Code of Federal Regulations Title 32. National Defense § 32.2400.13 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, organization, 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.

(c) The Director 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. Before reclassifying any information, the Director shall consider the factors listed in § 2001.6 of Directive No. 1, which shall be addressed in the report to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office.

(d) Information may be classified or reclassified after OSTP has received a request for it under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) or the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552), or the mandatory review provisions of Executive Order 12356 (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 Director.