§6232. Protection against inadvertent release of restricted data and formerly restricted data

(a) Plan for Protection Against Release.-The Secretary of Energy and the Archivist of the United States shall, after consultation with the members of the National Security Council and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, develop a plan to prevent the inadvertent release of records containing Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data during the automatic declassification of records under Executive Order No. 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note).

(b) Plan Elements.-The plan under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) The actions to be taken in order to ensure that records subject to Executive Order No. 13526 are reviewed on a page-by-page basis for Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data unless they have been determined to be highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(2) The criteria and process by which documents are determined to be highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(3) The actions to be taken in order to ensure proper training, supervision, and evaluation of personnel engaged in declassification under that Executive order so that such personnel recognize Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data.

(4) The extent to which automated declassification technologies will be used under that Executive order to protect Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data from inadvertent release.

(5) Procedures for periodic review and evaluation by the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives and Records Administration, of compliance by Federal agencies with the plan.

(6) Procedures for resolving disagreements among Federal agencies regarding declassification procedures and decisions under the plan.

(7) The funding, personnel, and other resources required to carry out the plan.

(8) A timetable for implementation of the plan.

(c) Limitation on Declassification of Certain Records.-(1) Effective on October 17, 1998, and except as provided in paragraph (3), a record referred to in subsection (a) may not be declassified unless the agency having custody of the record reviews the record on a page-by-page basis to ensure that the record does not contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(2) Any record determined as a result of a review under paragraph (1) to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data may not be declassified until the Secretary of Energy, in conjunction with the head of the agency having custody of the record, determines that the document is suitable for declassification.

(3) After the date occurring 60 days after the submission of the plan required by subsection (a) to the committees referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d), the requirement under paragraph (1) to review a record on a page-by-page basis shall not apply in the case of a record determined, under the actions specified in the plan pursuant to subsection (b)(1), to be a record that is highly unlikely to contain Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data.

(d) Submission of Plan.-The Secretary of Energy shall submit the plan required under subsection (a) to the following:

(1) The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.

(2) The Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

(3) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.

(e) Report and Notification Regarding Inadvertent Releases.-(1) The Secretary of Energy shall submit to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d) a report on inadvertent releases of Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data under Executive Order No. 12958 that occurred before October 17, 1998.

(2) The Secretary of Energy shall, in each even-numbered year beginning in 2010, submit to the committees and Assistant to the President specified in subsection (d) a report identifying any inadvertent releases of Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data under Executive Order No. 13526 discovered in the two-year period preceding the submittal of the report.

(Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, §3111(a), (d)(2)(B), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1409 , 1462.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Executive Order No. 12958, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), is Ex. Ord. No. 12958, Apr. 17, 1995, 60 F.R. 19825, which was formerly set out as a note under section 3161 of Title 50, War and National Defense, and was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13526, §6.2(g), Dec. 29, 2009, 75 F.R. 731.

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 2672 of Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 119–60, §3111(b)(1).

Amendments

2025-Pub. L. 119–60, §3111(d)(2)(B), realigned margins.