Appeals of decisions must be received by the Coordinator within forty-five (45) days of the date of mailing of NACIC's initial decision. It shall identify with specificity the documents or information to be considered on appeal and it may, but need not, provide a factual or legal basis for the appeal.

The Coordinator shall promptly record each appeal received under this part, acknowledge receipt to the requester, and task the originator and other interested parties. Additional taskings, as required during the review process, shall be accomplished within ten (10) days of notification.

Each NACIC Office Chief in charge of an office which originated or has an interest in any of the records subject to the appeal, or designee, is a required party to any appeal; other interested parties may become involved through the request of the Coordinator when it is determined that some or all of the information is also within their official cognizance. These parties shall respond in writing to the Coordinator with a finding as to the classified status of the information including the category of protected information as set forth in § 1.5 of this Order, and, if older than ten (10) years, the basis for continued classification under §§ 1.6 and 3.4 of this Order. These parties shall also provide a statement as to whether or not there is any other statutory, common law, or Constitutional basis for withholding as required by § 6.1(c) of this Order. This response shall be provided expeditiously on a “first-in, first-out” basis taking into account the business requirements of the parties and consistent with the information rights of members of the general public under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The Director, NACIC will make final NACIC decisions from appeals of initial denial decisions under E.O. 12958. Matters decided by the Director, NACIC will be deemed a final decision by NACIC.

Action by the Director, NACIC. The Coordinator shall provide a summation memorandum for consideration of the Director, NACIC; the complete record of the request consisting of the request, the document(s) (sanitized and full text) at issue, and the findings of the originator and interested parties. The Director, NACIC shall personally decide each case; no personal appearances shall be permitted without the express permission of the Director, NACIC.

The Coordinator shall communicate the decision of the Director, NACIC to the requester, NARA, or the particular Presidential Library within ten (10) days of such decision. That correspondence shall include a notice that an appeal of the decision may be made to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) established pursuant to § 5.4 of this Order.