CFR

1260.20—Who is responsible for the declassification of classified national security Executive Branch information that has been accessioned by NARA?

(a) Consistent with the requirements on automatic declassification in section 3.3 of EO 12958, as amended, the originating agency is responsible for declassification of its information, but may delegate declassification authority to NARA in the form of declassification guidance. Even though the agency delegates declassification authority to NARA in the form of declassification guidance, the agency remains responsible for reviewing the records to identify other agencies having primary subject matter interest (“equities”) before the date that the records become eligible for automatic declassification.

(b) If an agency does not delegate declassification authority to NARA, the agency is responsible for both declassification of its own information and reviewing the records to identify the equities of other agencies before the date that the records become eligible for automatic declassification.

(c) NARA is responsible for the declassification of records of a defunct agency that has no successor in function. NARA will consult with agencies having equities in the records before making declassification determinations.

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