§ 605.8 - Mandatory declassification review.

(a) Action on requests. (1) All requests to ACDA by a member of the public, a government employee, or an agency to declassify and release information shall result in a prompt declassification review of the information, provided the request describes the document or material containing the information with sufficient specificity to enable ACDA to locate it with a reasonable amount of effort.

(2) If a request does not reasonably describe the information sought, the Classification Adviser will notify the requester that unless additional information is provided or the scope of the request is narrowed, no further action will be taken.

(3) Mandatory declassification review requests should be directed to the Classification Adviser, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st St., NW., Washington, DC 20451.

(4) If the request requires the rendering of services for which reasonable fees should be charged pursuant to the FOIA and ACDA regulations thereunder (22 CFR part 602), such fees shall be imposed at the FOIA schedule rates and the requester shall be so notified.

(5) The Classification Adviser, in consultation with appropriate ACDA bureaus and offices, will determine whether, under the Executive Order, the requested information may be declassified, in whole or in part, and will promptly make any declassified information available to the requester, unless the information is exempt from disclosure under some other provision of law.

(b) Appeals from denials. (1) If it is determined that declassification of the information requested is not warranted, in whole or in part, the requester shall be given a brief statement as to the reasons for the decision, a notice of the right to appeal to the Deputy Director, and a notice that any such appeal must be filed with ACDA within 60 days. Appeals shall be addressed to: Deputy Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 320 21st St., NW., Washington, DC 20451.

(2) The Deputy Director shall act within 30 days of receipt on all appeals of denials of requests for declassification. The Deputy Director shall determine whether continued classification is required in whole or in part. If the Deputy Director determines that continued classification is required under the Executive Order, the requester shall be so notified and informed of the reasons therefor. The requester shall also be advised of the right to appeal any denial to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel in accordance with section 5.4 of the Executive Order.

(c) Information classified by another agency. When ACDA receives a request for information in its custody that was classified by another agency, the Classification Adviser shall forward the request together with a copy of the document containing the information requested to the classifying agency for review and direct response to the requester. Unless the agency that classified the information objects on the ground that its association with the information requires protection, the Classification Adviser shall also notify the requester of the referral.

(d) Confirmation of existence or nonexistence of document. In responding to a request for mandatory declassification review, the Classification Adviser may refuse to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of a document if the fact of its existence or nonexistence would itself be classifiable under the Executive Order.