ML20149F504
| ML20149F504 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/23/1987 |
| From: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Breaux J SENATE, ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20149F506 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8801140263 | |
| Download: ML20149F504 (2) | |
Text
- n d
UNITED STATES E
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 y
g 3
\\...../
December 23, 1987 CHAIRMAN The Honorable John B. Breaux, Chairman Subcomittee on Nuclear Regulation Comittee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. Chainnan:
During the Comission's appearance before your Subcomittee on October 29, 1987, I comitted to report to the Subcomittee on the circumstances surrounding the disposition of an F0IA request filed by Inside NRC on June 7, 1985.
Our General Counsel has looked into this matter and has concluded that an inadvertent error was made while processing this particular F0IA request.
A copy of his report on this matter is enclosed. However, I reiterate that, as I stated at the hearing, the Comission does not routinely make predecisional material, such as its vote sheets, public.
On May 3,1985, a transcript of a May 2,1985 Comission meeting and a copy of SECY-85-149 were placed in the Public Document Room (PDR). The Comission's Correspondence and Records Branch is customarily notified when Comission documents go into the PDR.
In this particular case either the notification was overlocked or misplaced.
Had that Branch received such notification, it would have logged SECY-85-149 as a public document.
Inside NR(,, at that point, would have and should have been notified of I
this fact and been given the accession number of the document for l
retrieval purposes. A docurrent search reveals that an employee in the l
Office of the Secretary, a Commission level office, sent a memorandum to l
l the Division of Rules and Records advising that the Comission had l
determined that SECY-85-149 was to be withheld pursuant to Exemption 5 of the FOIA. However, the usual documentation that would indicate that the Comission had in fact been consulted has not been located. Thus, as the General Counsel notes, the most that can be said is that "it was determined at the Comission level that SECY-85-149 was withholdable...."
j However, the requested vote sheets had not been made public and would not have been released except by the election of each individual Comissioner.
One Comissioner did so elect in this case.
I cannot assume that Mr. Mark Wetterhahn had access to these vote sheets in order to make the statements in his July 16, 1985 letter that you read during the hearing. There were no ex parte considerations that would preclude discussion of this proposed rule. Thus, Mr. Wetterhahn could hve reached conclusions in his statements by using information gathered from informal conversations, speeches, transcripts of meetings, and other communications.
23 8901140263 hRE DENCE PDR
I The Honorable John 8. Breaux o The Comission does not believe that the circumstances surrounding the handiing of this isolated FOIA request means that our F0IA procedures are generally flawed.
I assure you and the other members of the Subcommittee that we make every effort to be fair in complying with F01A requirements.
Sincerely, bV.
Lando W. Zec Jr.
cc: Senator Alan K. Simpson
Attachment:
As stated
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