§ 601.7 Mandatory declassification review.

(a) The Division of Administrative Services is hereby designated as the office to which members of the public or Departments may direct requests for mandatory review for declassification under this provision. In the case of documents originally classified by the Foundation, this office shall, in turn, assign the request to the appropriate office for action within 60 days. In each instance, receipt of the request will be acknowledged in writing immediately by the office that has been assigned action. A request for classification review must reasonably describe the document.

(b) Whenever a request is deficient in its description of the record sought, the requester should be asked to provide additional identifying information to the extent possible. Whenever a request does not reasonably describe the information sought, the requester shall be notified that unless additional information is provided or the scope of the request is narrowed, no further action will be undertaken. Upon a determination that the requested material no longer warrants classification, it shall be declassified and made promptly available to the requester, if not otherwise exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b) (Freedom of Information Act) or other provision of law. If the information may not be released in whole or in part the requester shall be given a brief statement as to the reasons for denial, a notice of the right to appeal the determination of the Classification Review Committee, and a notice that such an appeal must be filed with the Foundation within 60 days in order to be considered.

(c) When the request relates to a document given derivative classification by the Foundation or originated by another agency, the request and the document will be forwarded to the originator of the source document, and the requestor notified of such referral.

(d) Employees presently cleared for access to classified information are encouraged to challenge classification in cases where there is reasonable cause to believe that information is classified unnecessarily, improperly, or for an inappropriate period of time. Such challenges should be brought to the attention of the Security Officer (Information) who will act thereon within 30 days, informing the challenger of actions taken. Requests for confidentiality will be honored.