Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Classification of Government Documents Legislation

According to Ohio Representative Steve Driehaus, there are over 107 different classifications for government documents, and each department or agency has its own system of classification and restricting access to even unclassified material.
Legislation Driehaus has proposed, though, would change some of that or at least make it more uniform. Introduced March 5th and short-titled the "Reducing Information Controls Designations Act," it would "require each federal agency to reduce and minimize its use of information control designations on information that is not classified and define such designations to mean information dissemination controls that are not defined by federal statute or executive order relating to the classification of national security information and that are used to manage, direct, or route information or to control the accessibility of information, regardless of its form or format."
If passed, the bill would require the Archivist of the United States to formulate regulations addressing:
  1. (1) standards for the use of such designations to maximize public access to information;
  2. (2) the process for removing such designations;
  3. (3) procedures for identifying and tracking designated information;
  4. (4) provisions to minimize the use of such designations, to prevent misuse, and prevent use to improperly interfere with competition in the private sector; and
  5. (5) a process for individuals and the public to challenge the use of such designations.

It would also make the head of each agency implement those regulations set forth by the Archivist to encourage information sharing, and ensure those designations do not determine public disclosure standards under the Freedom of Information Act.
Similar bills have been proposed, including one by California Rep. Henry Waxman last summer, and Montana Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay this past February.

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