{ "id": "RL31547", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL31547", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 346992, "date": "2003-01-29", "retrieved": "2016-05-24T19:59:00.471941", "title": "Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security", "summary": "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 United States. One of the findings of the President\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 promote information sharing was a proposal to exempt critical infrastructure information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.\nThe Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed to ensure by 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 FOIA. Generally, the legislation has created an exemption 3 statute, or adopted the exemption 4 D.C. Circuit standard.\nPrior to passage of the Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107-296), the House (H.R. 5005) and Senate (S. 2452) bills differed significantly on language providing a FOIA exemption. Differences included the type of information covered and exempted from FOIA; the scope of the protections provided; the authorized uses or disclosures; the permissibility of disclosures of related information by other agencies; immunity from civil liability; preemption; and criminal penalties. The Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107-296, section 214 ) provisions regarding the exemption of critical infrastructure information from FOIA adopted the House language in its entirety.\nPublic interest groups question the necessity of a FOIA exemption suggesting that existing FOIA exemptions provide sufficient protections.. They also argued that the House language (which passed) was too broad and would allow a wider range of information to be protected (including information previously available under FOIA). They favored the more limited protections proposed in the S. 2452. Public interest groups also expressed concern that the provision which bars use of the protected information in civil actions would shield owners and operators from liability under antitrust, tort, tax, civil rights, environmental, labor, consumer protection, and health and safety laws. Owners and operators of critical infrastructures insisted that current law did not provide the certainty of protection needed. While they viewed the Senate language as a workable compromise, they favored the protections in H.R. 5005. Compelling arguments existed on both sides of the debate for and against exempting critical infrastructure information from the Freedom of Information Act. S. 6, introduced in the 108th Congress, resurrects S. 2452 (107th Congress). This report will be updated as warranted.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31547", "sha1": "fd0577a5b9e7cc8c1c8dfd4be55dfbeb286e8f0c", "filename": "files/20030129_RL31547_fd0577a5b9e7cc8c1c8dfd4be55dfbeb286e8f0c.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31547", "sha1": "a01d1c6f4cb531fb2b6f91d9ac3be2da2f5fd545", "filename": "files/20030129_RL31547_a01d1c6f4cb531fb2b6f91d9ac3be2da2f5fd545.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs2244/", "id": "RL31547 2002-08-31", "date": "2002-08-31", "retrieved": "2005-06-10T22:01:26", "title": "Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security", "summary": "This report discusses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that 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.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20020831_RL31547_20d0276749b73475a47dee2682175cb7f14ae0bd.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20020831_RL31547_20d0276749b73475a47dee2682175cb7f14ae0bd.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Civil liberties", "name": "Civil liberties" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Infrastructure", "name": "Infrastructure" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Intelligence and National Security" ] }