[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67182-67183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25327]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION


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.

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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 
January 3, 2005. Once the appraisal of the records is completed, NARA 
will send a copy of the schedule. NARA staff usually prepare appraisal

[[Page 67183]]

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 the Life Cycle Management Division (NWML) 
using one of the following means:
    Mail: NARA (NWML), 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.
    E-mail: [email protected].
    FAX: 301-837-3698.
    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: Paul M. Wester, Jr., Director, Life 
Cycle Management Division (NWML), National Archives and Records 
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. 
Telephone: 301-837-3120. E-mail: [email protected].

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.
    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. National Archives and Records Administration, Government-wide 
(N1-GRS-05-1, 16 items, 15 temporary items). Revision to General 
Records Schedule 20, Items 2, 3, and 11. This revision expands the 
coverage of Item 2, input/source records, so it includes hard copy 
documents, such as correspondence, memorandums, and reports, that have 
been scanned into an electronic recordkeeping system. Item 3, 
electronic versions of previously scheduled records, has been expanded 
to provide disposal authority for the electronic versions of most 
temporary records that have NARA-approved retention periods that are 
less than twenty years. (Agencies must submit schedules to NARA for 
electronic versions of most records with NARA-approved retention 
periods of twenty years or more.) This schedule also revises Item 11, 
documentation, so that it provides for the permanent retention of the 
documentation associated with electronic records that are approved for 
permanent retention.

    Dated: November 9, 2004.
Michael J. Kurtz,
Assistant Archivist for Records Services--Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. 04-25327 Filed 11-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P