(a) Each FERC official who has classifying authority (§3a.12) shall be held accountable for the propriety of the classifications attributed to him. Unnecessary classification and overclassification shall be avoided. Classification shall be solely on the basis of national security considerations. In no case shall information be classified in order to conceal inefficiency or administrative error, to prevent embarrassment to the FERC or any of its officials or employees, or to prevent for any other reason the release of information which does not require protection in the interest of national security.

(b) Each classified document shall show on its face its classification and whether it is subject to or exempt from the General Declassification Schedule (§3a.22(b)). It also shall show the office of origin, the date of preparation and classification and, to the extent practicable, be so marked as to indicate which portions are classified, at what level, and which portions are not classified in order to facilitate excerpting and other use. Material which merely contains references to classified materials, which references do not reveal classified information, shall not be classified.

(c) Material classified under this part shall indicate on its face the identity of the highest authority authorizing the classification. Where the individual who signs or otherwise authenticates a document or item has also authorized the classification, no further annotation as to his identity is required.

(d) Classified information or material furnished to the United States by a foreign government or international organization shall either retain its original classification or be assigned a U.S. classification. In either case, the classification shall assure a degree of protection equivalent to that required by the government or international organization which furnished the information or material.

(e) Whenever information or material classified by an authorized official is incorporated in another document or other material by any person other than the classifier, the previously assigned security classification category shall be reflected thereon together with the identity of the classifier.

(f) As a holder of classified information or material, the FERC shall observe and respect the classification assigned by the originator. If it is believed that there is unnecessary classification; that the assigned classification is improper, or that the document is subject to declassification under E.O. 11652, the FERC will so inform the originator who is then required by the Executive order to reexamine the classification.

[Order 470, 38 FR 5161, Feb. 26, 1973, as amended by Order 756, 77 FR 4893, Feb. 1, 2012]