(a) The interests of the United States and its citizens are best served by making information regarding the affairs of Government readily available to the public. This concept of an informed citizenry is reflected in the Freedom of Information Act and in the current public information policies of the executive branch.

(b) Within the Federal Government there is some official information and material which, because it bears directly on the effectiveness of our national defense and the conduct of our foreign relations, must be subject to some constraints for the security of our Nation and the safety of our people and our allies. To protect against actions hostile to the United States, of both an overt and covert nature, it is essential that such official information and material be given only limited dissemination.

This rule supplements Executive Order 12065 within the Board with regard to national security information. It establishes general policies and certain procedures for the classification and declassification of information which is generated, processed, and/or stored by the Board. In this connection, the Board does not have any original classification authority but infrequently does receive classified information from other agencies.

(a) Classified information. Information or material, herein collectively termed information, that is owned by, produced for or by, or under the control of, the United States Government and that has been determined pursuant to Executive Order 12065, or prior orders, to require protection against unauthorized disclosure and that is so designated. One of the following classifications will be shown:

(1) Top secret means information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.

(2) Secret means information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to national security.

(3) Confidential means information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable damage to the national security.

(b) Foreign government information means either: (1) Information provided to the United States by a foreign government or international organization of governments in the expectation, express or implied, that the information is to be kept in confidence; or (2) information produced by the United States pursuant to a written joint arrangement with a foreign government or international organization of governments requiring that either the information or the arrangements or both, be kept in confidence.

(c) National security means the national defense and foreign relations of the United States.

(d) Declassification event means an event which would eliminate the need for continued classification.

(a) Requests for mandatory review for declassification under section 3-501 of E.O. 12065 must be in writing and should be addressed to: National Security Oversight Officer, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC 20594.

(b) The requester shall be informed of the date of receipt of the request at the Board. This date will be the basis for the time limits specified by section 3-501 of E.O. 12065. If the request does not reasonably describe the information sought, the requester shall be notified that, unless additional information is provided or the request is made more specific, no further action will be taken.

(c) When the Board receives a request for information in a document which is in its custody but which was classified by another agency, it shall refer the request to the appropriate agency for review, together with a copy of the document containing the information requested, where practicable. The Board shall also notify the requester of the referral, unless the association of the reviewing agency with the information requires protection. The reviewing agency shall review the document in coordination with any other agency involved or which had a direct interest in the classification of the subject matter. The reviewing agency shall respond directly to the requester in accordance with the pertinent procedures described above and, if requested, shall notify the Board of its determination.