(1) No funds appropriated to the Department of Energy may be obligated or expended for the conduct of an investigation by the Department of Energy or any other Federal department or agency for purposes of determining whether to grant a security clearance to an individual or a facility unless the Secretary of Energy determines both of the following:

(A) That a current, complete investigation file is not available from any other department or agency of the Federal government with respect to that individual or facility.

(B) That no other department or agency of the Federal government is conducting an investigation with respect to that individual or facility that could be used as the basis for determining whether to grant the security clearance.


Terms Used In 42 USC 7273b

  • Department: means the Department of Energy or any component thereof, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. See 42 USC 7101
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8

(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a current investigation file is a file on an investigation that has been conducted within the past five years.