[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19533-19534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07041]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

[NARA-2022-030]


Records Management; General Records Schedule (GRS); GRS 
Transmittal 32

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Notice of new General Records Schedule (GRS) Transmittal 32.

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SUMMARY: NARA is issuing revisions to the General Records Schedule 
(GRS). The GRS provides mandatory disposition instructions for records 
common to several or all Federal agencies. Transmittal 32 includes only 
changes we have made to the GRS since we published Transmittal 31 in 
April 2020. Additional GRS schedules remain in effect that we are not 
issuing via this transmittal.

DATES: This transmittal is effective April 4, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You can find all GRS schedules, crosswalks, and FAQs at 
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs.html (in Word, PDF, and CSV 
formats). You can download the complete current GRS, in PDF format, 
from the same location.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information about this notice 
or to obtain paper copies of the GRS, contact Kimberly Keravuori, 
Regulatory and External Policy Program Manager, by email at 
[email protected] or by telephone at 301.837.3151.
    Writing and maintaining the GRS is the GRS Team's responsibility. 
This team is part of Records Management Services in the National 
Records Management Program, Office of the Chief Records Officer, at 
NARA. You may contact NARA's GRS Team with general questions about the 
GRS at [email protected].
    Your agency's records officer may contact the NARA appraiser or 
records analyst with whom your agency normally works for support in 
carrying out this transmittal and the revised portions of the GRS. You 
may access a list of the appraisal and scheduling work group and 
regional contacts on our website at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/appraisal/index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GRS Transmittal 32 announces changes to the 
General Records Schedules (GRS) made since we published GRS Transmittal 
31 in April 2020. The GRS provide mandatory disposition instructions 
for records common to several or all Federal agencies. Transmittal 32 
includes alterations to seven previously published schedules.
    You can find all schedules (in Word and PDF formats), a master 
crosswalk, FAQs for all schedules, and FAQs about the whole GRS at 
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs.html. At the same location, 
you can also find the entire GRS (just schedules--no crosswalks or 
FAQs) in a single document you can download.

1. What changes does this transmittal make to the GRS?

    GRS Transmittal 32 publishes updates to:

GRS 2.4 Employee Compensation and Benefits Records (see question 2 
below)
GRS 2.7 Employee Health and Safety Records (see question 3 below)
GRS 4.2 Information Access and Protection Records (see question 4 
below)
GRS 4.4 Library Records (see question 5 below)
GRS 5.3 Continuity and Emergency Planning Records (see question 6 
below)
GRS 5.6 Security Records (see question 7 below)
GRS 5.7 Agency Accountability Records (see question 8 below)

2. What changes did we make to GRS 2.4?

    We added a flexible retention option (``but longer retention is 
authorized if required for business use'') to item 035. Our omission of 
this flexibility from the original item was an oversight.

[[Page 19534]]

3. What changes did we make to GRS 2.7?

    We added two items to cover records of vaccine attestations for 
Federal employees and contractors (item 063) and visitors (item 064), 
and two items to cover symptom screening and testing records for 
Federal employees (item 065) and contractors and visitors (item 66).

4. What changes did we make to GRS 4.2?

    We reduced the retention period of item 100. It previously directed 
agencies to retain the records for 30 years after completing a 
declassification review. Now, agencies may destroy records documenting 
a declassification review immediately upon either of two subsequent 
events: The agency conducts another declassification review or the 
agency transfers the reviewed records to NARA. We altered the retention 
period in response to a request from the Department of State, which 
pointed out that the previous instruction could result in agencies 
being required to retain records documenting the declassification 
process until as late as 105 years after the records were created.

5. What changes did we make to GRS 4.4?

    We modified the background information to clarify that the schedule 
applies to library and information centers within agencies, but not to 
stand-alone libraries, such as the Library of Congress, or national 
libraries.

6. What changes did we make to GRS 5.3?

    In the first sentence of the Background Information, we changed the 
generic word ``sensitive'' to a term with a precise definition: 
``controlled unclassified.''

7. What changes did we make to GRS 5.6?

    We updated this schedule to further clarify that it does not 
include records related to Federal law enforcement and Federal 
correctional activities and that this exclusion includes border and 
transportation security and immigration and naturalization services. We 
changed the schedule title ``Security Management Records'' to help with 
this distinction.
    We altered item 010 to clarify the subject matter as security 
management and expanded the description's list of examples. We removed 
the bullet for standard operating procedures manuals, as they are 
properly covered by GRS 5.7, item 030.
    We revised items 030, 090, and 100 to clarify that they do not 
cover records related to Federal law enforcement and correctional 
activities including border and transportation security and immigration 
and naturalization services. Item 090 was revised to make it clear that 
it does not apply to videos of accidents or incidents or video 
surveillance of accidents or incidents in Federal facilities or 
facilities operated by contractors on behalf of the Federal Government.
    We revised item 120's disposition instruction to be more concise. 
We revised item 130's title to clarify that it covers all manner of 
temporary access identification records. We changed the term 
``sensitive data'' to ``controlled unclassified information'' in items 
180 and 181.

8. What changes did we make to GRS 5.7?

    We revised this schedule to clarify that it applies only to records 
related to management and oversight of agency administrative functions. 
This included changing the name of the schedule to ``Administrative 
Management and Oversight Records'' and updating the background 
information to clarify that it applies only to management of 
administrative functions, not functions related to agency mission. The 
new background section specifically excludes records related to agency 
strategic planning and performance management.
    We altered item 010's title and revised the list of examples to 
remove generic records types that are arguably not ``management 
controls.''
    We revised the title of item 040 and added a sentence to the 
description to clarify that the item applies only to requirements for 
reports related to administrative activities. We also added an 
exclusion to clarify that item 040 does not cover the reports 
themselves.
    We eliminated from item 050's list of included records reports that 
are not specific to administrative activities, such as Performance and 
Accountability Reports (PAR). We also added an exclusion to make it 
clear that mandatory reports related to non-administrative matters are 
not covered by this item and must be scheduled by the agency.

9. How do agencies cite GRS items?

    When you send records to an FRC for storage, you should cite the 
records' legal authority--the ``DAA'' number--in the ``Disposition 
Authority'' column of the table. Please also include schedule and item 
number. For example, ``DAA-GRS-2017-0007-0008 (GRS 2.2, item 070).''

10. Do agencies have to take any action to implement these GRS changes?

    NARA regulations (36 CFR 1226.12(a)) require agencies to 
disseminate GRS changes within six months of receipt.
    Per 36 CFR 1227.12(a)(1), you must follow GRS dispositions that 
state they must be followed without exception.
    Per 36 CFR 1227.12(a)(3), if you have an existing schedule that 
differs from a new GRS item that does not require being followed 
without exception, and you wish to continue using your agency-specific 
authority rather than the GRS authority, you must notify NARA within 
120 days of the date of this transmittal.
    If you do not have an already existing agency-specific authority 
but wish to apply a retention period that differs from that specified 
in the GRS, you must submit a records schedule to NARA for approval via 
the Electronic Records Archives.

David S. Ferriero,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 2022-07041 Filed 4-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515-01-P