[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 139 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39186-39187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19465]



[[Page 39185]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part V





National Archives and Records Administration





_______________________________________________________________________



Electronic Records Work Group Draft Report; Introductory Information, 
Appendixes C, D, E and Comments Requested; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 / Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 39186]]



NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION


Electronic Records Work Group Draft Report; Introductory 
Information

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of materials for public review and 
comment; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this separate part, NARA is publishing five notice 
documents that invite public comment on draft products developed by the 
Electronic Records Work Group relating to the disposition of Federal 
records previously authorized for disposal under General Records 
Schedule (GRS) 20, including those created or received on electronic 
mail (e-mail) and word processing applications, or other office 
automation software. This notice provides an overview of the documents 
on which comments are sought and other background information to assist 
in your review.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent electronically to the e-mail address 
<[email protected]>. We ask that lengthy attachments be sent in 
ASCII, WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0 format. If you do not have 
access to e-mail, comments may be mailed to Electronic Records Work 
Group (NPOL), Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College Park, MD 20740-6001, 
or faxed to 301-713-7270.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Miller at 301-713-7110, ext. 
229.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Electronic Records Work Group is an interagency group formed by 
the Archivist of the United States on November 21, 1997, to review the 
1995 version of General Records Schedule (GRS) 20. GRS 20 provided 
agencies with the disposition authority to destroy (delete) electronic 
records on word processing and electronic mail (e-mail) systems after 
the records were copied to a recordkeeping system. GRS 20 also provided 
agencies with the authority to destroy certain specified temporary 
records created and used in computer operations, such as system test 
files, back-up files, and input/source files, when those records were 
no longer needed to conduct agency business.
    On October 22, 1997, GRS 20 was declared null and void by the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Columbia in Public Citizen v. 
Carlin. In an April 9, 1998 Order, the District Court authorized the 
Archivist to state that a Federal agency may continue to follow its 
present disposition practices for electronic records until: (1) 
September 30, 1998; (2) the agency has submitted and received approval 
from NARA on a Request for Records Disposition Authority; (3) 
notification by NARA that the Government's appeal in the case has been 
resolved and NARA has provided further guidance as a result of the 
appellate court's decision; or (4) further Order of the District Court. 
The October and April Orders have been appealed by the Government.
    The draft products presented in this Federal Register part reflect 
the effort of the Electronic Records Work Group to develop workable 
alternatives for providing agencies authority to dispose of two types 
of records previously authorized for disposal under GRS 20: (1) The 
electronic source record (i.e. the electronic record that is made or 
received using word processing, e-mail or other office automation 
software and that is used to produce the record filed in a 
recordkeeping system) and (2) computer management and operations 
records usually maintained by agency offices with responsibility for 
managing information systems. Recommendations 1 and 2 in the Work 
Group's draft report address the first type of record and 
recommendation 3 addresses the second. Records generated with office 
automation software, like other Federal records, can be destroyed 
(deleted) only with NARA's authorization.
    GRS 20 itself only provided for the disposition of a small portion 
of the electronic records created by the Federal Government on a daily 
basis. It did not provide authority for disposition of major program-
related information systems, data files used to support agency 
programs, records in electronic recordkeeping systems, records in 
document management systems, or similar program records managed 
electronically. The documents in this Federal Register notice also do 
not cover those types of electronic records. As before, Federal 
agencies must develop individual dispositions for those records and 
submit them for approval by NARA. The guidance for doing so is provided 
in other existing NARA issuances.
    Nor is this document meant to provide guidance on the development 
of electronic recordkeeping systems, appropriate procedures for 
managing records electronically, specifications or requirements for 
electronic recordkeeping systems, or other aspects of electronic 
recordkeeping. NARA will work with Federal agencies over the next 18 
months to develop appropriate guidance in these areas. NARA recognizes 
that such guidance is crucial to the effective implementation of 
electronic recordkeeping. However, this notice is intended to address 
several extremely pressing issues brought about by the Court's decision 
to declare GRS 20 null and void. From a Government operations 
standpoint, the most crucial issue is the process by which agencies can 
obtain appropriate disposition authority for the electronic source 
records formerly authorized for disposal under GRS 20.
    The Work Group's recommendations do not require agencies to 
establish electronic records management systems in order to schedule 
electronic source records. There may be important considerations, such 
as the completeness of files or the authenticity of records, that makes 
a paper recordkeeping system the best choice. Regardless of whether the 
agency's recordkeeping system is paper or electronic, because the 
electronic document previously authorized for destruction (deletion) by 
GRS 20 is a record, the agency must schedule it and obtain disposition 
authority from NARA in order to delete it.
    The computer has changed and continues to change the way the 
Federal government conducts public business. Information technology 
offers potential for substantial improvements in the creation, 
retention and management of records, as well as in the delivery of 
Government services. Some of this potential can be realized today, such 
as in economical storage and rapid retrieval of data. The future offers 
even greater possibilities.
    Although electronic recordkeeping offers many potential benefits, 
current capabilities to implement it are limited by a number of 
factors. First, the recordkeeping capabilities of many of the most 
widely used software packages such as electronic mail and word 
processing are extremely limited. They must be supplemented with 
specific records management applications to provide the functionalities 
necessary to keep business quality records. Second, technology has made 
electronic records easier to create and transmit than to preserve for 
the periods of time necessary for recordkeeping. Finally, the Federal 
government is still developing key pieces of guidance in areas such as 
system requirements for electronic recordkeeping and authentication of 
electronic records. The Work Group also proposes to recommend, 
therefore, that the Archivist of the United States establish a follow-
on group to examine electronic recordkeeping issues and to

[[Page 39187]]

build on the work done by this Work Group.

Electronic Records Work Group Products for Comment

    In addition to this introductory notice, this separate part 
contains the following Work Group products for which we seek your 
comments:

1. Appendix C--Proposal for Developing Agency Records Schedules That 
Include Electronic Source Records Generated With Office Automation 
Applications.

    Appendix C addresses the first Work Group recommendation, that 
agencies must schedule their program and unique administrative records 
in all formats. It proposes guidance that NARA should issue on the 
revision of existing records disposition schedules to provide 
disposition authority for records created using office automation 
applications, which were covered by the 1995 GRS 20, items 13, 14 and 
15. It outlines what agencies must do to schedule these records and how 
NARA will provide the public the opportunity to submit comments on the 
schedules as required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a.

2. Appendix D--Proposal to Revise the Entire GRS To Cover All Formats 
of the Administrative Records Included Therein.

    Appendix D addresses the second Work Group recommendation, that 
NARA modify the GRS to authorize the destruction of copies of 
administrative records covered by those GRS that are not needed for 
recordkeeping purposes after a recordkeeping copy has been produced. 
This appendix proposes a new item to be added to General Records 
Schedules 1-16, 18, and 23 to provide the disposition authority 
previously provided by GRS 20, items 13, 14 and 15.

3. Appendix E--Proposed General Records Schedule, Information 
Technology Records

    Appendix E addresses the Work Group's third recommendation. It 
proposes a new General Records Schedule to provide disposition 
authorities for certain specified temporary records specifically 
related to systems management and operations. The new GRS would not 
cover temporary records documenting development and management of 
agency systems for the agency's mission-related functions.

4. Draft Electronic Records Work Group Report to the Archivist of the 
United States

    This notice contains the text of the Work Group's draft report to 
the Archivist, which is due to be submitted to the Archivist with the 
appendixes in September, and Appendix A. The draft report published 
here has been modified slightly from the June 15 version posted on the 
NARA GRS 20 web page (http://www.nara.gov/records/grs20/). The final 
report will reflect further changes that the Work Group makes as a 
result of the comments received, and will contain an Appendix B that 
discusses the comments received on the draft report and other work 
products.

Availability of Reference Sources Cited

    The notice documents reference various materials that may be useful 
in your review of the documents. The following table shows where these 
documents are available for review on NARA's web site or in this 
separate part:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Cited document              Availability         Where cited   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Records Schedules 1-23,   http:// This notice;      
 including GRS 20 (1995 edition).  ardor.nara.gov/     Appendix D; Draft
                                   grs/index.html.     Report.          
NARA Bulletin 98-02.............  http:// Appendix C; Draft 
                                   www.nara.gov/ Report.          
                                   records/grs20/                       
                                   bltn-grs.html OR                     
                                   Appendix C.                          
NWM 06-98.......................  Appendix C........  Appendix C.       
1995 Agency Recordkeeping         gopher:// Draft Report.     
 Requirements: A Management        gopher.nara.gov:7                    
 Guide.                            0/00/ma nagers/                      
                                   federal/publicat/                    
                                   adequacy.txt.                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions and Issues

    In each of the following notices, we have identified specific 
questions and issues that we would like you to consider and comment on 
as part of your review of those documents.

Future Steps

    The Work Group must present its final report and implementation 
strategy to the Archivist of the United States in September. 
Consequently, we may not be able to consider any comments received 
after the comment deadline, August 20, 1998. The Work Group will review 
all comments received on the report and appendixes during the June 
Federal Register comment period before preparing its final report.
    The Work Group intends to submit its report to the Archivist in 
time for his review and action on it by September 30. The Archivist 
will communicate his decisions to Federal agencies and the public.

    Dated: July 16, 1998.
Lewis J. Bellardo,
Deputy Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 98-19465 Filed 7-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P