Sec. 613. Exceptions and limitation on public availability of final OLC opinions
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/bill/118/hr/8597/ih/section-613·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
A final OLC opinion or part thereof may be withheld only to the extent— information contained in the opinion was— specifically authorized to be kept secret, under criteria established by an Executive order, in the interest of national defense or foreign policy; in fact properly classified, including all procedural and marking requirements, pursuant to such Executive order; the Attorney General determines that the national defense or foreign policy interests protected outweigh the public’s interest in access to the information; and has been put through declassification review within the past two years. information contained in the opinion relates to the appointment of a specific individual not confirmed to Federal office; information contained in the opinion is specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than sections 552 and 552b of title 5, United States Code), provided that such statute— requires that the material be withheld in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of material to be withheld; information in the opinion includes trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential whose disclosure would likely cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained; the President, in his or her sole and nondelegable determination, formally and personally claims in writing that executive privilege prevents the release of the information and disclosure would cause specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an exception or the disclosure is prohibited by law; or information in the opinion includes personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Any determination under this section to withhold information contained in a final OLC opinion must be made by the Attorney General or a designee of the Attorney General. The determination shall be— in writing; made available to the public within the same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC opinion; sufficiently detailed as to inform the public of what kind of information is being withheld and the reason therefore; and effective only for a period of 3 years, subject to review and reissuance, with each reissuance made available to the public.
For final OLC opinions for which the text is withheld in full or in substantial part, a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion must be made available to the public, in the same timeframe as required of the final OLC opinion, that conveys the essence of the opinion, including any interpretations of a statute, the Constitution, or other legal authority. A notation must be included in any published list of OLC opinions regarding the extent of the withholdings. A decision by the Attorney General to release or withhold information pursuant to this Act shall not preclude any action or relief conferred by statutory or regulatory regime that empowers any person to request or demand the release of information.
Any reasonably segregable portion of an opinion shall be provided after withholding of the portions which are exempt under this subsection. The amount of information withheld, and the exemption under which the withholding is made, shall be indicated on the released portion of the opinion, unless including that indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption in this subsection under which the withholding is made. If technically feasible, the amount of the information withheld, and the exemption under which the withholding is made, shall be indicated at the place in the opinion where such withholding is made.