(iv) The senior agency official under Executive Order 12958 ("the Order').

(2) Permanently valuable information or permanent historical value refers to information contained in:

(i) Records that have been accessioned into the National Archives of the United States;

(ii) Records that have been scheduled as permanent under a records retention schedule approved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); and

(iii) Presidential historical materials, presidential records or donated historical materials located in the National Archives of the United States, a presidential library, or any other approved repository.

(b) Identifying or describing damage to the national security. Section 1.2(a) of the Order sets forth the conditions for classifying information in the first instance. One of these conditions, the ability to identify or describe the damage to the national security, is critical to the process of making an original classification decision. There is no requirement, at the time of the decision, for the original classification authority to prepare a written description of such damage. However, the original classification authority must be able to support the decision in writing, including identifying or describing the damage, should the classification decision become the subject of a challenge or access demand.

§ 2001.11 Classification authority [1.4]. (a) General. Agencies with original classification authority shall establish

1 Bracketed references pertain to related sections of Executive Order 12958.

a training program for original classifiers in accordance with subpart D of this part.

(b) Requests for original classification authority. Agencies not possessing such authority shall forward requests to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). The agency head must make the request and shall provide a specific justification of the need for this authority. The Director of ISOO shall forward the request, along with the Director's recommendation, to the President through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget within 30 days. Agencies wishing to increase their assigned level of original classification authority shall forward requests in accordance with the procedures of this section.

(a) Determining duration of classification for information originally classified under the Order—(1) Establishing duration of classification. When determining the duration of classification for information originally classified under this Order, an original classification authority shall follow the sequence listed in paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (ii), and (iii) of this section.

(i) The original classification authority shall attempt to determine a date or event that is less than 10 years from the date of original classification and which coincides with the lapse of the information's national security sensitivity, and shall assign such date or event as the declassification instruction.

(ii) If unable to determine a date or event of less than 10 years, the original classification authority shall ordinarily assign a declassification date that is 10 years from the date of the original classification decision.

(iii) The original classification authority may assign an exemption designation to the information only if the information qualifies for exemption from automatic declassification as described in section 1.6(d) of the Order. Unless declassified earlier, such information contained in records determined by the Archivist of the United States to be permanently valuable shall remain classified for 25 years

from the date of its origin, at which time it will be subject to section 3.4 of the Order.

(2) Extending duration of classification for information originally classified under the Order. Extensions of classification are not automatic. If an original classification authority with jurisdiction over the information does not extend the classification of information assigned a date or event for declassification, the information is automatically declassified upon the occurrence of the date or event. If an original classification authority has assigned a date or event for declassification that is 10 years or less from the date of classification, an original classification authority with jurisdiction over the information may extend the classification duration of such information for additional periods not to exceed 10 years at a time.

(i) For information in records determined to have permanent historical value, successive extensions may not exceed a total of 25 years from the date of the information's origin. Continued classification of this information beyond 25 years is governed by section 3.4 of the Order.

(ii) For information in records not determined to have permanent historical value, successive extensions may exceed 25 years from the date of the information's origin.

(3) Conditions for extending classification. When extending the duration of classification, the original classification authority must:

(i) Be an original classification authority with jurisdiction over the information;

(ii) Ensure that the information continues to meet the standards for classification under the Order; and

(iii) Make reasonable attempts to notify all known holders of the information.

(b) Information classified under prior orders (1) Specific date or event. Unless declassified earlier, information marked with a specific date or event for declassification under a prior order is automatically declassified upon that date or event. However, if the information is contained in records determined by the Archivist of the United States to be permanently valuable, and the