Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security

Abstract

Critical infrastructures have been defined as those systems and assets so vital to the United States that the incapacity of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on the nation. One of the findings of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, established by President Clinton in 1996, was the need for the Federal Government and owners and operators of the nation's critical infrastructures to share information on vulnerabilities and threats. However, the Commission noted that owners and operators are reluctant to share confidential business information, and the government is reluctant to share information that might compromise intelligence sources or investigations. Among the strategies to help owners and operators share information with the Federal Government was a proposal to exempt the information they share from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed to ensure by statute citizen access to government information. Nine categories of information may be exempted from disclosure. Three of the nine exemptions provide possible protection against the release of critical infrastructure information: exemption 1 (national security information); exemption 3 (information exempted by statute); and exemption 4 (confidential business information). Congress has considered several proposals to exempt critical infrastructure information from the FOIA. Generally, the legislation has either created an exemption 3 statute, or codified the standard adopted by the D.C. Circuit in exemption 4 cases. Both House and Senate bills -- H.R. 5005 and S. 2452 -- that would establish the Department of Homeland Security include a FOIA exemption. Public interest groups argue that the language in the House bill is far too broad and would allow a wide range of information to be protected from disclosure, and that existing FOIA exemptions and case law provide sufficient protections.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 31, 2002
Accession Number
ADA480153

Entities

People

  • Gina M. Stevens
  • John D. Moteff

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Rights
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Environmental Protection
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Infrastructure
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Health
  • Public Policy
  • Risk
  • Security
  • United States

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • Government and Public Administration Law.