Nixon presidential materials: Private and personal segments of tape recordings; return to Nixon estate,
[Federal Register: July 14, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 134)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 37922-37923]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jy99-32]
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
RIN 3095-AA91
Nixon Presidential Materials
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: This proposed rule will amend regulations on preservation and processing of and access to the Presidential historical materials of Richard M. Nixon in NARA's custody to reflect the 1998 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals that the private or personal segments of the original tape recordings must be returned to the Nixon estate. The amended rule will affect NARA and the Nixon estate. Other members of the public are not affected because no public access to the private and personal segments of the tapes has ever been permitted.
DATES: Comments are due by September 13, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Regulation Comments Desk (NPOL), Room 4100, Policy and Communications Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. They may be faxed to 301-713-7270.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Allard at telephone number 301- 713-7360, ext. 226, or fax number 301-713-7270.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Presidential Recordings and Materials Act (PRMPA), 44 U.S.C. 2111 note, Section 104(a), provides that in processing and providing access to the Nixon Presidential historical materials, the Archivist shall promulgate regulations, taking into account a number of factors including ``the need to give to Richard M. Nixon, or his heirs, for his sole custody and use, tape recordings and other materials which are not likely to be related to the need [to inform the public about abuses of governmental power] and are not otherwise of general historical significance.'' NARA promulgated its PRMPA regulations in 1986, including a provision (36 CFR 1275.48(a)) to transfer to former President Richard M. Nixon materials determined to be ``private or personal'' in accordance with the PRMPA.
To fulfill this requirement with regard to the Nixon White House tape recordings, NARA had returned a copy of such materials to the estate of former President Nixon and agreed to identify and return to the Nixon estate a copy of any additional private or personal materials identified on the tapes in the course of NARA's continuing review of the tapes. However, in the mediation leading up to the Settlement Agreement filedApril 12, 1996, in Stanley I. Kutler and Public Citizen v. John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States, and William E. Griffin and John H. Taylor, Co-executors of Richard M. Nixon's Estate, Civil Action No. 92-0662-NHJ (D.D.C.) (Johnson, J.), the parties were unable to reach an agreement on whether the Archivist was obligated, under other provisions of the PRMPA, to retain and maintain the original tape recordings in their entirety, including those segments deemed to be private or personal, along with a master preservation copy. Accordingly, the parties agreed to litigate this issue, including the validity of 36 CFR 1275.48(a) and 1275.64(e), which were amended by NARA in 1996 following the Settlement Agreement to reflect the government's position that it was complying with the Act by retaining the original tapes and a master preservation copy, including those portions containing private or personal conversations.
On March 31, 1998, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its decision affirming the March 31, 1997 ruling of the U.S. District Court (D.D.C.) in favor of the defendant- intervenors (the co-Executors of the estate of former President Richard Nixon). The District Court had directed the Archivist of the United States to ``provide [the Nixon estate] forthwith with all personal or private conversations identified to date on the original White House tapes described in Section 101(a) of the [PRMPA] and any copies thereof.'' The court also ordered NARA to destroy or return portions of the draft tape log that contain descriptions of the private or personal
[[Page 37923]]
materials. This proposed rule revises the regulations to reflect the District Court's decision.
This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action for the purposes of Executive Order 12866 and has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, I certify that this rule will not have a significant impact on small entities.
List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1275
Archives and records.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, NARA proposes to amend part 1275 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:
PART 1275--PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF AND ACCESS TO THE PRESIDENTIAL HISTORICAL MATERIALS OF THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION
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The authority citation for part 1275 continues to read:
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2101-2118; 5 U.S.C. 552; and E.O. 12600, 52 FR 23781, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 235.
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Revise paragraph (a) of Sec. 1275.48 to read:
Sec. 1275.48 Transfer of materials.
(a) The Archivist will transfer sole custody and use of those materials determined to be private or personal, or to be neither related to abuses of governmental power nor otherwise of general historical significance, to former President Nixon's estate, or, when appropriate and after notifying the Nixon estate, to the former staff member having primary proprietary or commemorative interest in the materials. Such materials to be transferred include all segments of the original tape recordings which have been or will be identified as private or personal. * * * * *
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Revise paragraph (e) of Sec. 1275.64 to read:
Sec. 1275.64 Reproduction of tape recordings of Presidential conversations.
* * * * *
(e) The Archivist shall produce and maintain a master preservation copy of the original tape recordings for preservation purposes. The Archivist shall ensure that the master preservation copy, like the portions of the original tape recordings retained by the Archivist, does not contain those segments of the tape recordings which have been identified as private or personal and which have been transferred to the Nixon estate in accordance with Sec. 1275.48.
Dated: July 8, 1999. John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 99-17946Filed7-13-99; 8:45 am]
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