[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 158 (Monday, August 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43958-43960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22221]
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Additional Changes to the General Records Schedules; Request for
Comments
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Records
Services--Washington, DC.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: NARA is required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a(a) to provide an
opportunity for public comment on proposed records schedules that will
authorize the destruction of Federal records, including General Records
Schedules issued by NARA to provide mandatory disposal authorities for
temporary administrative records common to several or all Federal
agencies (44 U.S.C. 3303a(d)). This notice contains the full text of
additional proposed changes to the General Records Schedules that were
not published in the Federal Register notice of August 5, 1998 [63 FR
41868]. This notice also includes the rationale for the proposed
changes, equivalent to the appraisal report. Consequently, this notice
provides all available information for interested parties who may wish
to comment.
DATES: Comments on these proposed changes must be received on or before
September 16, 1998. There is no extension on the comment period for the
proposed changes published in the August 5, 1998, Federal Register
notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent electronically to the e-mail address
records.mgt@arch2.nara.gov>. If attachments are sent, please transmit
them in ASCII, WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0. Comments may also
be submitted by mail to the Life Cycle Management Division (NWML),
National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road,
College Park, MD 20740-6001, or by FAX to 301-713-6852 (attn: Marc
Wolfe). In order for comments to be considered, the NARA registration
number for this schedule--N1-GRS-98-2a--must be included in a subject
line or otherwise prominently stated.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael L. Miller, Director Modern
Records Programs (NWM), National Archives and Records Administration,
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Telephone: 301-713-
7110. E-mail: records.mgt@arch2.nara.gov>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Each year Federal agencies create billions
of records on paper, film, magnetic tape, and other media. To control
this
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accumulation, agency records managers prepare schedules proposing
retention periods for records and submit these schedules for NARA
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 the records to conduct its business. No Federal records are
authorized for destruction without the approval of the Archivist of the
United States. Two mechanisms are used to provide that approval--agency
schedules and General Records Schedules. Agencies develop and submit to
NARA for approval schedules for the records that are unique to the
agency. Once approved by the Archivist, the agencies may apply the
approved disposition authorities to the records for as long as they
remain unchanged. To reduce the effort required of agencies in
scheduling all their records, the National Archives and Records
Administration issues General Records Schedules to provide disposal
authorities for temporary administrative records that are common to
several or all agencies.
The changes described in this Federal Register notice consist of
General Records Schedule items that are currently scheduled with an
indefinite retention, e.g., ``destroy when no longer needed.'' These
items were inadvertently omitted from the August 5 Federal Register
notice.
The proposed schedule, N1-GRS-98-2, published in the August 5, 1998
notice, is being amended to include the following provisions:
General Records Schedule 9, Travel and Transportation Records
1. Commercial Freight and Passenger Transportation Files
e. Unused ticket redemption forms, such as SF 1170.
Destroy 3 years after the year in which the transaction is
completed.
5. Records Relating to Official Passports
c. Passport registers.
Registers and lists of agency personnel who have official
passports.
Destroy when superseded or obsolete.
GRS 23, Records Common to Most Offices Within Agencies
1. Office Administrative Files (See note)
Records accumulated by individual offices that relate to the
internal administration or housekeeping activities of the office rather
than the functions for which the office exists. In general, these
records relate to the office organization, staffing, procedures, and
communications, including facsimile machine logs; the expenditure of
funds, including budget records; day-to-day administration of office
personnel including training and travel; supplies and office services
and equipment requests and receipts; and the use of office space and
utilities. They may also include copies of internal activity and
workload reports (including work progress, statistical, and narrative
reports prepared in the office and forwarded to higher levels) and
other materials that do not serve as unique documentation of the
programs of the office.
Destroy when 2 years old.
Note: This schedule is not applicable to the record copies of
organizational charts, functional statements, and related records
that document the essential organization, staffing, and procedures
of the office, which must be scheduled prior to disposition by
submitting an SF 115 to NARA.
7. Transitory Files
Documents of short-term interest which have no documentary or
evidential value and normally need not be kept more than 90 days.
Examples of transitory correspondence are shown below.
a. Routine requests for information or publications and copies of
replies which require no administrative action, no policy decision, and
no special compilation or research for reply.
b. Originating office copies of letters of transmittal that do not
add any information to that contained in the transmitted material, and
receiving office copy if filed separately from transmitted material.
c. Quasi-official notices including memoranda and other records
that do not serve as the basis of official actions, such as notices of
holidays or charity and welfare fund appeals, bond campaigns, and
similar records.
Destroy when 3 months old.
8. Tracking and Control Records
Logs, registers, and other records used to control or document the
status of correspondence, reports, or other records that are authorized
for destruction by the GRS or a NARA-approved SF 115.
Destroy or delete when 2 years old.
9. Finding Aids (or Indexes)
Indexes, lists, registers, and other finding aids used only to
provide access to records authorized for destruction by the GRS or a
NARA-approved SF 115, EXCLUDING records containing abstracts or other
information that can be used as an information source apart from the
related records.
Destroy or delete with the related records.
Explanation of Changes
1. GRS 9, item 1e, Unused ticket redemption forms, such as SF 1170.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed for
administrative use. Revised disposition instruction: Destroy 3 years
after the year in which the transaction is completed.
Three years is the basic audit cycle specified by the General
Accounting Office for those records documenting financial transactions
that are not considered site audit records.
2. GRS 9, item 5c, Passport registers. Current disposition
instruction: Destroy when no longer needed. Revised disposition
instruction: Destroy when superseded or obsolete. These registers will
be of value to the agency only as long as they contain current
information. Agencies submit an annual report to the Department of
State which lists official passports issued and information concerning
control of passports issues to agency personnel. The register is
another tool to keep track of passports on hand.
3. GRS 23, Item 1, Office Administrative Files. Current disposition
instruction: Destroy when 2 years old, or when no longer needed,
whichever is sooner. Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 2
years old.
This retention period will satisfy administrative needs and ensure
consistency in retention among agencies.
4. GRS 23, Item 7, Transitory Files. Current disposition: Destroy
when 3 months old, or when no longer needed, whichever is sooner.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 3 months old.
This retention period will satisfy administrative needs and ensure
consistency in retention among agencies.
5. GRS 23, Item 8, Tracking and Control Records. Current
disposition instruction: Destroy or delete when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy or delete when 2 years old, or
2 years after the date of the latest entry, whichever is applicable.
These administrative records are comparable to those covered by
item 1 of this schedule. A two-year retention period should be
adequate.
6. GRS 23, Item 9, Finding Aids (or indexes). Current disposition
instruction: Destroy or delete with the related records or sooner is no
longer
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needed. Revised disposition instruction: Destroy or delete with the
related records.
Finding aids for temporary records are not needed after the related
records are destroyed when they do not serve as an independent
information resource. Maintenance of the finding aids for the life of
the related records will help the agency to make the records
accessible.
Dated: August 13, 1998.
Michael J. Kurtz,
Assistant Archivist for Records Services--Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. 98-22221 Filed 8-14-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P
