Statutes Found to Qualify under Exemption 3 of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.§ 552. Under its terms, as amended in 1976 and 2009, a statute qualifies as an "Exemption 3 statute" only if it " requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld." Additionally, any statute enacted after October 29, 2009 acting to exclude information release must contain a specific citation to subsection of the FOIA statute.
Limitations of the list
The U.S. Freedom of Information Act's exemptions from release of information can be found at 5 U.S.C. § 552-. Exemption 3 of FOIA is cited as 5 U.S.C. § 552. In FOIA responses it is usually cited as just "." If a statute other than the FOIA specifically forbids the release of particular information or sets clear criteria for types of information not to be released, it is a statute. Surprisingly, there is no single authoritative list of such statutes. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy can be found in its FOIA Post. A separate list is maintained by the Collaboration on Government Secrecy at American University Washington College of Law, and it suggests that the universe of Exemption 3 statutes is much greater. . The Collaboration on Government Secrecy has determined that while agencies report using more than 300 separate statutes under Exemption 3 statute, careful academic analysis reveals that less than 160 distinct provisions of law truly qualify as Exemption 3, regardless of agency or court decisions. This list is updated periodically throughout the year, and it currently cites 156 statutes as correctly "vetted" ones . The Collaboration on Government Secrecy also maintains a list of leading Exemption 3 decisions, articles, and news.
2009 FOIA Amendment changes to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3)
The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy frequently posts items concerning the FOIA called through . On March 10, 2010 it posted a summary of the OPEN FOIA Act of 2009, which was passed as Section 564 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010. The OPEN FOIA Act provides that new independent confidentiality provisions passed by Congress after the date of its enactment must specifically state in the legislation that they are Exemption 3 statutes for FOIA purposes. The subsection now reads: " specifically exempted from disclosure by statute, if that statute-- requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; and if enacted after the date of enactment of the OPEN FOIA Act of 2009, specifically cites to this paragraph."
Non-Exemption 3 Statutes
Some federal agencies have incorrectly applied statutory provisions that are mistakenly believed to qualify as Exemption 3 statutes. The Collaboration on Government Secrecy at American UniversityWashington College of Law has developed a list of several statutory provisions that sometimes are mistakenly believed to qualify as Exemption 3. The more than 150 incorrectly applied provisions identified as : •5 U.S.C. § 552a •10 U.S.C. § 130 • 10 U.S.C. § 618 •17 U.S.C. § 101 •18 U.S.C. § 795 • 18 U.S.C. § 798 •18 U.S.C. § 923 •18 U.S.C. § 1905 •19 U.S.C. § 2605 •28 U.S.C. § 534 •42 U.S.C. § 423, •42 U.S.C. § 14132
