[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 25, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42058-42060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11763]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

36 CFR Parts 1253 and 1280

RIN 3095-AB52
[Docket NARA-06-0007]


Changes in NARA Research Room and Museum Hours

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: NARA is revising its regulations with respect to research room 
and museum hours at its facilities in the Washington, DC, area. The 
operating costs for these facilities have been increasing every year, 
particularly for staffing, security services and utilities. In these 
times of fiscal restraint, NARA has determined reluctantly that it is 
necessary to curtail service during time frames when only a small 
percentage of our users are present to ensure that we are able to 
provide quality services to customers during the times of greatest 
public use while we are also conducting other mission-critical duties. 
This regulation will affect individuals who use our archival research 
rooms in the National Archives Building and National Archives at 
College Park facility, and individuals who visit the National Archives 
Experience and the Rotunda exhibits in the National Archives Building. 
This rule also makes minor edits to related provisions, which are 
discussed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, and adds the 
archival research room at the National Personnel Records Center to our 
list of research facilities.

DATES: This interim final rule is effective October 2, 2006. Comments 
on this interim final rule must be received by September 8, 2006 at the 
address shown below. NARA intends to publish any changes to the rule 
resulting from this comment period before the October 2, 2006 effective 
date.
    A public meeting on this interim final rule will be held on August 
3, 2006 at 1 p.m. See the ADDRESSES paragraph for additional 
information.

ADDRESSES: NARA invites interested persons to submit comments on this 
interim final rule. Comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: Submit comments by facsimile transmission to 301-837-
0319.
     Mail: Send comments to Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL), 
Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff, National Archives and Records 
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver comments to 8601 Adelphi 
Road, College Park, MD.
    The public meeting will be held at the Jefferson Room in the 
National Archives Building, Washington, DC 20408, on August 3, 2006 at 
1 p.m. Please enter through the Constitution Avenue Special Events 
entrance (Constitution Ave. NW., between 7th and 9th Streets, NW.). 
Reservations are not required but space may be limited.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Allard at 301-837-1477 or 
Jennifer Davis Heaps at 301-837-1801 or via fax number 301-837-0319.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A discussion of the changes we are making in 
this rule follows.

Research Room Hours in DC Area Facilities

    Our research center and Central Research Room in the National 
Archives Building and the research rooms at the National Archives at 
College Park facility are currently open for research Monday through 
Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 
evenings from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturdays from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 
p.m. This interim final rule would eliminate Saturday hours and change 
the research room hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, more closely 
reflecting NARA official business hours in those facilities. The new 
research room hours are specified in Sec. Sec.  1253.1(a) and 
1253.2(b). We are also amending Sec.  1253.8 since we no longer will 
have Saturday hours.
    During the evening and Saturday hours we must provide staff to 
supervise the seven research rooms and assist researchers. We also 
require additional security guard presence and incur additional utility 
costs because the buildings are open to the public. We determined that 
carrying out the necessary reduction in hours by eliminating evening 
and Saturday hours would inconvenience the fewest researchers. 
Researchers who conduct research in original archival records in the 
evening or on Saturday currently must make a reference request in-
person before 3:30 on weekdays to have the records identified and 
retrieved from the stack areas for their research use; no records are 
retrieved during those extended hours. NARA had 96,393 researcher 
visits in FY 2005 in our DC area research rooms. The following charts 
show that at both facilities, significantly fewer researchers used the 
research rooms during evening and Saturday hours in FY 2005:

                   2005 Evening/Saturday Research Room Usage at the National Archives Building
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                                              Number of researchers         Researchers as a percentage of total
                                     --------------------------------------    researchers during the quarter
                                                                           -------------------------------------
   National Archives Building only     Evening research                      Evening research
                                       room usage from   Saturday research   room usage from   Saturday research
                                      5:30 p.m. forward      room usage     5:30 p.m. forward      room usage
                                                                                 (percent)         (percent)
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Jan-Mar 2005........................                968                691                 14                 10
Apr-Jun 2005........................              1,061                653                 12                  8
July-Sep 2005.......................              1,268                823                 13                  8
Oct-Dec 2005........................                966                594                 15                  9
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[[Page 42059]]

 
    Total Evening/Saturday Use                    4,263              2,761                 13                  9
     during 2005....................
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               2005 Evening/Saturday Research Room Usage at the National Archives at College Park
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                                              Number of researchers         Researchers as a percentage of total
                                     --------------------------------------    researchers during the quarter
                                                                           -------------------------------------
  National Archives at College Park    Evening research                      Evening research
                only                   room usage from   Saturday research   room usage from   Saturday research
                                      5:30 p.m. forward      room usage     5:30 p.m. forward      room usage
                                                                                (percent)          (percent)
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Jan-Mar 2005........................              1,992                734                 19                  7
Apr-Jun 2005........................              2,314                798                 17                  6
July-Sep 2005.......................              2,434                817                 17                  6
Oct-Dec 2005........................              2,004                602                 17                  5
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    Total Evening/Saturday Use                    8,744              2,951                 17                  6
     during 2005....................
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Research Room Hours in Regional Archives

    Our regulations only list the core Monday-Friday hours for NARA's 
regional archives (Tuesday-Saturday hours for the Southeast Region in 
Morrow, GA) in 36 CFR 1253.7, which are not changing. Currently, most 
of our regional archives research rooms also are open one evening per 
week and/or certain Saturdays of the month primarily for microfilm 
research. Researchers who conduct research in original archival records 
in the evening or on Saturday must make a reference request in-person 
before 3:30 on weekdays to have the records identified and retrieved 
from the stack areas for their research use; no records are retrieved 
during those extended hours. The extended hours, which are subject to 
more frequent modification, are listed on the NARA Web site (http://www.archives.gov) and posted in the regional research rooms. In some of 
the regional archives, we are reducing extended hours beginning October 
2, 2006.
    We are making one unrelated change to Sec.  1253.7 to add the 
archival research room at the National Personnel Records Center in St. 
Louis, MO.

Museum Hours at the National Archives Building

    This interim final rule also modifies the hours the exhibit areas 
in the National Archives Building, Washington, DC, are open to the 
public. Currently the National Archives Experience (our Washington DC 
museum) including the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom (displaying 
the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights) is 
open to the public as follows:
     The day after Labor Day through March 31, 10 a.m. to 5:30 
p.m. (closed on December 25);
     April 1 through the Friday before Memorial Day, 10 a.m. to 
7 p.m.;
     Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

We are revising Sec.  1280.62 to make the public hours the day after 
Labor Day through March 14, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and March 15 through 
Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The building will be closed on 
Thanksgiving and December 25. In addition, because transit through the 
building and through the line to view the Charters of Freedom cannot 
usually be completed in less than a 30 minute visit, we are 
establishing a policy of ``last admission'' at least 30 minutes before 
close. This policy, which is followed by many museums, will allow us to 
clear the exhibit areas of visitors at the stated closing time and 
ensure that visitors coming into the building have at least some 
opportunity to see the Charters of Freedom. Finally, because the 
renovation of the National Archives Building provides direct street-
level access to the building entrance on Constitution Avenue, we are 
rewording Sec.  1280.60 to remove directions for disabled and persons 
with strollers to use the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to the building.
    Although we are reducing the hours exhibit areas in the National 
Archives Building, Washington, DC, are open during the summer months 
(Memorial Day through Labor Day), the new summer hours are consistent 
with those at the National Museum of American History (10 a.m.-6:30 
p.m.). We have found that the last two hours of the day in the summer 
have the lowest average attendance, so this action will affect the 
fewest visitors on those days. By changing to a two season calendar 
with the high season beginning March 15, we are increasing the hours 
the exhibit areas are open during peak demand (school break, Cherry 
Blossom Festival) in late March. As with the change in research room 
hours, the changes in hours for the exhibit areas will significantly 
reduce our security guard expenses.
    As we noted in the SUMMARY paragraph of this preamble, NARA must 
carry out multiple mission-critical activities. There are many actions 
that must be carried out in order to provide access to archival records 
in NARA research rooms; to assist researchers via on-line descriptions 
in our Archival Research Catalog or via written reference requests; and 
to develop public programs and exhibits. When archival records are 
transferred to NARA's custody from the creating agency or at the end of 
a Presidential Administration, NARA staff must organize these records, 
assess and address their condition, carry out declassification review 
on them as needed, describe them, and otherwise prepare them for safe 
and efficient use by researchers. The actions that we are

[[Page 42060]]

taking in this interim final rule will assist us in conducting all of 
our mission-critical programs.
    The issuance of an ``interim-final rule'' may be followed under the 
``good-cause'' exemption of 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) as ``impracticable'' 
or ``contrary to the public interest.'' In this instance, good cause 
exists because NARA must institute these changes at the beginning of 
the next fiscal year, which does not leave sufficient time for NARA to 
issue a final rule following the 45 day comment period under this 
notice.
    This rule is not a significant regulatory action for the purposes 
of Executive Order 12866 and has not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, I 
certify that this rule will not have a significant impact on a 
substantial number of small entities because it affects individual 
researchers and museum visitors. This regulation does not have any 
federalism implications. This rule is not a major rule as defined in 5 
U.S.C. Chapter 8, Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking.

List of Subjects

36 CFR Part 1253

    Archives and records.

36 CFR Part 1280

    Federal buildings and facilities.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, NARA amends chapter XII of 
title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 1253--LOCATION OF NARA FACILITIES AND HOURS OF USE

0
1. The authority citation for part 1253 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2104(a).


0
2. Amend Sec.  1253.1 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  1253.1  National Archives Building.

    (a) The National Archives Building is located at 700 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20408. Business hours are 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays when the building 
is closed. Hours for the Research Center and the Central Research room 
are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
* * * * *

0
2. Amend Sec.  1253.2 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  1253.2  National Archives at College Park.

* * * * *
    (b) Research complex hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
* * * * *

0
3. Amend Sec.  1253.7 by adding a new paragraph (n) to read as follows:


Sec.  1253.7  Regional Archives.

* * * * *
    (n) National Personnel Records Center archival research room is 
located at 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. The hours are 10 
a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

0
4. Revise Sec.  1253.8 to read as follows:


Sec.  1253.8  Are NARA research room facilities closed on Federal 
holidays?

    NARA research room facilities are closed on all Federal holidays.

PART 1280--PUBLIC USE OF NARA FACILITIES

0
5. The authority citation for part 1280 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2102 notes, 2104(a), 2112(a)(1)(A)(iii), 
2903.


0
6. Amend Sec.  1280.60 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  1280.60  Where do I enter the National Archives Building in 
Washington, DC?

* * * * *
    (b) To visit the exhibit areas of the National Archives Building, 
including the National Archives Experience and Rotunda, you must enter 
through the Constitution Avenue entrance.

0
7. Revise Sec.  1280.62 to read as follows:


Sec.  1280.62  When are the exhibit areas in the National Archives 
Building open?

    The exhibit areas are open to the public from 10 a.m. until 5:30 
p.m. from the day after Labor Day through March 14. The exhibit areas 
are open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. from March 15 through Labor Day. 
Last admission to the exhibit areas of the building will be no later 
than 30 minutes before the stated closing hour. The Archivist of the 
United States reserves the authority to close the exhibit areas to the 
public at any time for special events or other purposes. The building 
is closed on Thanksgiving and December 25.

    Dated: July 18, 2006.
Allen Weinstein,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. E6-11763 Filed 7-24-06; 8:45 am]
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