(a) Whenever any employee, contractor, licensee, certificate holder, or grantee of the Department who does not have original classification authority originates or develops information that requires immediate classification and safeguarding, and no authorized classifier is available, that person shall:

(1) Safeguard the information in a manner appropriate for its classification level;

(2) Apply the appropriate overall classification markings; and

(3) Within five working days, securely transmit the information to the organization that has appropriate subject matter interest and classification authority.

(b) When it is not clear which Department organization would be the appropriate original classifier, the information shall be sent to the Department Security Officer to determine the appropriate organization.

(c) The organization with classification authority shall decide within 30 days whether to classify information.