[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR8.5]

[Page 71-72]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
          Subtitle A--Office of the Secretary of Transportation
 
PART 8_CLASSIFIED INFORMATION: CLASSIFICATION/DECLASSIFICATION/ACCESS
--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec.  8.5  Definitions.

    As used in this part:
    Classification means the act or process by which information is 
determined to be classified information.
    Classification levels means the following three levels at which 
information may be classified:
    (a) Top secret. Information that requires the highest degree of 
protection, and the unauthorized disclosure of which could reasonably be 
expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security 
that the original classification authority is able to identify or 
describe.
    (b) Secret. Information that requires a substantial degree of 
protection, and the unauthorized disclosure of which could reasonably be 
expected to cause serious damage to the national security that the 
original classification authority is able to identify or describe.
    (c) Confidential. Information that requires protection and the 
unauthorized disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to cause 
damage to the national security that the original classification 
authority is able to identify or describe.
    Classified information or ``classified national security 
information'' means information that has been determined under Executive 
Order 12958, or any predecessor or successor order, to require 
protection against unauthorized disclosure, and is marked to indicate 
its classified status when in documentary form.
    Clearance means that an individual is eligible, under the standards 
of Executive Orders 10450 and 12968 and appropriate DOT regulations, for 
access to classified information.
    Damage to the national security means harm to the national defense 
or foreign relations of the United States from the unauthorized 
disclosure of information, to include the sensitivity, value, and 
utility of that information.
    Declassification means the authorized change in the status of 
information from classified information to unclassified information.
    Downgrading means a determination by a declassification authority 
that information classified and safeguarded at a specific level shall be 
classified and safeguarded at a lower level.
    Information means any knowledge that can be communicated, or 
documentary material, regardless of its physical form or 
characteristics, that is owned by, produced by or for, or is under the 
control of the United States Government. ``Control'' means the authority 
of the agency that originates information, or its successor in function, 
to regulate access to the information.
    Mandatory declassification review means the review for 
declassification of classified information in response to a request for 
declassification that qualifies under Section 3.6 of Executive Order 
12958.
    Original classification means an initial determination that 
information requires, in the interest of national security, protection 
against unauthorized disclosure.
    Original classification authority means an individual authorized in 
writing, either by the President or by agency

[[Page 72]]

heads or other officials designated by the President, to classify 
information in the first instance.