(a) This part implements the provisions of the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b). These procedures apply to meetings, as defined herein, of the Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board). The Board may waive the provisions set forth in this part to the extent authorized by law.

(b) Requests for all documents other than the transcripts, recordings, and minutes described in § 1704.8 shall be governed by Board regulations pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).

As used in this part:

(a) Chairman and Vice Chairman mean those Members designated by the President to serve in said positions, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2286(c).

(b) Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board means the Board established under the National Defense Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989.

(c) General Counsel means the Board's principal legal officer, or an attorney serving as Acting General Counsel.

(d) Meeting means the deliberations of three or more Members where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official Board business. A meeting does not include:

(1) Notation voting or similar consideration of business for the purpose of recording of votes, whether by circulation of material to the Members individually in writing or by a polling of the Members individually by telephone.

(2) Action by three or more Members to:

(i) Open or to close a meeting or to release or to withhold information pursuant to § 1704.5;

(ii) Set an agenda for a proposed meeting(s);

(iii) Call a meeting on less than seven days' notice as permitted by § 1704.6(b); or

(iv) Change the subject matter or the determination to open or to close a publicly announced meeting under § 1704.7(b).

(3) A session attended by three or more Members for which the purpose is to have the Board's staff or expert consultants to the Board brief or otherwise provide information to the Board concerning any matters within the purview of the Board under its authorizing statute, provided that the Board does not engage in deliberations that determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official Board business on such matters.

(4) A session attended by three or more Members for which the purpose is to have the Department of Energy (including its contractors) or other persons or organizations brief or otherwise provide information to the Board concerning any matters within the purview of the Board under its authorizing statute, provided that the Board does not engage in deliberations that determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official Board business on such matters.

(5) A gathering of Members for the purpose of holding informal preliminary discussions or exchange of views which do not effectively predetermine official action.

(e) Member means an individual duly appointed and confirmed to the collegial body, known as “the Board.”

(a) Any meetings of the Board, as defined in § 1704.2, shall be conducted in accordance with this part. Except as provided in § 1704.4, the Board's meetings, or portions thereof, shall be open to public observation.

(b) The General Counsel or his designee will attend and monitor briefings described in § 1704.2(d) (3)-(4) and informal preliminary discussions described in § 1704.2(d)(5) to assure that those gatherings do not proceed to the point of becoming deliberations and “meetings” within the meaning of the Sunshine Act.

(c) The General Counsel or his designee will inform the Board Members if developing discussions at a briefing or gathering should be deferred until a notice of an open or closed meeting can be published in the Federal Register, and a meeting conducted pursuant to the Sunshine Act and these regulations.

Except in a case where the Board finds that the public interest requires otherwise, a meeting may be closed and information pertinent to such meeting otherwise required by §§ 1704.5, 1704.6, and 1704.7 to be disclosed to the public may be withheld if the Board properly determines that such meeting or portion thereof or the disclosure of such information is likely to:

(a) Disclose matters that are:

(1) Specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in the interests of national defense or foreign policy; and

(2) In fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order. In making the determination that this exemption applies, the Board shall rely upon the classification assigned to a document by the Department of Energy or other originating agency;

(b) Relate solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Board;

(c)(1) Disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than 5 U.S.C. 552): Provided, That such statute:

(i) Requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or

(ii) Establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;

(2) This exemption applies to Board meetings, or portions of meetings, involving deliberations regarding recommendations which, under 42 U.S.C. 2286d(b) and (h)(3), may not be made publicly available until after they have been received by the Secretary of Energy or the President, respectively; Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

(d) Disclose trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential;

(e) Involve accusing any person of a crime, or formally censuring any person;

(f) Disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(g) Disclose investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, or information which, if written, would be contained in such records, but only to the extent that the production of such records or information would;

(1) Interfere with enforcement proceedings;

(2) Deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication;

(3) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(4) Disclose the identity of a confidential source and, in the case of a record compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, confidential information furnished only by the confidential source;

(5) Disclose investigative techniques and procedures; or

(6) Endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel;

(h) Disclose information the premature disclosure of which would be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed action of the Board, except that this subsection shall not apply in any instance where the Board has already disclosed to the public the content or nature of its proposed action, or where the Board is required by law to make such disclosure on its own initiative prior to taking final action on such proposal;

(i) Specifically concern the Board's issuance of a subpoena, or the Board's participation in a civil action or proceeding, an action in a foreign court or international tribunal, or an arbitration, or the initiation, conduct, or disposition by the Board of a particular case of formal agency adjudication pursuant to the procedures in 5 U.S.C. 554 or otherwise involving a determination on the record after opportunity for a hearing; or

(j) Disclose other information for which the Government in the Sunshine Act provides an exemption to the open meeting requirements of that Act.

(a) A majority of all Members may vote to close a meeting or withhold information pertaining to that meeting. A separate vote shall be taken with respect to any action under § 1704.4. A majority of the Board may act by taking a single vote with respect to a series of meetings, a portion or portions of which are proposed to be closed to the public, or with respect to any information concerning such series of meetings, so long as each meeting in such series involves the same particular subject matters and is scheduled to be held no more than thirty days after the initial meeting in such series. Each Member's vote under this paragraph shall be recorded and proxies are not permitted.

(b) Any person whose interest may be directly affected if a portion of a meeting is open may request the Board to close that portion on any of the grounds referred to in § 1704.4 (e), (f), or (g). Requests, with reasons in support thereof, should be submitted to the General Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW., suite 700, Washington, DC 20004. On motion of any Member, the Board shall determine by recorded vote whether to grant the request.

(c) Within one working day of any vote taken pursuant to this section, the Board shall make available a written copy of such vote reflecting the vote of each Member on the question, and if a portion of a meeting is to be closed to the public a full written explanation of its action closing the meeting and a list of all persons expected to attend and their affiliation.

(d) For every closed meeting, the General Counsel of the Board shall publicly certify that, in his or her opinion, the meeting may be closed to the public and shall state each relevant exemption provision. If the General Counsel invokes the exemption for classified or sensitive unclassified information under § 1704.4(a), he shall rely upon the classification or designation assigned to the document containing such information by the Department of Energy or other originating agency. A copy of such certification, together with a statement setting forth the time and place of the meeting and the persons present, shall be retained by the Board as part of the transcript, recording, or minutes required by § 1704.8.

(a) For each meeting, the Board shall make public announcement, at least one week before the meeting, of the:

(1) Time of the meeting;

(2) Place of the meeting;

(3) Subject matter of the meeting;

(4) Whether the meeting is to be open or closed; and

(5) The name and business telephone number of the official designated by the Board to respond to requests for information about the meeting.

(b) The one week advance notice required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced only if:

(1) A majority of all Members determines by recorded vote that Board business requires that such meeting be scheduled in less than seven days; and

(2) The public announcement required by paragraph (a) of this section is made at the earliest practicable time.

(c) Immediately following each public announcement required by this section, or by § 1704.7, the Board shall submit a notice of public announcement for publication in the Federal Register.

(a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed following the public announcement only if the Board publicly announces such change at the earliest practicable time. Members need not approve such change.

(b) The subject matter of a meeting or the determination of the Board to open or to close a meeting, or a portion thereof, to the public may be changed following public announcement if:

(1) A majority of all Members determines by recorded vote that Board business so requires and that no earlier announcement of the change was possible; and

(2) The Board publicly announces such change and the vote of each Member thereon at the earliest practicable time.

(c) The deletion of any subject matter announced for a meeting is not a change requiring the approval of the Board under paragraph (b) of this section.

Along with the General Counsel's certification and presiding officer's statement referred to in § 1704.5(d), the Board shall maintain a complete transcript or electronic recording adequate to record fully the proceedings of each meeting, or a portion thereof, closed to the public. The Board may maintain a set of minutes in lieu of such transcript or recording for meetings closed pursuant to § 1704.4(i). Such minutes shall fully and clearly describe all matters discussed and shall provide a full and accurate summary of any actions taken, and the reasons therefor, including a description of each of the views expressed on any item and the record of any rollcall vote.

The Board shall make promptly available to the public in the Public Reading Room the transcript, electronic recording, or minutes of the discussion of any item on the agenda or of any testimony received at a closed meeting, except for such item, or items, of discussion or testimony as determined by the Board to contain matters which may be withheld under the exemptive provisions of § 1704.4. Copies of the nonexempt portions of the transcript or minutes, or transcription of such recordings disclosing the identity of each speaker, shall be furnished to any person at the actual cost of transcription or duplication. If at some later time the Board determines that there is no further justification for withholding a portion of a transcript, electronic recording, or minutes or other item of information from the public which has previously been withheld, such portion or information shall be made publicly available. The Board shall maintain a complete verbatim copy of the transcript, a complete copy of the minutes, or a complete electronic recording of each meeting, or a portion thereof, closed to the public for at least two years after such meeting, or until one year after the conclusion of any Board proceeding with respect to which the meeting, or a portion thereof, was held, whichever occurs later.

If any provision of this part or the application of such provision to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of this part or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.

(a) In general. Notwithstanding the other requirements of this part, a quorum of Members may hold a meeting that is not open to public observation to discuss official business of the Board if—

(1) No formal or informal vote or other official action is taken at the meeting;

(2) Each individual present at the meeting is a Member or an employee of the Board;

(3) At least one Member from each political party is present at the meeting, unless all Members are of the same political party at the time of the meeting; and

(4) The general counsel of the Board, or a designee of the general counsel, is present at the meeting.

(b) Disclosure of nonpublic collaborative discussions. (1) Except as provided by paragraph (b)(2) of this section, not later than two business days after the conclusion of a meeting described in subsection (a), the Board shall make available to the public, in a place easily accessible to the public—

(i) A list of the individuals present at the meeting; and

(ii) A summary of the matters, including key issues, discussed at the meeting, except for any matter the Board properly determines may be withheld from the public under § 1704.4.

(2) Information about matters withheld from the public. If the Board properly determines under paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section that a matter may be withheld from the public under § 1704.4, the Board shall include in the summary required by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) as much general information as possible with respect to the matter.