[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 18, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 18CFR3a.23]

[Page 47-48]
 
           TITLE 18--CONSERVATION OF POWER AND WATER RESOURCES
 
  CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 
PART 3a_NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 3a.23  Review of classified material for declassification purposes.

    (a) All information and material classified after June 1, 1972, and 
determined in accordance with Chapter 21, title 44, United States Code, 
to be of sufficient historical or other value to warrant preservation 
shall be systematically reviewed on a timely basis for the purpose of 
making such information and material publicly available according to the 
declassification determination at the time of classification. During 
each calendar year the FPC shall segregate to the maximum extent 
possible all such information and material warranting preservation and 
becoming declassified at or prior to the end of such year. Promptly 
after the end of such year the FPC, or the Archives of the United States 
if transferred thereto, shall make the declassified information and 
material available to the public to the extent permitted by law.
    (b) Departments and agencies and members of the public may direct 
requests for review for declassification, as described in Sec. 
3a.22(f), to:

Office of the Secretary, Federal Power Commission,\1\ Washington, DC 
20426.

    \1\ Now known as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Office of the Secretary will assign the request to the appropriate 
Bureau or Office for action and will acknowledge in writing the receipt 
of the request. If the request requires the rendering of services for 
which fair and equitable fees should be charged pursuant to Title 5 of 
the Independent Offices Appropriations Act, 1952, 31 U.S.C. 483a, the 
requester shall be so notified. The Bureau or Office which is assigned 
action will make a determination within 30 days of receipt or explain 
why further time is necessary. If at the end of 60 days from receipt of 
the request for review no determination has been made, the requester may 
apply to the FPC Review Committee (paragraph (g) of this section) for a 
determination. Should the Bureau or Office assigned the action on a 
request for review determine that under the criteria set forth in 
section 5(B) of E.O. 11652 continued classification is required, the 
requester will be notified promptly and, whenever possible, provided 
with a brief statement as to why the requested information or material 
cannot be declassified. The requester may appeal any such determination 
to the FPC Review Committee and the notice of determination will advise 
him of this right.
    (c) The FPC Review Committee will establish procedures to review and 
act within 30 days upon all applications and appeals regarding requests 
for declassification. The chairman, acting through the committee, is 
authorized to overrule previous determinations in whole or in part when, 
in its judgment, continued protection is no longer required. If the 
committee determines that continued classification is required under the 
criteria of section 5(B) of E.O. 11652, it will promptly so notify the 
requester and advise him that he may appeal the denial to the 
Interagency Classification Review Committee.
    (d) A request by a department or agency or a member of the public to 
review for declassification documents more than 30 years old shall be 
referred directly to the Archivist of the United States, and he shall 
have the requested documents reviewed for declassification. If the 
information or material requested has been transferred to the General 
Services Administration for accession into the Archives, the Archivist 
shall, together with the chairman, have the requested documents reviewed 
for declassification. Classification shall be continued in either case 
only when the chairman makes the personal determination indicated in 
Sec. 3a.22(g)(1).

[[Page 48]]

The Archivist shall notify the requester promptly of such determination 
and of his right to appeal the denial to the Interagency Classification 
Review Committee.
    (e) For purposes of administrative determinations under paragraph 
(b), (c), or (d) of this section, the burden is on the FPC to show that 
continued classification is warranted. Upon a determination that the 
classified material no longer warrants classification, it will be 
declassified and made available to the requester if not otherwise exempt 
from disclosure under section 552(b) of Title 5, U.S.C. (Freedom of 
Information Act) or other provisions of law.
    (f) A request for classification review must describe the document 
with sufficient particularity to enable the FPC to identify it and 
obtain it with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever a request is 
deficient in its description of the record sought, the requester will be 
asked to provide additional identifying information whenever possible. 
Before denying a request on the ground that it is unduly burdensome, the 
requester will be asked to limit his request to records that are 
reasonably obtainable. If the requester then does not describe the 
records sought with sufficient particularity, or the record requested 
cannot be obtained with a reasonable amount of effort, the requester 
will be notified of the reasons why no action will be taken and of his 
right to appeal such decision.
    (g) The FPC Review Committee will consist of the Executive Director, 
as Committee Chairman, the Secretary, and the Director, Office of Public 
Information, as members. In addition to the activities described in this 
paragraph, the Review Committee has authority to act on all suggestions 
and complaints with respect to administration of E.O. 11652 and this 
part 3a.
    (h) The FPC Review Committee is also responsible for recommending to 
the chairman appropriate administrative action to correct abuse or 
violation of any provision of E.O. 11652 or NSC directives thereunder, 
including notifications by warning letter, formal reprimand, and to the 
extent permitted by law, suspension without pay and removal.
    (i) The Chairman of the Review Committee will submit through the 
chairman, FPC, a report quarterly to the Interagency Classification 
Review Committee, NSC, of actions on classification review requests, 
classification abuses, and unauthorized disclosures.

              Classification Markings and Special Notations