(2018-0781-F Segment 2) Presidential Emergency Action Directives (PEADs), Emergency Powers, and Emergency Authorities

2 SRLs, 347 assets

The researcher submitted a FOIA request for electronic material related to Presidential Emergency Action Directives (PEADs), emergency powers, and emergency authorities.

Electronic records responsive to this request primarily include releases from the Office of the Press Secretary regarding declarations of emergency and continuations of previously declared emergencies. There is also correspondence between members of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion (PCY2K) including meeting agendas, meeting minutes, and discussions regarding the emergency authorities of individual agencies. John Koskinen served as Chair of the President’s Council on Y2K Conversion and Janet Abrams was the Executive Director of the Council.

The materials in FOIA 2018-0781-F (Segment 2) are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material.

The researcher submitted a FOIA request for electronic material related to Presidential Emergency Action Directives (PEADs), emergency powers, and emergency authorities. 
Electronic records responsive to this request primarily include releases from the Office of the Press Secretary regarding declarations of emergency and continuations of previously declared emergencies. There is also correspondence between members of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion (PCY2K) including meeting agendas, meeting minutes, and discussions regarding the emergency authorities of individual agencies. John Koskinen served as Chair of the President’s Council on Y2K Conversion and Janet Abrams was the Executive Director of the Council.

Electronic Records

Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—
Clinton Presidential Records: (SAS) Automated Records Management System [Email] and Clinton Presidential Records: (SAS) Tape Restoration Project [Email].

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) subsystem of the Electronic Records Archive (ERA) contains electronic records created or received by Clinton Administration officials. These records are stored in Search and Access Sets (SAS) that represent their originating computer program. Search strings are used to locate records responsive to FOIA requests, and responsive assets are placed into  Search Results Lists (SRLs). Depending on the complexity of the search, there may be multiple SRLs within each SAS. 

The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email.


The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database that contains restored emails from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS) from July 1994 through June of 2000. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email.

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).

Staff Archivist, 2024. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.

(SAS) Automated Records Management System [Email] contains 328 assets.
(SAS) Tape Restoration Project [Email] contains 19 assets.