About the NDC

Releasing What We Can,
Protecting What We Must.

The National Declassification Center, located at the National Archives College Park Maryland facility, was established in accordance with Executive Order 13526, by Archivist David S. Ferriero on December 30, 2009. Section 3.7 of the Executive Order establishes the National Declassification Center to

• streamline declassification processes,
• facilitate quality-assurance measures, and
• implement standardized training regarding the declassification of records determined to have permanent historical value.

Its mission is to advance the declassification and public release of historically valuable permanent records while maintaining national security.

The NDC focuses on the coordination of the following:

• timely and appropriate processing of referrals between agencies for accessioned Federal records and transferred Presidential Records;
• general interagency declassification activities necessary to fulfill the requirements of sections 3.3 and 3.4 of this order;
• the exchange among agencies of detailed declassification guidance to support equity recognition;
• the development of effective, transparent, and standard declassification work processes, training, and quality assurance measures;
• the development of solutions to declassification challenges posed by electronic records, special media, and emerging technologies;
• the linkage and effective utilization of existing agency databases and the use of new technologies to support declassification activities under the purview of the Center