23 October 1998
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html

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[Federal Register: October 23, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 205)]
[Notices]
[Page 56921]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc98-46]

[[Page 56921]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE


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 USC 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 USC 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 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 25, 1998, 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.
Carolyn A. Lunsford,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.

Presidential Determination No. 98-36
September 25, 1998
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 the
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,
[FR Doc. 98-28349 Filed 10-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-05-P
