[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39016-39017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15564]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

[NARA-13-0031]


Office of Presidential Libraries; Proposed Disposal of George 
H.W. Bush and Clinton Administration Electronic Backup Tapes

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Presidential Records Act Notice of Proposed Disposal of George 
H.W. Bush and Clinton Administration Disaster Recovery Backup Tapes. 
The Electronic Mail Records on These Tapes Have Been Separately 
Restored and Permanently Preserved at NARA; Request for Public Comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has 
identified a collection of disaster recovery backup tapes from the 
George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations, as appropriate for 
disposal under the provisions of 44 U.S.C. 2203(f)(3). This notice 
describes our reasons for determining that further retention of these 
disaster recovery backup tapes is not warranted, given that the 
Presidential and Federal electronic mail with attachments, pager and 
calendar records residing on these backup tapes were previously 
restored, and that NARA will permanently retain these Presidential and 
Federal records on a different set of electronic media. Because the 
backup tapes proposed for disposal were made for disaster recovery 
purposes, NARA is following a procedure similar to that in GRS 24 for 
Federal record backup tapes.
    This notice does not constitute a final agency action, as described 
in 44 U.S.C. 2203(f)(3), and no Presidential records will be disposed 
of following this notice. NARA will publish a second notice only after 
it has reviewed any comments received during this 45-day notice period. 
The second, 60-day notice will constitute a final agency action, in the 
event that NARA proceeds with disposal.

DATES: Comments are due by August 12, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the proposed disposal of these 
Presidential records must be sent in writing to Susan Donius, National 
Archives and Records Administration, Suite 2200, 8601 Adelphi Road, 
College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; or by fax to 301-837-3199; or by 
email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Donius at 301-837-3250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NARA proposes the disposal of 22,907 
disaster recovery backup tapes created during the George H.W. Bush and 
Clinton Administrations. The backup tapes, consisting of what are known 
as ``3480 cartridges,'' were originally created from November 6, 1992 
through July 15, 1994 by staff in the Executive Office of the President 
(EOP) during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations, with 
duplicative preservation copy sets created subsequently. The backup 
tapes covered by this notice were originally preserved under Court 
orders entered in the case of Armstrong v. Executive Office of the 
President, Civ. No. 89-0142 (D.D.C.). As set out below, email with 
attachments, calendars, pager notes, and certain other ``email 
enabled'' applications residing on the backup tapes, subsequently were 
restored to other electronic media as part of a Tape Restoration 
Project carried out in 1996 (``1996 Tape Restoration Project'') by 
staff in EOP's Office of Administration. NARA will continue to retain 
these restored Presidential and Federal records in an electronic format 
as part of the permanent record collections of the George H.W. Bush and 
Clinton Administrations.
    During the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations, staff in 
EOP's Office of Administration maintained what was known as the ``VAX 
All-in-1'' system for email communications. The email system was 
operated on behalf of numerous components of the EOP, including the 
Office of the President, the Office of the Vice President, the Office 
of Management and Budget, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 
the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Council of 
Environmental Quality, One or more other offices also had users with 
email accounts on the system (e.g., staff in the National Security 
Council could send unclassified email communications to individuals on 
the All-in-1 system).
    The software configuration for the VAX Cluster consisted of two 
main elements: The VAX Operating System, and the Office of 
Administration System for Information Services (OASIS) All-in-1 system 
(also known as the ``All-in-1 software suite'' or ``software 
package''), a proprietary product made by the Digital Equipment 
Corporation (DEC) and further customized by OA staff. The DEC All-in-1 
commercial ``off the shelf'' software package allowed for the creation 
of email and calendars. In addition to these standard features, EOP 
staff developed additional customized applications for All-in-1 users.
    The tape restoration project carried out by EOP staff consisted of 
the recovery of email messages and calendars residing on the backups, 
as well as the recovery of the following additional ``email enabled'' 
and other applications'' contained within the All-in-1 software suite: 
(a) Directory Change Requests (changes to profiles in the EOP on-line 
phone directory); (b) WAVES (Workers and Visitor Entry System) 
requests; (c) Suggestion Box (routing suggestions from staff to EOP 
Management); (d) Phone Messages (advising users of telephone calls 
received); and (e) Pager requests (routing electronic messages to pager 
devices). As stated above, NARA will retain these records on a 
permanent basis.
    Backup tapes made for emergency purposes are not record keeping 
media; rather, their sole purpose is to be available for restoration in 
the event that electronic records are corrupted or destroyed. Given 
that these backup tapes have already served that purpose and NARA has 
no need to conduct any further restoration from them, they no longer 
need to be preserved. In the normal course, the disaster recovery 
backup tapes at issue in this notice

[[Page 39017]]

would have been subject to recycling or otherwise disposed of under 
then-existing authorities, including under General Records Schedule 20, 
Item 8 (1982), and are otherwise equivalent to backup tapes currently 
disposable under General Records Schedule 24, Item 4 (covering ``system 
backup tapes'' created in Information Technology Operations).
    As of November 1995, subsequent disaster recovery backup tapes 
created for the same VAX/All-in-1 System operated by the Office of 
Administration of EOP were specifically designated as temporary records 
with a 90 day maximum retention period for weekly backups. See records 
schedule approved by Archivist John Carlin, dated November 1995, re 
``OASIS All-in-1 Applications and other VAX Cluster Applications, Job. 
No. N1-429-95-2, Item 8), These authorities are consistent with the 
widely accepted principle that records appropriate for preservation 
should be maintained in recordkeeping systems rather than on disaster 
recovery backups. Cf. 36 CFR 1236.20(c) (``System and file backup 
processes and media do not provide the appropriate recordkeeping 
functionalities and must not be used as the agency electronic 
recordkeeping system.'').
    The sub-collections of backup tapes that have been retained and are 
now covered by this disposition notice consist of: (a) 2,835 ``3480 
cartridges'' created by EOP staff between November 6, 1992 through 
January 20, 1993, during the George H.W. Bush Administration; (b) a 
preservation copy set of 2,835 media created by NARA staff in 1993 on 
receipt of the originals; (c) a second generation preservation copy set 
of 2,835 media created by NARA staff in 2003; (d) 2,156 ``daily'' and 
6,514 ``weekly'' backups created by EOP staff between January 20, 1993 
and July 15, 1994 during the Clinton Administration; and (e) a 
preservation copy set of 5,732 backups of Clinton daily and weekly 
backups created by EOP staff in 1996 and used for the 1996 Tape 
Restoration Project. A Stipulation and Order entered in the Armstrong 
case on January 27, 1994, allows for disposition of the preserved 
backups provided that NARA issues this form of public notice in the 
Federal Register.
    Additional information. The above-referenced November 1995 records 
schedule for records created or received on the VAX/All-in-1 system 
covered additional software applications that generated user-created 
data during some or all of the time period between November 1992 and 
July 1994, but that were not made subject to the Tape Restoration 
Project as either Presidential or Federal records. For the reasons 
stated above, NARA does not believe that additional recovery actions 
are warranted for the purpose of obtaining additional user-created data 
on the preserved backup tapes.
    The additional temporary record and non-record applications on the 
VAX/All-in-1 system consisted of: (a) Indices (lists maintained on the 
system of the contents of electronic folders of OASIS All-in-1 users); 
(b) Distribution Lists (mailing lists created by users when sending 
email messages); (c) EOP Directory (names of individuals, with room and 
telephone numbers); (d) User Directory (provided users with short-cut 
to enter names of intended recipients); (e) Bulletin Board 
(notification of scheduled events, such as blood drives, classroom 
training and insurance open seasons); (f) User Set-up (passwords, 
locations, work hours, calendar and date formats, and log-in/log-out 
data); (g) System Distribution Lists (mailing lists created by system 
managers); (h) DB/2 Services Request Form (database administration 
requests); (i) Security Files (system generated data to monitor 
requests to access); (j) Supply Order Form; (k) Training Schedules; (l) 
Weekly Usage Reports; (m) Calculator; (n) Information Management (news 
and weather displays); (o) Lock Keyboard; (p) Personal Rolodex; (q) 
Training Routines and HELP files; (r) World Wide Time; (s) Personnel 
Vacancy Search Request (government wide vacancies); (t) Presidential 
Remarks On-Line (Library application providing access to public 
statements and speeches).
    As stated, copies of Presidential and Federal email with 
attachments, calendars, pager notes, and related records recovered as 
part of the 1996 Tape Restoration Project are being retained by NARA in 
separate electronic databases covering the George H.W. Bush and Clinton 
Administrations, respectively. However, NARA has no further need or use 
for the remaining original disaster recovery backup tapes.

    Dated: June 25, 2013.
Susan K. Donius,
Director, Office of Presidential Libraries.
[FR Doc. 2013-15564 Filed 6-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P