Executive Order No. 12356 National Security Levels

Executive Order 12356-National security information

Source: The provisions of Executive Order 12356 of Apr.2, 1982, appear at 47 
FR 14874 and I5557, 3 CFR, I982 Comp., p. 166, unless otherwise noted. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREAMBLE

PART 1. Original Classification

1.1 Classification Levels
1.2 Classification Authority
1.3 Classification Categories
1.4 Duration of Classification
1.5 Identification and Markings
1.6 Limitations on Classification

PART 2. Derivative Classifications

2.1 Use of Derivative Classification
2.2 Classification Guides

PART 3. Declassification and Downgrading

3.1 Declassification Authority
3.2 Transferred Information
3.3 Systematic Review for Declassification
3.4 Mandatory Review for Declassification

PART 4. Safeguarding

4.1 General Restrictions on Access
4.2 Special Access Programs
4 3 Access by Historical Researchers and Former Presidential Appointees

PART 5. Implementation and Review

5.1 Policy Direction
5.2 Information Security Oversight Office
5.3 General Responsibilities
5.4 Sanctions

PART 6. General Provisions

6.1 Definitions
6.2 General

This Order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, declassifying, and 
safeguarding national security information. It recognizes that it is 
essential that the public be informed concerning the activities of its 
Government, but that the interests of the United States and its citizens 
require that certain information concerning the national defense and foreign 
relations be protected against unauthorized disclosure. Information may not 
be classified under this Order unless its disclosure reasonably could be 
expected to cause damage to the national security. 

NOW, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws 
of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

PART 1 

Original Classification 

SECTION 1.1 Classification levels 

(a) National security information (hereinafter "classified information") 
shall be classified at one of the following three levels: 

(1) "Top Secret" shall be applied to information, the unauthorized 
disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave 
damage to the national security. 

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

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

(b) Except as otherwise provided by statute, no other terms shall be used 
to identify classified information. 

© If there is reasonable doubt about the need to classify information, it 
shall be safeguarded as if it were classified pending a determination by an 
original classification authority, who shall make this determination within 
thirty (30) days. If there is reasonable doubt about the appropriate level of 
classification, it shall be safeguarded at the higher level of classification 
pending a determination by an original classification authority, who shall 
make this determination within thirty (30) days. 

SEC.l.2 Classification Authority  * (see note at the end of this text) 

(a) Top Secret. The authority to classify information originally as Top 
Secret may be exercised only by: 

(1) the President; 

(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the FEDERAL 
REGISTER; and 

(3) officials delegated this authority pursuant to Section 1.2(d). 

(b) Secret. The authority to classify information originally as Secret may 
be exercised only by: 

(1) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the FEDERAL 
REGISTER; 

(2) officials with original Top Secret classification authority; and 

(3) officials delegated such authority pursuant to Section 1.2(d). 

© Confidential. The authority to classify information originally as 
Confidential may be exercised only by: 

(1) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the FEDERAL 
REGISTER; 

(2) officials with original Top Secret or Secret classification authority; 
and 

(3) officials delegated such authority pursuant to Section 1.2(d). 

(d) Delegation of Original Classification Authority. 

(1) Delegations of original classification authority shall be limited to the 
minimum required to administer this Order. Agency heads are responsible for 
ensuring that designated subordinate officials have a demonstrable and 
continuing need to exercise this authority. 

(2) Original Top Secret classification authority may be delegated only by 
the President; an agency head or official designated pursuant to Section 
1.2(a)(2); and the senior official designated under Section 5. 3(a), provided 
that official has been delegated original Top Secret classification authority 
by the agency head. 

(3) Original Secret classification authority may be delegated only by the 
President; an agency head or official designated pursuant to Sections 
1.2(a)(2) and 1.2(b)(1); an official with original Top Secret classification 
authority; and the senior official designated under Section 5.3(a), provided 
that official has been delegated original Secret classification authority by 
the agency head. 

(4) Original Confidential classification authority may be delegated only by 
the President; an agency head or official designated pursuant to Sections 
1.2(a)(2), 1.2(b)(1) and 1.2©(1); an official with original Top Secret 
classification authority; and the senior official designated under Section 
5.3(a), provided that official has been delegated original classification 
authority by the agency head. 

(5) Each delegation of original classification authority shall be in writing 
and the authority shall not be redelegated except as provided in this Order. 
It shall identify the official delegated the authority by name or position 
title. Delegated classification authority includes the authority to classify 
information at the level granted and lower levels of classification. 

(e) Exceptional Cases. When an employee, contractor, licensee, or grantee of 
an agency that does not have original classification authority originates 
information believed by that person to require classification, the 
information shall be protected in a manner consistent with this Order and its 
implementing directives. The information shall be transmitted promptly as 
provided under this Order or its implementing directives to the agency that 
has appropriate subject matter interest and classification authority with 
respect to this information. That agency shall decide within thirty (30) days 
whether to classify this information. If it is not clear which agency has 
classification responsibility for this information, it shall be sent to the 
Director of the Information Security Oversight Office. The Director shall 
determine the agency having primary subject matter interest and forward the 
information, with appropriate recommendations, to that agency for a 
classification determination. 

SEC. 1.3 Classification Categories. 

(a) Information shall be considered for classification if it concerns: 

(1) military plans, weapons, or operations; 

(2) the vulnerabilities or capabilities of systems, installations, projects 
or plans relating to the national security; 

(3) foreign government information; 

(4) intelligence activities (including special activities), or intelligence 
sources or methods; 

(5) foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States; 

(6) scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to the national 
security; 

(7) United States Government programs for safeguarding nuclear materials or 
facilities; 

(8) cryptology; 

(9) a confidential source; or 

(lO) other categories of information that are related to the national 
security and that require protection against unauthorized disclosure as 
determined by the President or by agency heads or other officials who have 
been delegated original classification authority by the President Any 
determination made under this subsection shall be reported promptly to the 
Director of the Information Security Oversight Office. 

(b) Information that is determined to concern one or more of the categories 
in Section 1.3(a) shall be classified when an original classification 
authority also determines that its unauthorized disclosure, either by itself 
or in the context of other information, reasonably could be expected to cause 
damage to the national security. 

© Unauthorized disclosure of foreign government information, the identity 
of a confidential foreign source, or intelligence sources or methods is 
presumed to cause damage to the national security. 

(d) Information classified in accordance with Section 1.3 shall not be 
declassified automatically as a result of any unofficial publication or in 
advertent or unauthorized disclosure in the United States or abroad of 
identical or similar information. 

Sec. 1.4 Duration of Classification 

(a) Information shall be classified as long as required by national security 
considerations. When it can be determined, a specific date or event for 
declassification shall be set by the original classification authority at the 
time the information is originally classified. 

(b) Automatic declassification determinations under predecessor orders shall 
remain valid unless the classification is extended by an authorized official 
of the originating agency. These extensions may be by individual documents or 
categories of information. The agency shall be responsible for notifying 
holders of the information of such extensions. 

© Information classified under predecessor orders and marked for 
declassification review shall remain classified until reviewed for 
declassification under the provisions of this Order. 

Sec. 1.5 Identification and markings. 

(a) At the time of original classification, the following information shall 
be shown on the face of all classified documents, or clearly associated with 
other forms of classified information in a manner appropriate to the medium 
involved, unless this information itself would reveal a confidential source 
or relationship not otherwise evident in the document or information: 

(1) one of the three classification levels defined in Section 1.1; 

(2) the identity of the original classification authority if other than the 
person whose name appears as the approving or signing official; 

(3) the agency and office of origin; and 

(4) the date or event for declassification, or the notation "Originating 
Agency's Determination Required." 

(b) Each classified document shall, by marking or other means, indicate 
which portions are classified, with the applicable classification level, and 
which portions are not classified. Agency heads may, for good cause, grant 
and revoke waivers of this requirement for specified classes of documents or 
information. The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office shall 
be notified of any waivers. 

© Marking designations implementing the provisions of this Order, 
including abbreviations, shall conform to the standards prescribed in 
implementing directives issued by the Information Security Oversight Office. 

(d) Foreign government information shall either retain its original 
classification or be assigned a United States classification that shall 
insure a degree of protection at least equivalent to that required by the 
entity that furnished the information. 

(e) Information assigned a level of classification under predecessor orders 
shall be considered as classified at that level of classification despite the 
omission of other required markings. Omitted markings may be inserted on a 
document by the officials specified in Section 3.l(b). 

SEC. 1.6 Limitations on Classification 

(a) In no case shall information be classified in order to conceal 
violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; to prevent 
embarrassment to a person, organiz,atjon, or agency; to restrain competition; 
or to prevent or delay the release of information that does not require 
protection in the interest of national security. 

(b) Basic scientific research information not clearly related to the 
national security may not be classified. 

© The President or an agency head or official designated under Sections 
1.2(a)(2), 1.2(b)(1), or 1.2©(1) may reclassify information previously 
declassified and disclosed if it is determined in writing that (1) the 
information requires protection in the interest of national security; and (2) 
the information may reasonably be recovered. These reclassification actions 
shall be reported promptly to the Director of the Information Security 
Oversight Office. 

(d) Information may be classified or reclassified after an agency has 
received a request for it under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) 
or the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), or the mandatory review 
provisions of this Order (Section 3.4) if such classification meets the 
requirements of this Order and is accomplished personally and on a document-
by-document basis by the agency head, the deputy agency head, the senior 
agency official designated under Section 5.3(a)(1), or an official with 
original Top Secret classification authority 

PART 2 

Derivative Classification 

SEC. 2.1 Use of Derivative Classification 

(a) Derivative classification is (1) the determination that information is 
in substance the same as information currently classified, and (2) the 
application of the same classification markings. Persons who only reproduce, 
extract, or summarize classified information, or who only apply 
classification markings derived from source material or as directed by a 
classification guide, need not possess original classification authority. 

(b) Persons who apply derivative classification markings shall: 

(1) observe and respect original classification decisions; and 

(2) carry forward to any newly created documents any assigned authorized 
markings. The declassification date or event that provides the longest period 
of classification shall be used for documents classified on the basis of 
multiple sources. 

SEC. 2.2 Classification Guides. 

(a) Agencies with original classification authority shall prepare 
classification guides to facilitate the proper and uniform derivative 
classification of information. 

(b) Each guide shall be approved personally and in writing by an official 
who: 

(1) has program or supervisory responsibility over the information or is the 
senior agency official designated under Section 5.3(a); and 

(2) is authorized to classify information originally at the highest level of 
classification prescribed in the guide. 

© Agency heads may, for good cause, grant and revoke waivers of the 
requirement to prepare classification guides for specified classes of 
documents or information. The Director of the Information Security Oversight 
Office shall be notified of any waivers. 

PART 3 

Declassification and Downgrading 

Sec. 3.1 Declassification Authority. 

(a) Information shall be declassified or downgraded as soon as national 
security considerations permit. Agencies shall coordinate their review of 
classified information with other agencies that have a direct interest in the 
subject matter. Information that continues to meet the classification 
requirements prescribed by Section 1.3 despite the passage of time will 
continue to be protected in accordance with this Order. 

(b) Information shall be declassified or downgraded by the official who 
authorized the original classification, if that official is still serving in 
the same position; the originator's successor; a supervisory official of 
either; or officials delegated such authority in writing by the agency head 
or the senior agency official designated pursuant to Section 5.3(a). 

© If the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office determines 
that information is classified in violation of this Order, the Director may 
require the information to be declassified by the agency that originated the 
classification. Any such decision by the Director may be appealed to the 
National Security Council. The information shall remain classified, pending a 
prompt decision on the appeal. 

(d) The provisions of this Section shall also apply to agencies that, under 
the terms of this Order, do not have original classification authority, but 
that had such authority under predecessor orders. 

Sec. 3.2 Transferred Information. 

(a) In the case of classified information transferred in conjunction with a 
transfer of functions, and not merely for storage purposes, the receiving 
agency shall be deemed to be the originating agency for purposes of this 
Order. 

(b) In the case of classified information that is not officially transferred 
as described in Section 3.2(a), but that originated in an agency that has 
ceased to exist and for which there is no successor agency, the originating 
agency for purposes of this Order. Such information may be declassified or 
downgraded by the agency in possession after consultation with any other 
agency that has an interest in the subject matter of the information. 

© Classified information accessioned into the National Archives of the 
United States shall be declassified or downgraded by the Archivist of the 
United States in accordance with this Order, the directives of the 
Information Security Oversight Office, and agency guidelines. 

Sec. 3.3 Systematic Review for Declassification. 

(a) The Archivist of the United States shall, in accordance with procedures 
and timeframes prescribed in the Information Security Oversight Office 
directives implementing this Order, systematically review for 
declassification or downgrading (1) classified records accessioned into the 
National Archives of the United States, and (2) classified presidential 
papers or records under the Archivist's control. Such information shall be 
reviewed by the Archivist for declassification or downgrading in 
accordance,with systematic review guidelines that shall be provided by the 
head of the agency that originated the information, or in the case of foreign 
government information, by the Director of the Information Security Oversight 
Office in consultation with interested agency heads. 

(b) Agency heads may conduct internal systematic review programs for 
classified information originated! by their agencies contained in records 
determined by the Archivist to be permanently valuable but that have not been 
accessioned into the National Archives of the United States. 

© After consultation with affected agencies, the Secretary of Defense may 
establish special procedure for systematic review for declassification of 
classified cryptologic information, and the Director of Central Intelligence 
may establish special procedures for systematic review for declassification 
of classified information pertaining to intelligence activities (including 
special activities or intelligence sources or methods. 

SEC. 3.4 Mandatory Review for Declassification. 

(a) Except as provided in Section 3.4(b), all information classified under 
this Order or predecessor orders shall be subject to a review for 
declassification by the originating agency, if: 

(1) the request is made by a United States citizen or permanent resident 
alien, a federal agency, or a State or local government; and 

(2) the request describes the document or material containing the 
information with sufficient specificity to enable the agency to locate it 
with a reasonable amount of effort. 

(b) Information originated by a President, the White House Staff, by 
committees, commissions, or boards appointed by the President, or others 
specifically providing advice and counsel to a President or acting on behalf 
of a President is exempted from the provisions of Section 3.4(a). The 
Archivist of the United States shall have the authority to review, downgrade 
and declassify information under the control of the Administrator of General 
Services or the Archivist pursuant to sections 2107, 2107 note, or 2203 of 
title 44, United States Code. Review procedures developed by the Archivist 
shall provide for consultation with agencies having primary subject matter 
interest and shall be consistent with the provisions of applicable laws or 
lawful agreements that pertain to the respective presidential papers or 
records. Any decision by the Archivist may be appealed to the Director of the 
Information Security Oversight Office. Agencies with primary subject matter 
interest shall be notified promptly of the Director's decision on such 
appeals and may further appeal to the National Security Council. The 
information shall remain classified pending a prompt decision on the appeal. 

© Agencies conducting a mandatory review for declassification shall 
declassify information no longer requiring protection under this Order. They 
shall release this information unless withholding is otherwise authorized 
under applicable law. 

(d) Agency heads shall develop procedures to process requests for the 
mandatory review of classified information. These procedures shall apply to 
information classified under this or predecessor orders. They shall also 
provide a means for administratively appealing a denial of a mandatory review 
request. 

(e) The Secretary of Defense shall develop special procedures for the review 
of cryptologic information, and the Director of Central Intelligence shall 
develop special procedures for the review of information pertaining to 
intelligence activities (including special activities), or intelligence 
sources or methods, after consultation with affected agencies. The Archivist 
shall develop special procedures for the review of information accessioned 
into the National Archives of the United States. 

(f) In response to a request for information under the Freedom of 
Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, or the mandatory review provisions 
of this Order: 

(1) An agency shall refuse to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence 
of requested information whenever the fact of its existence or non-existence 
is itself classifiable under this Order. 

(2) When an agency receives any request for documents in its custody that 
were classified by another agency, it shall refer copies of the request and 
the requested documents to the originating agency for processing, and may, 
after consultation with the originating agency, inform the requester of the 
referral. In cases in which the originating agency determines in writing that 
a response under Section 3.4(f)(1) is required, the referring agency shall 
respond to the requester in accordance with that Section. 

PART 4 

Safeguarding 

SEC. 4.1 General Restrictions on Access. 

(a) A person is eligible for access to classified information provided that 
a determination of trustworthiness has been made by agency heads or 
designated officials and provided that such access is essential to the 
accomplishment of lawful and authorized Government purposes. 

(b) Controls shall be established by each agency to ensure that classified 
information is used, processed, stored, reproduced, transmitted, and 
destroyed only under conditions that will provide adequate protection and 
prevent access by unauthorized persons. 

© Classified information shall not be disseminated outside the executive 
branch except under conditions that ensure that the information will be given 
protection equivalent to that afforded within the executive branch. 

(d) Except as provided by directives issued by the President through the 
National Security Council, classified information originating in one agency 
may not be disseminated outside any other agency to which it has been made 
available without the consent of the originating agency. For purposes of this 
Section, the Department of Defense shall be considered one agency. 

SEC. 4.2 Special Access Programs. 

(a) Agency heads designated pursuant to Section 1.2(a) may create special 
access programs to control access, distribution, and protection of 
particularly sensitive information classified pursuant to this Order or 
predecessor orders. Such programs may be created or continued only at the 
written direction of these agency heads. For special access programs 
pertaining to intelligence activities (including special activities but not 
including military operational, strategic and tactical programs) or 
intelligence sources or methods, this function will be exercised by the 
Director of Central Intelligence. 

(b) Each agency head shall establish and maintain a system of accounting for 
special access programs. The Director of the Information Security Oversight 
Office, consistent with the provisions of Section 5.2(b)(4), shall have non-
delegable access to all such accountings. 

SEC. 4.3 Access by Historical Researchers and Former Presidential 
Appointees. 

(a) The requirement in Section 4.1(a) that access to classified information 
may be granted only as is essential to the accomplishment of authorized and 
lawful Government purposes may be waived as provided in Section 4.3(b) for 
persons who: 

(1) are engaged in historical research projects, or 

(2) previously have occupied policy-making positions to which they were 
appointed by the President. 

(b) Waivers under Section 4.3(a) may be granted only if the originating 
agency: 

(1) determines in writing that access is consistent with the interest of 
national security; 

(2) takes appropriate steps to protect classified information from 
unauthorized disclosure or compromise, and ensures that the information is 
safeguarded in a manner consistent with this Order; and 

(3) limits the access granted to former presidential appointees to items 
that the person originated, reviewed, signed, or received while serving as a 
presidential appointee. 

PART 5 

Implementation and Review 

SEC. 5.1 Policy Direction 

(a) The National Security Council shall provide overall policy direction for 
the information security program. 

(b) The Administrator of General Services shall be responsible for 
implementing and monitoring the program established pursuant to this Order. 
The Administrator shall delegate the implementation and monitorship functions 
of this program to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office. 

SEC. 5.2 Information Security Oversight Office. 

(a) The Information Security Oversight Office shall have a full-time 
Director appointed by the Administrator of General Services subject to 
approval by the President. The Director shall have the authority to appoint a 
staff for the Office. 

(b) The Director shall: 

(1) develop, in consultation with the agencies, and promulgate, subject to 
the approval of the National Security Council, directives for the 
implementation of this Order, which shall be binding on the agencies; 

(2) oversee agency actions to ensure compliance with this Order and 
implementing directives; 

(3) review all agency implementing regulations and agency guidelines for 
systematic declassification review. The Director shall require any regulation 
or guideline to be changed if it is not consistent with this Order or 
implementing directives. Any such decision by the Director may be appealed to 
the National Security Council. The agency regulation or guideline shall 
remain in effect pending a prompt decision on the appeal; 

(4) have the authority to conduct on-site reviews of the information 
security program of each agency that generates or handles classified 
information and to require of each agency those reports, information, and 
other cooperation that may be necessary to fulfill the Director's 
responsibilities. If these reports, inspections, or access to specific 
categories of classified information would pose an exceptional national 
security risk, the affected agency head or the senior official designated 
under Section 5.3(a) may deny access. The Director may appeal denials to the 
National Security Council. The denial of access shall remain in effect 
pending a prompt decision on the appeal; 

(5) review requests for original classification authority from agencies or 
officials not granted original classification authority and, if deemed 
appropriate, recommend presidential approval; 

(6) consider and take action on complaints and suggestions from persons 
within or outside the Government with respect to the administration of the 
information security program; 

(7) have the authority to prescribe, after consultation with affected 
agencies, standard forms that will promote the implementation of the 
information security program; 

(8) report at least annually to the President through the National Security 
Council on the implementation of this Order; and 

(9) have the authority to convene and chair interagency meetings to discuss 
matters pertaining to the information security program. 

SEC. 5.3 General Responsibilities. 

Agencies that originate or handle classified information shall: 

(a) designate a senior agency official to direct and administer its 
information security program, which shall include an active oversight and 
security education program to ensure effective implementation of this Order; 

(b) promulgate implementing regulations. Any unclassified regulations that 
establish agency information security policy shall be published in the 
FEDERAL REGISTER to the extent that these regulations affect members of the 
public; 

© establish procedures to prevent unnecessary access to classified 
information, including procedures that (i) require that a demonstrable need 
for access to classified information is established before initiating 
administrative clearance procedures, and (ii) ensure that the number of 
persons granted access to classified information is limited to the minimum 
consistent with operational and security requirements and needs; and 

(d) develop special contingency plans for the protection of classified 
information used in or near hostile or potentially hostile areas. 

SEC. 5.4 Sanctions. 

(a) If the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office finds that 
a violation of this Order or its implementing directives may have occurred, 
the Director shall make a report to the head of the agency or to the senior 
official designated under Section 5.3(a) so that corrective steps, if 
appropriate, may be taken. 

(b) Officers and employees of the United States Government, and its 
contractors, licensees, and grantees shall be subject to appropriate 
sanctions if they: 

(1) knowingly, willfully, or negligently disclose to unauthorized persons 
information properly classified under this Order or predecessor orders; 

(2) knowingly and willfully classify or continue the classification of 
information in violation of this Order or any implementing directive; or 

(3) knowingly and willfully violate any other provision of this Order or 
implementing directive. 

© Sanctions may include reprimand, suspension without pay, removal, 
termination of classification authority, loss or denial of access to 
classified information, or other sanctions in accordance with applicable law 
and agency regulation. 

(d) Each agency head or the senior official designated under Section 5.3(a) 
shall ensure that appropriate and prompt corrective action is taken whenever 
a violation under Section 5.4(b) occurs. Either shall ensure that the 
Director of the Information Security Oversight Office is promptly notified 
whenever a violation under Section 5.4(b) (1) or (2) occurs. 

PART 6 

General Provisions 

SEC. 6.1 Definitions. 

(a) "Agency" has the meaning provided at 5 U.S.C. 552(e). 

(b) "Information" means any information or material, regardless of its 
physical form or characteristics, that is owned by, produced by or for, or is 
under the control of the United States Government. 

© "National security information" means information that has been 
determined pursuant to this Order or any predecessor order to require 
protection against unauthorized disclosure and that is so designated. 

(d) "Foreign government information" means: 

(1) information provided by a foreign government or governments, an 
international organization of governments, or any element thereof with the 
expectation, expressed or implied, that the information, the source of the 
information, or both, are to be held in confidence; or 

(2) information produced by the United States pursuant to or as a result of 
a joint arrangement with a foreign government or governments or an 
international organization of governments, or any element thereof, requiring 
that the information, the arrangement, or both, are to he held in confidence. 

(e) "National security" means the national defense or foreign relations of 
the United States. 

(f) "Confidential source': means any individual or organization that has 
provided, or that may reasonably be expected to provide, information to the 
United States on matters pertaining to the national security with the 
expectation, expressed or implied, that the information or relationship, or 
both, be held in confidence. 

(g) "Original classification" means an initial determination that 
information requires, in the interest of national security, protection 
against unauthorized disclosure, together with a classification designation 
signifying the level of protection required. 

SEC. 6.2 General. 

(a) Nothing in this Order shall supersede any requirement made by or under 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. "Restricted Data" and "Formerly 
Restricted Data" shall be handled, protected, classified, downgraded, and 
declassified in conformity with the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended, and regulations issued under that Act. 

(b) The Attorney General, upon request by the head of an agency or the 
Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, shall render an 
interpretation of this Order with respect to any question arising in the 
course of its administration. 

© Nothing in this Order limits the protection afforded any information by 
other provisions of law. 

(d) Executive Order No. 12065 of June 28, 1978, as amended, is revoked as of 
the effective date of this Order. 

(e) This Order shall become effective on August 1, 1982. 

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* NOTE: On May 7, 1982, the President issued an order of designation (47 FR 
20105, 3 CFR, 1982 Comp., p. 257) the text of which follows: 

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1.2 of Executive Order No. 12356 of 
April 2, 1982, entitled "National Security Information," I hereby designate 
the following officials to classify information originally as "Top Secret", 
"Secret", or "Confidential": 

TOP SECRET

Executive Office of the President:

The Vice President
The Counsellor to the President
The Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President
The Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President
The Director, Office of Management and Budget
The United States Trade Representative
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Chairman, The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
The Chairman, The President's Intelligence Oversight Board
The Secretary of State
The Secretary of the Treasury                   '
The Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Air Force
The Attorney General
The Secretary of Energy
The Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Director, United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
The Director of Central Intelligence
The Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The Administrator of General Services
The Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency

SECRET

Executive Office of the President:

The Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
The President's Personal Representative for Micronesian Status Negotiations
The Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Transportation
The Administrator, Agency for International Development
The Director, International Communication Agency

CONFIDENTIAL

The President, Export-Import Bank of the United States
The President, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Any delegation of this authority shall be in accordance with Section 1.2(d) 
of the Order.

This Order shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.