(a) Authority to Exempt Certain Data Files From Disclosure Under FOIA.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense may exempt information contained in any data file of the military flight operations quality assurance system of a military department from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, upon a written determination that—
(2) In this section, the term “data file” means a file of the military flight operations quality assurance (in this section referred to as “MFOQA”) system that contains information acquired or generated by the MFOQA system, including—
(3)
Information that is exempt under paragraph (1) from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5 shall be exempt from such disclosure even if such information is contained in a data file that is not exempt in its entirety from such disclosure.
(b) Regulations.—
The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section. Such regulations shall ensure consistent application of the authority in subsection (a) across the military departments.
(c) Delegation.—
The Secretary of Defense may delegate the authority to make a determination under subsection (a) to the Director of Administration and Management of the Department.
(d) Transparency.—
Each determination of the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, under subsection (a) shall be made in writing and accompanied by a statement of the basis for the determination. All such determinations and statements of basis shall be available to the public, upon request, through the Office of the Director of Administration and Management.