The National Archives National Declassification Center (NDC) has issued its seventh biannual Report on Operations of the National Declassification Center, covering January 1 through June 30, 2013. The report is online [www.archives.gov/declassification/ndc/reports].
Since its inception in January, 2010, the NDC has assessed the 357-million-page classified records backlog at the National Archives and completed equity referral quality assurance on 278 million pages. The NDC has completed all processing of more than 118 million pages of this backlog.
In our last report, NDC Director Sheryl J. Shenberger noted the completion of the first measurable stage in the NDC process, that of assessment. The next and most significant step is the quality assurance evaluation for national security information. Directed by Executive Order 13526 to facilitate quality assurance measures, the center has implemented an inter-agency process of risk management to ensure records are reviewed properly prior to public access. The quality assurance assessment ensures that the records containing still-sensitive information are properly withheld and that those appropriate for release are indeed declassified.
Nearly 80% of the backlog records have successfully passed this step.
“National Archives staff and our agency partners have completed the quality assurance review for national security information on some 278 million pages. Through expedited processes and inter-agency cooperation, the NDC believes it is on track to complete the quality assurance for declassification on the remaining 79 million pages by the 31 December deadline,” noted Shenberger.
“This progress was achieved in spite of the inconsistencies of earlier reviews; the problematic referral markings; the unexpected impact of absent page-level review for Restricted Data/Formerly Restricted Data; and preservation emergencies, such as mold and brittle records remediation,” she added.
You may comment on the report by sending a comment to this blog or to NDC@NARA.gov
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