveal the theory of a case or litigation strategy. They also include investigative reports prepared by the Office of Investigations (01) pending Commission action.) 8. Responses to requests for other sensitive documents should be coordinated by OCA,.as appropriate, with the EDO, CFO, and OGC. 9. In cases where sensitive documents requested by the Chairperson or Ranking Member of an NRC oversight committee or subcommittee are also being requested under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, OCA should make reasonable efforts to keep the Congressional requester(s) informed of the status of the pending FOIA request. Transmittal of Sensitive Information 1. Unless otherwise directed by the Commission, when sensitive documents are to be provided, the Director, OCA, should transmit them under a cover letter that identifies their sensitive nature. The cover letter should clearly identify the September 24, 2013 Chapter VI-Page 5

6 documents provided and request that the documents be held in confidence with access limited to NRC oversight committee and subcommittee Members and committee staff. The wording of the cover letter should be coordinated with OGC. Each page of each sensitive document provided shall be marked "Not for Public Disclosure." 2. All letters going to Congress transmitting Safeguards Information should have in the body of the letter the following: Enclosure(s) XX contain(s) Safeguards Information and must be handled and stored in accordance with 10 CFR as noted and described in the cover sheet. Therefore, I request that access to this (these) enclosure(s) be limited to you and those of your staff who have a need-to-know the information contained therein. In addition, pursuant to Section 149 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR 73.59, access to Enclosure(s) XX must be restricted to those members of your staff who have undergone fingerprinting for a prior U.S. government criminal history check. 3. Classified documents originated by another agency will not be transmitted, and the requester will be advised to contact the originating agency directly, pursuant to Executive Order The possible release of NRC documents containing classified information originated by another agency will be coordinated with the originating agency. In addition, Sensitive Unclassified Non Safeguards Information (SUNSI) documents (e.g., Homeland Security Information or other sensitive security-related information) received from another Federal agency will not be transmitted. September 24, 2013 Chapter VI-Page 6