Congressional oversight of special access programs

50 U.S.C. § 2426
in effect
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(a) Annual report on special access programs(1) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Administrator shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on special access programs of the Administration. (2) Each such report shall set forth—(A) the total amount requested for such programs in the President’s budget for the next fiscal year submitted under section 1105 of title 31; and (B) for each such program in that budget, the following:(i) A brief description of the program. (ii) A brief discussion of the major milestones established for the program. (iii) The actual cost of the program for each fiscal year during which the program has been conducted before the fiscal year during which that budget is submitted. (iv) The estimated total cost of the program and the estimated cost of the program for—(I) the current fiscal year; (II) the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted; and (III) each of the four succeeding fiscal years during which the program is expected to be conducted. (b) Annual report on new special access programs(1) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Administrator shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that, with respect to each new special access program, provides—(A) notice of the designation of the program as a special access program; and (B) justification for such designation. (2) A report under paragraph (1) with respect to a program shall include—(A) the current estimate of the total program cost for the program; and (B) an identification of existing programs or technologies that are similar to the technology, or that have a mission similar to the mission, of the program that is the subject of the notice. (3) In this subsection, the term “new special access program” means a special access program that has not previously been covered in a notice and justification under this subsection. (c) Reports on changes in classification of special access programs(1) Whenever a change in the classification of a special access program of the Administration is planned to be made or whenever classified information concerning a special access program of the Administration is to be declassified and made public, the Administrator shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing a description of the proposed change, the reasons for the proposed change, and notice of any public announcement planned to be made with respect to the proposed change. (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), any report referred to in paragraph (1) shall be submitted not less than 14 days before the date on which the proposed change or public announcement is to occur. (3) If the Administrator determines that because of exceptional circumstances the requirement of paragraph (2) cannot be met with respect to a proposed change or public announcement concerning a special access program of the Administration, the Administrator may submit the report required by paragraph (1) regarding the proposed change or public announcement at any time before the proposed change or public announcement is made and shall include in the report an explanation of the exceptional circumstances. (d) Notice of change in SAP designation criteriaWhenever there is a modification or termination of the policy and criteria used for designating a program of the Administration as a special access program, the Administrator shall promptly notify the congressional defense committees of such modification or termination. Any such notification shall contain the reasons for the modification or termination and, in the case of a modification, the provisions of the policy as modified. (e) Waiver authority(1) The Administrator may waive any requirement under subsection (a), (b), or (c) that certain information be included in a report under that subsection if the Administrator determines that inclusion of that information in the report would adversely affect the national security. The Administrator may waive the report-and-wait requirement in subsection (f) if the Administrator determines that compliance with such requirement would adversely affect the national security. Any waiver under this paragraph shall be made on a case-by-case basis. (2) If the Administrator exercises the authority provided under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall provide the information described in that subsection with respect to the special access program concerned, and the justification for the waiver, jointly to the chairman and ranking minority member of each of the congressional defense committees. (f) Report and wait for initiating new programsA special access program may not be initiated until—(1) the congressional defense committees are notified of the program; and (2) a period of 30 days elapses after such notification is received.

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