Restore Accountability to CIA's Secrecy System
On 23 September 2011, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with no notice for public comment, decreed that the public will now have to pay outrageous fees to have Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests processed. The fees, which can run requesters up to $72 per hour -- even if no information is found or released -- and the requirement that requesters pay a minimum of $15 in duplication fees, effectively cut off access to a system that researchers, historians, public interest advocates and others have used successfully to challenge the CIA's extreme secrecy.
Unlike FOIA requests, if an agency fails to declassify and release the information under the MDR process, requesters can appeal the agency's decision to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) for independent review. According to the US Information Security Oversight Office, ISCAP officials have overruled agency classification decisions more than 65 percent of the time since 1996.
The regulation can still be withdrawn. Sign on today to let the CIA know its actions are out of line with President Obama’s call for “an unprecedented level of open government.”
We the undersigned would like to call to your attention an alarming regulation that the Central Intelligence Agency entered into the Federal Register on 23 September 2011. Finalized without any notice for public comment, this regulation could cut off access to the most effective tool the public can use to request declassification of the CIA’s secret documents, the Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) program.
The regulation states that declassification reviews will now cost requesters up to $72 per hour, even if no information is found or released. The public must also now agree to pay a minimum of $15 in duplication fees. Throughout the government, and previously at CIA, MDR fees are commensurate to FOIA fees. Under FOIA, Congress stipulated that public interest, educational, journalism, and other fee waivers must be granted, when applicable under the statute. Furthermore, agencies must forfeit their right to collect some FOIA processing fees when they miss their processing deadline.
The effect of the CIA’s new policy will be to price the public out of submitting MDR requests. The MDR process is a popular and successful tool for researchers, historians, public interest advocates and others, in part because of the independent accountability and oversight the program provides. Unlike FOIA requests, if an agency fails to declassify and release the information under the MDR process, requesters can appeal the agency's decision to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) for independent review. According to the US Information Security Oversight Office, ISCAP officials have overruled agency classification decisions more than 65 percent of the time since 1996.
This regulation was quietly passed without notice for public comment, imposes burdensome fees incongruous with those charged for FOIA requests, and is absolutely contrary to President Obama’s call for “an unprecedented level of open government.” We respectfully request that the CIA withdraw this retrograde regulation.
Sincerely,
The regulation states that declassification reviews will now cost requesters up to $72 per hour, even if no information is found or released. The public must also now agree to pay a minimum of $15 in duplication fees. Throughout the government, and previously at CIA, MDR fees are commensurate to FOIA fees. Under FOIA, Congress stipulated that public interest, educational, journalism, and other fee waivers must be granted, when applicable under the statute. Furthermore, agencies must forfeit their right to collect some FOIA processing fees when they miss their processing deadline.
The effect of the CIA’s new policy will be to price the public out of submitting MDR requests. The MDR process is a popular and successful tool for researchers, historians, public interest advocates and others, in part because of the independent accountability and oversight the program provides. Unlike FOIA requests, if an agency fails to declassify and release the information under the MDR process, requesters can appeal the agency's decision to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) for independent review. According to the US Information Security Oversight Office, ISCAP officials have overruled agency classification decisions more than 65 percent of the time since 1996.
This regulation was quietly passed without notice for public comment, imposes burdensome fees incongruous with those charged for FOIA requests, and is absolutely contrary to President Obama’s call for “an unprecedented level of open government.” We respectfully request that the CIA withdraw this retrograde regulation.
Sincerely,