2013-03294. Records Schedules; Availability and Request for Comments

AGENCY:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION:

Notice of availability of proposed records schedules; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes notice at least once monthly of certain Federal agency requests for records disposition authority (records schedules). Once approved by NARA, records schedules provide mandatory instructions on what happens to records when no longer needed for current Government business. They authorize the preservation of records of continuing value in the National Archives of the United States and the destruction, after a specified period, of records lacking administrative, legal, research, or other value. Notice is published for records schedules in which agencies propose to destroy records not previously authorized for disposal or reduce the retention period of records already authorized for disposal. NARA invites public comments on such records schedules, as required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a(a).

DATES:

Requests for copies must be received in writing on or before March 15, 2013. Once the appraisal of the records is completed, NARA will send a copy of the schedule. NARA staff usually prepare appraisal memorandums that contain additional information concerning the records covered by a proposed schedule. These, too, may be requested and will be provided once the appraisal is completed. Requesters will be given 30 days to submit comments.

ADDRESSES:

You may request a copy of any records schedule identified in this notice by contacting Records Management Services (ACNR) using one of the following means:

Mail: NARA (ACNR), 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.

Email: [e-mail].

FAX: [phone].

Requesters must cite the control number, which appears in parentheses after the name of the agency which submitted the schedule, and must provide a mailing address. Those who desire appraisal reports should so indicate in their request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margaret Hawkins, Director, Records Management Services (ACNR), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Telephone: [phone]. Email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Each year Federal agencies create billions of records on paper, film, magnetic tape, and other media. To control this accumulation, agency records managers prepare schedules proposing retention periods for records and submit these schedules for NARA's approval, using the Standard Form (SF) 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority. These schedules provide for the timely transfer into the National Archives of historically valuable records and authorize the disposal of all other records after the agency no longer needs them to conduct its business. Some schedules are comprehensive and cover all the records of an agency or one of its major subdivisions. Most schedules, however, cover records of only one office or program or a few series of records. Many of these update previously approved schedules, and some include records proposed as permanent.

The schedules listed in this notice are media neutral unless specified otherwise. An item in a schedule is media neutral when the disposition instructions may be applied to records regardless of the medium in which the records are created and maintained. Items included in schedules submitted to NARA on or after December 17, 2007, are media neutral unless the item is limited to a specific medium. (See 36 CFR 1225.12(e).)

No Federal records are authorized for destruction without the approval of the Archivist of the United States. This approval is granted only after a thorough consideration of their administrative use by the agency of origin, the rights of the Government and of private persons directly affected by the Government's activities, and whether or not they have historical or other value.

Besides identifying the Federal agencies and any subdivisions requesting disposition authority, this public notice lists the organizational unit(s) accumulating the records or indicates agency-wide applicability in the case of schedules that cover records that may be accumulated throughout an agency. This notice provides the control number assigned to each schedule, the total number of schedule items, and the number of temporary items (the records proposed for destruction). It also includes a brief description of the temporary records. The records schedule itself contains a full description of the records at the file unit level as well as their disposition. If NARA staff has prepared an appraisal memorandum for the schedule, it too includes information about the records. Further information about the disposition process is available on request.

Schedules Pending

1. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (N1-95-10-6, 66 items, 24 temporary items). Records related to various programs throughout the agency, including land management, pesticide use, livestock grazing, free-roaming wild horses and burros, timber appraisals and sales, water uses, soil interpretation, animal damage, mineral leases, and rural development. Proposed for permanent retention are records related to organization standards, legislative affairs, resource and land planning, heritage program management, timber management, silvicultural practices, watershed protection, wildlife and fish habitat, resource conservation, and the Smokey the Bear program.

2. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (N1-95-10-10, 226 items, 226 temporary items). Records related to agency programs such as groundwater resource management; fire management; wildfire prevention, preparedness, and suppression; agency landownership and exchanges; and title claims. Also included are records related to grants, land surveys, and engineering, geospatial, and road construction projects.

3. Department of the Army, Agency-wide (N1-AU-11-1, 1 item, 1 temporary item). Master files of an electronic system used to track officer and soldier assignments to the Korean Theater of Operations.

4. Department of the Army, Agency-wide (N1-AU-11-9, 1 item, 1 temporary item). Master files of an electronic system used to track Army aviation products throughout their life cycle.

5. Department of the Army, Agency-wide (N1-AU-10-106, 1 item, 1 temporary item). Master files of an electronic system used to track the location and duty status of deployed personnel.

6. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (DAA-0029-2013-0001, 6 items, 3 temporary items). Records relating to the administration of housing surveys in the field. Proposed for permanent retention are public use data files documenting the results of the periodic surveys.

7. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DAA-0059-2011-0006, 11 items, 9 temporary items). Records relating to management of property, reimbursement agreements, resource allocation working papers, responses to congressional and agency records requests, and working and administrative records of a policy board and an advisory board. Proposed for permanent retention are substantive records of a policy board and an advisory board.

8. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (DAA-0058-2012-0009, 1 item, 1 temporary item). Lists of pseudonyms used to protect the identity of agency employees.

9. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (DAA-0058-2013-0001, 1 item, 1 temporary item). User agreements documenting the use of personal electronic equipment for agency business.

10. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (DAA-0058-2013-0002, 1 item, 1 temporary item). Master files of an electronic system used to evaluate product quality and employee performance.

11. Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (N1-482-11-1, 12 items, 9 temporary items). Case files, sealed records, duplicate judges' orders, and administrative files. Proposed for permanent retention are docket sheets, significant case files, and policies and procedures.

Dated: February 7, 2013.

Paul M. Wester, Jr.,

Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government.