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Councilmember Charles Allen 3
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 7
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 12
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Freedom of 17
Information Act of 1976 to exempt from disclosure critical infrastructure information or 18
plans that contain critical infrastructure information for the critical infrastructures of the 19
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. 20
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 21
resolution may be cited as the “DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information 22
Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2023”. 23
Sec. 2. (a) Section 204(a)(15) of the Freedom of Information Act of 1976, effective 24
March 29, 1977 (D.C. Law 1-96; D.C. Official Code § 2-534(a)(15)) (“Act”), exempts from 25
disclosure under the Act critical infrastructure information or plans that contain critical 26
infrastructure information of companies that are regulated by the Public Service Commission of 27
the District of Columbia (“PSC”). 28
(b) The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (“DC Water”) is not regulated 29
by the PSC, and therefore is not covered by this exemption or any similar exemption. As a result, 30
under current law, DC Water could be required to disclose information that could jeopardize the 31
security of the District’s critical water and sewer infrastructure. 32
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(c) This emergency legislation clarifies that the critical infrastructure exemption applies 33
to DC Water, as well as entities regulated by the PSC. Like other utilities, DC Water is party to 34
information related to critical infrastructure that should not be widely available to the public 35
upon a Freedom of Information Act request. This emergency legislation is necessary to limit 36
access to that information and protect the security of the District’s water and sewer 37
infrastructure. 38
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 39
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the DC 40
Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Emergency Amendment Act 41
of 2023 be adopted after a single reading. 42
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 43