FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jon Devine or Alys Campaigne, NRDC, 202-289-6868

NRDC Supports “Restore FOIA” Bill To

Fix Loopholes in Homeland Security Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 12, 2003) – Today, Senators Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Jeffords (I-VT), Lieberman (D-CT) and Byrd (D-WV) introduced important legislation to restore citizens’ rights to learn about irresponsible corporate actions that put them at risk, and reinstate the federal government’s ability to protect the public from such dangers. NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) supports their work, and looks forward to the speedy passage of this sensible bill.

“The legislation introduced today upholds the commitment to public information and true homeland security,” said NRDC Senior Attorney Jon Devine. “Good corporate citizens don’t need legal loopholes to share their information with public safety officials, and don’t need Congress to keep them from being held responsible for breaking the law.”

The Homeland Security Act, which passed late last year, contained provisions intended to create an incentive for private companies to submit information on a “voluntary” basis about vulnerabilities at vital facilities of so-called “critical infrastructure,” so that the government could take steps to protect citizens. The law attempts to encourage companies to share information by restricting the government’s ability to use or distribute the information in numerous ways. Unfortunately, the law is a failure in two respects, and should be corrected immediately.

First, the law’s language is vague, open-ended, and subject to abuse. “Critical infrastructure information” might include records unrelated to security, and the law could be read to sweep in more than truly “voluntary” material. Because the law gives companies the primary responsibility for determining if their own information should be entitled to government protection, numerous observers have worried that the law could be used to shield corporations from public scrutiny or punishment when they break health and safety laws. Even Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has stated that the language should be clarified.

Second, the law gives corporate information so many new loopholes that neither citizens nor the government can effectively use the material to make people safer. Among other things, the law prohibits covered information from being released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), bars its direct use in court to hold companies civilly responsible for their wrongdoing, bans federal, state and local governments from using it except to issue vague warnings, and makes it a crime for a federal employee knowingly to release it. Companies would get this protection permanently, and would not be required to fix the vulnerabilities they identify.

“The bill introduced today addresses both of these concerns,” Devine added. “It is drafted to avoid the problems that plague the current law, and does not hamstring the government from acting to protect citizens from dangers at private facilities. Instead, it has a narrowly-tailored exemption to FOIA which is based on existing law and which does not shield wrongdoers from responsibility.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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