Frontline, “Wikisecrets

Classified Information Policy and Executive Order 13526
Congressional Research Service 6
The ISOO reports that total government classified information policy costs were $8.8 billion in
FY2009. This amount is slightly higher than the estimated costs in each of the four previous years
(Figure 1).
F
Classified Information Policy and Executive Order 13526
Congressional Research Service 7
information and to train their personnel in its proper handling. Executive branch inspectors
general, as noted previously, must assess their agencies’ compliance with classified information
policy.
However, four entities have been established and assigned classified information policy
responsibilities: (1) the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), (2) the Public Interest
Declassification Board (PIDB), (3) the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel
(ISCAP), and (4) the National Declassification Center (NDC). The authorizations that established
these entities and their responsibilities are described below.
Information Security Oversight Office
President James E. Carter established the Information Security Oversight Office via E.O. 12065,
which he issued on June 28, 1978.17 The ISOO is located within the NARA.18
Under E.O 13526, Part 5, the ISOO is responsible for issuing the directives necessary to
implement the executive order, and for reviewing agencies’ compliance therewith.19 More
specifically, the ISOO establishes the standards for
1. classification, declassification, and classification marking principles;
2. safeguarding classified information;20
3. agencies’ security education and training programs;
4. agencies’ self-inspection programs; and
5. agencies’ classification and declassification guides.
The ISOO also is authorized to conduct on-site evaluations of agencies’ compliance with E.O.
13526 and to act upon complaints regarding agencies’ implementation of the executive order.
Annually, the ISOO produces a report on the implementation of classified information policy and
another on the federal government’s information classification and declassification costs.21
Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel
President Clinton established the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel via E.O.
12958, which he issued on April 20, 1995.22 While President Obama’s E.O. 13526 made modest

17 E.O. 12065, Section 5-2, 43 Federal Register 28949, July 3, 1978.
18 At the time ISOO was established, the NARA was the National Archives Record Service (NARS) and was located
with the General Services Administration. The 1984 National Archives and Records Administration Act (P.L. 98-497;
98 Stat. 2292; 44 U.S.C. 2102) established the NARA and transferred the NARS to it.
19 The ISOO’s directives are binding upon agencies, although the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
(ODNI) retains some authority on these matters. The ODNI may, in consultation with the ISOO, issue its own
directives to protect intelligence sources, methods, and activities.
20 E.O. 13526, Section 4 provides basic guidance to agencies regarding the safeguarding and dissemination of classified
information to authorized holders.
21 See “ISOO Reports,” at http://www.archives.gov/isoo/reports/.
22 President William J. Clinton, “Executive Order 12958, Classified National Security Information,” April 17, 1995, 60
Federal Register 19825, April 20, 1995,
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augmentations to the ISCAP’s role, its membership and duties remain largely as they were upon
establishment.23
The ISCAP’s members include the director of the ISOO, who serves as its executive secretary,
and senior-level representatives from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, and the
National Archives, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National Security
Advisor. (The President designates the ISCAP chair from among the aforementioned persons.)
The CIA may appoint a temporary member in instances where information classified by the CIA
is under consideration. The ISOO provides administrative support to the ISCAP.
The ISCAP was designed to serve as a forum for resolving declassification disputes. The ISCAP
decides in instances involving (1) disputes over or challenges of the proper classification level of
information; (2) agencies wishing to exempt information from automatic declassification; and (3)
persons or entities (private or governmental) appealing an agency’s decision to keep information
classified after said person or entity has requested its declassification.
Public Interest Declassification Board
Congress established the Public Interest Declassification Board on December 27, 2000 (P.L. 106-
567, Sec. 703; 114 Stat. 2856; 50 U.S.C. 435 Amendments). This independent executive branch
agency has nine members, five of whom are appointed by the President, and four of whom are
appointed by Congress. The Director of the ISOO serves as the PIDB’s executive secretary.
The law requires the PIDB to
1. advise the President, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and such other executive
branch officials as the Board considers appropriate on the systematic, thorough,
coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for
declassification, and release to Congress, interested agencies, and the public of
declassified records and materials (including donated historical materials) that
are of archival value, including records and materials of extraordinary public
interest.
2. promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable
documentary record of significant United States national security decisions and
significant United States national security activities in order to (A) support the
oversight and legislative functions of Congress; (B) support the policymaking
role of the executive branch; (C) respond to the interest of the public in national
security matters; and (D) promote reliable historical analysis and new avenues of
historical study in national security matters.
3. provide recommendations to the President for the identification, collection, and
review for declassification of information of extraordinary public interest that
does not undermine the national security of the United States, to be undertaken in
accordance with a declassification program that has been established or may be
established by the President by executive order.

23 E.O. 13526, Sec. 5.3, 75 Federal Register 707, January 5, 2010.