The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced its proposed rule for the handling of Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). The rule is required by the CII provision in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the development of the legislation was very controversial. The legislation allows corporations that voluntarily submit information on infrastructure vulnerabilities secrecy, civil immunity, preemption of state and local disclosure laws, and protection from whistleblowers. The proposed rule contains all of the highly criticized provisions, as well as some very troubling additions that broaden the overall scope of the rule. OMB Watch has prepared a detailed analysis of the proposed rule and is submitting comments for the June 16, 2003 deadline. The analysis delves into the three main inadequacies of the proposed rule:

• Scope of the CII program
• Use of information
• Procedures for managing CII

The analysis explains specific problems with the language and structure of the proposed rule along with recommendations for correcting the shortcomings. If the final rule mirrors the proposed rule, then it would pose significant threats to an open and good government. However, the public comment period provides an excellent avenue for raising such concerns to DHS. If DHS receives enough comments raising these concerns, they may be forced to address and correct the issues. If you are interested in submitting comments, please see our Take Action section in order to do so.