Department of Energy January 7, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Savannah River. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.

The Department of Energy (DOE or Department) publishes a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to establish new counterintelligence evaluation regulations, including revised regulations governing the use of polygraph examinations. This proposed rule substitutes for DOE's April 14, 2003, preliminary proposal to retain the existing Polygraph Examination Regulations without significant change. The statutory purpose of the regulations, as stated by section 3152 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2002, is ``* * * to minimize the potential for release or disclosure of classified data, materials, or information.'' The main features of today's supplemental proposal are: Significant reductions in the number of individuals now subject to mandatory counterintelligence evaluations including polygraph screening; initiation of random counterintelligence evaluations including polygraph screening to deter unauthorized releases or disclosures; strict prohibitions on the use of polygraph examination results as the sole basis for adverse actions against employees; and a program description showing how polygraph examinations are used as one of a broad array of tools to deal with counterintelligence risks.