[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 150 (Wednesday, August 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41868-41872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21023]
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Changes to the General Records Schedules; Request for Comments
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Records
Services--Washington, D.C.
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. This notice contains the
full text of proposed changes to the General Records Schedules which
are 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)). NARA is departing from its normal
practice of publishing notice of availability of records schedules in
this instance in order to accelerate the review process and maximize
the exposure of the proposed changes. 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 must be received on or before September 4, 1998.
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-98-2--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 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
[[Page 41869]]
General Records Schedules to provide disposal authorities for temporary
administrative records that are common to several or all agencies.
The changes proposed in N1-GRS-98-2 consist of items that are
currently scheduled with an indefinite retention, e.g., ``destroy when
no longer needed.'' Because the Archivist has determined that
indefinite retention periods are inappropriate for the GRS. N1-GRS-98-2
was developed to replace the indefinite retention periods with more
specific retention periods. In conducting the review of the GRS items
with indefinite retention periods, NARA identified a few items that
were described as ``duplicates'' or otherwise clearly nonrecord copies.
These items will be deleted because a definitive Government-wide
retention period cannot be applied to nonrecord materials, and the item
numbers will be reserved to preserve the current numbering for the
continuing authorities.
The proposed schedule, N1-GRS-98-2, contains the following
provisions:
GRS 1, Civilian Personnel Records
4. Offers of Employment Files.
Correspondence, including letters and telegrams, offering
appointments to potential employees.
a. Accepted offers.
Destroy when appointment is effective.
23. Employee Performance File System Records.
a. Non-SES appointees (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 4301(2)).
(3) Performance-related records pertaining to a former employee.
(a) Latest rating of record 3 years old or less, performance plan
upon which it is based, and any summary rating.
(b) All other performance plans and ratings.
Destroy when 4 years old.
(5) Supporting documents.
Destroy 4 years after date of appraisal. b. SES appointees (as
defined in 5 U.S.C. 3132a(2)).
(2) Performance-related records pertaining to a former SES
appointee.
(a) Latest rating of record that is less than 5 years old,
performance plan upon which it is based, and any summary rating.
(b) All other performance ratings and plans.
Destroy when 5 years old.
(4) Supporting documents.
Destroy 5 years after date of appraisal.
36. Federal Workplace Drug Testing Program Files.
Drug testing program records created under Executive Order 12564
and Public Law 100-71, Section 503 (101 Stat. 468), EXCLUDING
consolidated statistical and narrative reports concerning the operation
of agency programs, including annual reports to Congress, as required
by Public Law 100-71, Sec. 503(f).
This authorization does not apply to oversight program records of
the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Personnel
Management, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, and the Department of Justice.
a. Drug test plans and procedures, EXCLUDING documents that are
filed in record sets of formal issuances (directives, procedures
handbooks, operating manuals, and the like.)
Agency copies of plans and procedures, with related drafts,
correspondence, memoranda, and other records pertaining to the
development of procedures for drug testing programs, including the
determination of testing incumbents in designated positions.
Destroy when 3 years old or when superseded or obsolete. [See note
(2).]
Notes: (2) Any records covered by items 36a-e that are relevant
to litigation or disciplinary actions should be disposed of no
earlier than the related litigation or adverse action case file(s).
General Records Schedule 3, Procurement, Supply and Grant Records
16. Contractor's Statement of Contingent or Other Fees.
Standard Form 119, Contractor's Statement of Contingent or Other
Fees, or statement in lieu of the form, filed separately from the
contract case file and maintained for enforcement or report purposes.
Destroy when superseded or obsolete.
General Records Schedule 14, Information Services Records
1. Information Requests Files.
Requests for information and copies of replies thereto, involving
no administrative actions, no policy decisions, and no special
compilations or research and requests for and transmittals of
publications, photographs, and other information literature.
Destroy when 3 months old.
14. FOIA Reports Files.
Recurring reports and one-time information requirements relating to
the agency implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, EXCLUDING
annual reports to the Congress at the departmental or agency level.
Destroy when 2 years old.
15. FOIA Administrative Files.
Records relating to the general agency implementation of the FOIA,
including notices, memoranda, routine correspondence, and related
records.
Destroy when 2 years old.
26. Privacy Act General Administrative Files.
Records relating to the general agency implementation of the
Privacy Act, including notices, memoranda, routine correspondence, and
related records.
Destroy when 2 years old.
34. Mandatory Review for Declassification Reports Files.
Reports relating to agency implementation of the mandatory review
provisions of the current Executive Order on classified national
security information, including annual reports submitted to the
Information Security Oversight Office.
Destroy when 2 years old.
35. Mandatory Review for Declassification Administrative Files.
Records relating to the general agency implementation of the
mandatory review provisions of the current Executive Order on
classified national security information, including notices, memoranda,
correspondence, and related records.
Destroy when 2 years old.
General Records Schedule 16, Administrative Management Records
2. Records Disposition Files.
Descriptive inventories, disposal authorizations, schedules, and
reports.
a. Basic documentation of records description and disposition
programs, including SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority;
SF 135, Records Transmittal and Receipt; SF 258, Request to Transfer,
Approval, and Receipt of Records to National Archives of the United
States; and related documentation.
(1) SF 115s that have been approved by NARA.
Destroy 2 years after supersession.
(2) Other records.
Destroy 6 years after the related records are destroyed, or after
the related records are transferred to the National Archives, whichever
is applicable.
b. Routine correspondence and memoranda.
Destroy when 2 years old.
7. Records Management Files.
Correspondence, reports, authorizations, and other records that
relate to the management of agency records, including such matters as
forms, correspondence, reports, mail, and files management; the use of
microforms, ADP systems, and word processing; records management
surveys; vital records programs; and all other aspects of records
management not covered elsewhere in this schedule.
[[Page 41870]]
Destroy when 6 years old.
8. Committee and Conference Files.
b. Records created by committees.
(1) Agenda, minutes, final reports, and related records documenting
the accomplishments of official boards and committees, EXCLUDING those
maintained by the sponsor or Secretariat.
Destroy when 3 years old.
(2) All other committee records.
Destroy when 3 years old.
10. Microform Inspection Records.
b. Agency copy of logs and other records documenting the inspection
of temporary microform records, as recommended by 36 CFR Part 1230.
Destroy when 2 years old or when superseded, whichever is later.
14. Management Control Records.
Records created in accordance with procedures mandated by OMB
Circular A-123, Management Accountability and Control Systems, and PL.
97-255, the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act. Under these
authorities, agencies are required to perform evaluations of their
accounting and administrative controls to prevent waste, fraud, and
mismanagement.
e. Tracking files.
Files used to ensure the completion and timeliness of submission of
feeder reports, including schedules of evaluations, interim reporting,
lists of units required to report, and correspondence relating to the
performance of the reviews.
Destroy 1 year after report is completed.
General Records Schedule 17, Cartographic, Aerial Photographic,
Architectural, and Engineering Records
2. Reserved.
3. Drawings of Temporary Structures or Objects or of Structures or
Objects Not Critical to the Mission of the Agency.
Drawings of structures and buildings such as telephone and electric
lines, storage sheds, parking lots, furniture and equipment, and
comfort stations.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
4. Drawings of Electrical, Plumbing, Heating, or Air Conditioning
Systems.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
5. Contract Negotiation Drawings.
Drawings prepared during contract negotiation for buildings or
objects lacking historical, architectural, or technological
significance; drawings related to electrical, plumbing, heating, or air
conditioning projects; or drawings superseded by final working/as built
drawings.
Destroy when final working/as-built drawings have been produced.
6. Space Assignment Plans.
Outline floor plans indicating occupancy of a building.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
7. Reserved.
8. Engineering Drawings of Routine Minor Parts.
Drawings of such objects as fasteners, nuts, bolts, wires, screws,
nails, pipefittings, brackets, struts, plates, and beams, if maintained
separately or if segregable from a larger file.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
9. Drawings Reflecting Minor Modifications.
Repetitive engineering drawings showing minor modifications made
during research and development, and superseded by final drawings, if
filed separately or if readily segregable from a larger file.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
10. Paint Plans and Samples.
Plans and paint samples for painting all areas of buildings lacking
historical, architectural, or technological significance and plans and
samples for painting appliances, elevators, and other mechanical parts
of buildings.
Destroy when superseded or after the structure or object has been
retired from service.
General Records Schedule 18, Security and Protective Services
Records
24. Security Violations Files.
Case files relating to investigations of alleged violations of
Executive Orders, laws, or agency regulations for the safeguarding of
national security information.
[a. Files relating to alleged violations of a sufficiently serious
nature that they are referred to the Department of Justice or Defense
for prosecutive determination, exclusive of files held by Department of
Justice or Defense offices responsible for making such determinations.
Destroy 5 years after close of case.]
SUB-ITEM 24a IS UNCHANGED FROM CURRENT SCHEDULE.
b. All other files, exclusive of documents placed in official
personnel folders.
Destroy 2 years after completion of final action.
General Records Schedule 21, Audiovisual Records
Still Photography
1. Photographs of routine award ceremonies, social events, and
activities not related to the mission of the agency.
Destroy when 1 year old.
2. Personnel identification or passport photographs.
Destroy when 5 years old or when superseded or obsolete, whichever
is later.
4. Reserved.
Graphic Arts
5. Viewgraphs.
Destroy 1 year after use.
6. Routine artwork for handbills, flyers, posters, letterhead, and
other graphics.
Destroy 1 year after final publication.
8. Line copies of graphs and charts.
Destroy 1 year after final production.
Motion Pictures
10. Reserved.
11. Routine surveillance footage.
Destroy when 6 months old.
12. Routine scientific, medical, or engineering footage.
Destroy when 2 years old.
13. Reserved.
Video Recordings
15. Reserved.
18. Routine surveillance recordings.
Destroy when 6 months old.
19. Routine scientific, medical, or engineering recordings.
Destroy when 2 years old.
20. Recordings that document routine meetings and award
presentations.
Destroy when 2 years old.
21. Reserved.
Audio (Sound) Recordings
25. Reserved.
26. Daily or spot news recordings available to local radio stations
on a call-in basis.
Destroy when 6 months old.
27. Reserved.
Explanation of Changes
1. GRS 1, item 4a, Correspondence related to accepted offers of
employment. Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer
needed. Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when appointment is
effective.
The original disposition (1952) for this item was ``destroy when
position is accepted.'' An agency may have an administrative need for
the information in this correspondence until the individual officially
joins the agency.
2. For the following GRS items, the specific language in the
current
[[Page 41871]]
disposition instruction will be retained, but the clause containing the
phrase ``if/when no longer needed'' will be deleted. The disposition
instruction for some of these items sets a maximum retention period,
not a mandatory retention period. The indefinite (when no longer
needed) clause allowed agencies to destroy the records sooner. For
other items, the indefinite language allowed agencies to retain the
records for an unspecified period of time beyond a minimum period.
Removing the clause will establish uniform, consistent retentions
periods for these records throughout Government. Should any agency wish
to establish a different retention period, it may submit an SF 115,
Request for Records Disposition Authority in accordance with 36 CFR
1228.42.
GRS 1, item 23a(3) and (5), Non-SES performance records
GRS 1, item 23b(2)(b) and (4), SES performance records
GRS 1, item 36a, Drug testing records
GRS 3, item 16, Contractors statement of contingent or other fees
GRS 14, item 1, Requests for information
GRS 14, items 14, 15, 26, 34, and 35, FOIA, Privacy Act, and mandatory
review records
GRS 16, item 7, Records management subject files
GRS 16, items 8b (1) and (2), Committee files
GRS 18, item 24b, Security violations files
GRS 21, items 1, 5, 6, 8, 12, 19, and 26, Audiovisual records
3. GRS 16, item 2a covers records disposition inventories, forms
(SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, SF 135, Records
Transmittal and Receipt, and SF 258, Agreement to Transfer Records to
the National Archives of the United States), and reports.
Current disposition: Destroy when related records are destroyed, or
transferred to the National Archives, or when no longer needed for
administrative or reference purposes.
A review of this item revealed that the retention period for the SF
115, which provides continuing records disposition authority, should be
different from the other records covered by this item. Consequently,
the proposed disposition provides for two sub-items:
(1) SF 115s that have been approved by NARA.
Destroy 2 years after supersession.
(2) Other records.
Destroy 6 years after the related records are destroyed, or after
the related records are transferred to the National Archives, whichever
is applicable.
The six year retention period for sub-item b is based on agencies'
use of the SF 135 and SF 258 to determine the location of records in
response to a FOIA or other request for the records.
4. GRS 16, item 2b, Routine records disposition correspondence.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 2 years old. Similar
items in other general schedules have a two-year retention period.
5. GRS 16, item 10, Microform inspection records.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 2 years old or when
superseded, whichever is later. The inspection of microform copies of
temporary records is optional (36 CFR 1230.22(b)). Should agencies
choose to inspect temporary microforms, the recommended interval is two
years, but as agencies are not bound to that interval, any inspection
records should be maintained until they are superseded.
6. GRS 16, item 14e, Management control tracking files.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy 1 year after report is
completed.
This item covers feeder reports, interim reports, and other records
created in support of the development of annual and other management
control reports. The support records should be needed only for short-
term follow-up purposes after the relevant report is finalized.
7. The series title for GRS 17, item 3 was modified to read
``Drawings of Temporary Structures or Objects Not Critical to the
Mission of the Agency,'' and ``furniture and equipment'' was added to
the description of the item. These changes make the item more accurate
and complete, in concert with the NARA instructional guide, ``Managing
Cartographic, Aerial Photographic, Architectural, and Engineering
Records.''
8. GRS 17, items 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10, Architectural drawings,
space assignment plans, and paint plans and samples.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed for
administrative purposes.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when superseded or after
the structure or object has been retired from service.
These temporary architectural drawings, floor and paint plans, and
paint samples have utility only as long as they accurately reflect the
design and layout of the current structure, or as long as the agency is
occupying/using the structure or object.
9. GRS 17, item 5, Contract negotiation drawings.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed for
administrative purposes.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when the final/as-built
drawings are produced.
These are preliminary drawings made during contract negotiations
and are not needed after final working/as built drawings have been
made.
10. GRS 21, item 2, Personnel photographs.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when 5 years old or when
no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 5 years old or when
superseded or obsolete, whichever is later.
These identification and passport photographs are needed only for
as long as they are current.
11. GRS 21, items 11 and 18, Routine surveillance motion picture
and video recordings.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 6 months old.
These are obviously very short-term administrative records. Tapes
and films that document illegal or otherwise questionable behavior or
circumstances would be made part of an investigative file. NARA checked
with several agencies and found a range of 2-120 days in the
recommended retention period. NARA is proposing 6 months to accommodate
the spectrum. Based on comments received during this comment period,
NARA may adjust this retention period to provide a minimum period that
will suit the needs of most agencies.
12. GRS 21, item 20, Video recordings of routine meetings and award
presentations.
Current disposition instruction: Destroy when no longer needed.
Revised disposition instruction: Destroy when 2 years old.
GRS items covering administrative correspondence and subject files
generally have a two-year retention period. As these recordings contain
similar information the same retention period would be appropriate.
13. GRS 17, items 2 and 7, Duplicate aerial photographs and
architectural models.
GRS 21, items 4, 10, 13, 15, 21, 25, and 27, Duplicate photographs,
films,
[[Page 41872]]
videos, and sound recordings; recreational films and videos; and
library sound recordings.
These items are nonrecord. The aerial photographs (GRS 17/2a and b)
are described as ``unannotated duplicate (s)'' and ``unannotated prints
when original film negatives exist.'' Architectural models are three-
dimensional objects not normally considered documentary records. The
audiovisual materials are described as ``duplicate items in excess of
record elements required for and films and videos ``acquired from
outside sources for personnel entertainment and recreation,'' and
``library sound recordings.'' As such they do not meet the definition
of Federal records, and therefore should be removed from the GRS. The
disposition of the materials described by these GRS items should be
provided in guidance, not records schedules. In order to preserve the
numbering of the remaining items in these schedules, these items should
be reserved.
Dated: July 31, 1998.
Geraldine N. Phillips,
Acting Assistant Archivist for Records Services--Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. 98-21023 Filed 8-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P
