63980 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS 

ADMINISTRATION 

36 CFR Part 1234

RIN 3095–AB39

Records Management; Electronic Mail; 

Electronic Records; Disposition of 

Records

AGENCY: National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: NARA is seeking comments 

from Federal agencies and the public on 

a proposed revision to our regulations to 

provide for the appropriate management 

and disposition of very short-term 

temporary e-mail, by allowing agencies 

to manage these records within the email system.

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: NARA invites interested 

persons to submit comments on this 

proposed rule. Please include ‘‘Attn: 

RIN 3095–AB39’’ and your name and 

mailing address in your comments. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: Send comments to 

comments@nara.gov. If you do not 

receive a confirmation that we have 

received your e-mail message, contact 

Cheryl Stadel-Bevans at 301–837–3021. 

• Fax: Submit comments by facsimile 

transmission to (301) 837–0319. 

• Mail: Send comments to 

Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL), 

Room 4100, Policy and 

Communications 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cheryl Stadel-Bevans at telephone 

number (301) 837–3021 or fax number 

(301) 837–0319.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background on Proposed Regulation 

Changes 

As part of NARA’s Records 

Management Initiatives to redesign 

Federal records management, NARA has 

determined that Federal agencies should 

be allowed to dispose of short-term 

temporary electronic mail (e-mail) 

records (e.g., those with a retention 

period of 90, 120, or 180 days), without 

requiring the creation of a separate 

paper or electronic recordkeeping copy. 

Rather, such short-term e-mail records 

could reside on a live e-mail system, 

provided that (1) users do not delete the 

messages before the expiration of the 

NARA-approved retention period, and 

(2) the system’s automatic deletion rules 

ensure preservation of the records until 

the expiration of the NARA-approved 

retention period. Agencies are reminded 

that disposition authorities for records, 

including e-mail records, that have been 

requested under FOIA or that are the 

subject of current or imminent audit, 

investigation, or litigation may need to 

be placed in suspense or ‘‘frozen’’ until 

the matter is resolved. In such cases, an 

agency always should obtain 

appropriate legal advice tailored to the 

circumstances before proceeding with 

disposition. 

Allowing agencies to dispense with 

creating separate recordkeeping copies 

of such documents will reduce the 

records management burden on agencies 

and will serve to encourage agency staff 

to create recordkeeping copies of the 

relatively small proportion of e-mail 

records that warrant longer-term or 

permanent retention. The records 

covered by this change are limited to 

transitory Federal records covered by 

GRS 23, Item 7, or Federal records 

scheduled on a NARA-approved agency 

records schedule with a very short-term 

retention (e.g., 90, 120, or 180 days). 

Minor changes to General Record 

Schedule (GRS) 23, Records Common to 

Most Offices within Agencies, will be 

necessary. GRS 23, Item 7 will be 

changed to read: 

Transitory Records 

Records of short-term interest, 

including those in electronic form (e.g., 

e-mail messages), which have minimal 

or no documentary or evidential value. 

Included are such records as: 

• Routine requests for information or 

publications and copies of replies which 

require no administrative action, no 

policy decision, and no special 

compilation or research for reply; 

• Originating office copies of letters 

of transmittal that do not add any 

information to that contained in the 

transmitted material, and receiving 

office copy if filed separately from 

transmitted material; 

• Quasi-official notices including 

memoranda and other records that do 

not serve as the basis of official actions, 

such as notices of holidays or charity 

and welfare fund appeals, bond 

campaigns, and similar records; 

• Records documenting routine 

activities containing no substantive 

information, such as routine 

notifications of meetings, scheduling of 

work-related trips and visits, and other 

scheduling related activities; 

• Suspense and tickler files or ‘‘todo’’ and task lists that serve as a 

reminder that an action is required on 

a given date or that a reply to action is 

expected, and if not received, should be 

traced on a given date. 

Destroy immediately, or when no 

longer needed for reference, or 

according to a predetermined time 

period or business rule (e.g., 

implementing the auto-delete feature of 

electronic mail systems).

In a Federal Register notice appearing 

elsewhere in this edition, we invite 

comment on the proposed GRS 23 

change. 

NARA proposes to implement this 

change in advance of developing the 

final revised regulatory framework that 

was proposed in 60 FR 12100 (March 

15, 2004). We have determined that this 

approach to managing transitory e-mail 

will greatly assist agencies and should 

not wait for development of the 

regulations implementing the revised 

framework. 

This proposed rule is a significant 

regulatory action for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866 and has been 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). As required by the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, it is hereby 

certified that this proposed rule will not 

have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

because this rule applies to Federal 

agencies. This proposed rule does not 

have any federalism implications.

List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1234

Archives and records, Computer 

technology.

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, NARA proposes to amend 

chapter XII of title 36 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 1234—ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

MANAGEMENT 

1. The authority citation for Part 1234 

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2904, 3101, 3102, 

3105, and 3303.

2. Amend § 1234.24 by revising 

paragraph (b)(2) and adding paragraph 

(b)(3) to read as follows:

§ 1234.24 Standards for managing 

electronic mail records.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(2) Agencies may elect to manage 

electronic mail records with very shortterm NARA-approved retention periods 

(transitory records covered by GRS 23, 

Item 7, or records scheduled on a 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 212 / Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / Proposed Rules 63981

NARA-approved agency records 

schedule with a very short-term 

retention) on the electronic mail system 

itself, without the need to copy the 

record to a paper or electronic 

recordkeeping system, provided that: 

(i) Users do not delete the messages 

before the expiration of the NARAapproved retention period, and 

(ii) The system’s automatic deletion 

rules ensure preservation of the records 

until the expiration of the NARAapproved retention period. 

(3) Except for those electronic mail 

records within the scope of paragraph 

(b)(2) of this section, 

(i) Agencies must not store the 

recordkeeping copy of electronic mail 

messages that are Federal records only 

on the electronic mail system, unless 

the system has all of the features 

specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section. 

(ii) If the electronic mail system is not 

designed to be a recordkeeping system, 

agencies must instruct staff on how to 

copy Federal records from the electronic 

mail system to a recordkeeping system.

* * * * *

3. Amend § 1234.32 by revising 

paragraph (d) to read as follows:

§ 1234.32 Retention and disposition of 

electronic records.

* * * * *

(d) Electronic mail records may not be 

deleted or otherwise disposed of 

without prior disposition authority from 

NARA (44 U.S.C. 3303a). 

(1) Electronic mail records with very 

short-term (transitory) value. Agencies 

may use the disposition authority in 

General Records Schedule 23, Item 7 for 

electronic mail records that have very 

short-term retention periods (e.g., 90, 

120, or 180 days). (see 36 CFR 

1234.24(b)(2)). 

(2) Other records on the electronic 

mail system. When an agency has taken 

the necessary steps to retain the record 

in a scheduled recordkeeping system, 

the identical version that remains on the 

user’s screen or in the user’s mailbox 

has no continuing value. Therefore, 

NARA has authorized deletion of the 

version of the record on the electronic 

mail system under General Records 

Schedule 20, Item 14, after the record 

has been preserved in a recordkeeping 

system along with all appropriate 

transmission data. If the records in the 

recordkeeping system are not 

scheduled, the agency must follow the 

procedures at 36 CFR part 1228. 

(3) Records in recordkeeping systems.

The disposition of electronic mail 

records that have been transferred to an 

appropriate recordkeeping system is 

governed by the records schedule or 

schedules that control the records in 

that system. If the records in the 

recordkeeping system are not 

scheduled, the agency must follow the 

procedures at 36 CFR part 1228.

Dated: July 29, 2004. 

John W. Carlin, 

Archivist of the United States.

[FR Doc. 04–24403 Filed 11–2–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52

[R07–OAR–2004–IA–0004; FRL–7833–8] 

Approval and Promulgation of State 

Implementation Plan; State of Iowa

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

a revision to the Iowa state 

implementation plan (SIP) for the 

purpose of revising open burning rules. 

This revision includes a provision that 

allows the Iowa Department of Natural 

Resources to require the submittal of 

additional information when a variance 

from open burning rules is requested, 

reemphasizes the state’s obligation to 

protect the National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS) with regard 

to open burning, clarifies National 

Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air 

Pollutants (NESHAP) guidance for 

disaster rubbish, updates guidance for 

training fires, and provides clarification 

to the existing open burning rules 

covering agricultural structures.

DATES: Comments on this proposed 

action must be received in writing by 

December 3, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to 

Heather Hamilton, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Air Planning and 

Development Branch, 901 North 5th 

Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically or through hand delivery/

courier; please follow the detailed 

instructions in the Addresses section of 

the direct final rule which is located in 

the rules section of this Federal 

Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Heather Hamilton at (913) 551–7039, or 

by e-mail at hamilton.heather@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rules section of the Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the state’s 

SIP revision as a direct final rule 

without prior proposal because the 

Agency views this as a noncontroversial 

revision amendment and anticipates no 

relevant adverse comments to this 

action. A detailed rationale for the 

approval is set forth in the direct final 

rule. If no relevant adverse comments 

are received in response to this action, 

no further activity is contemplated in 

relation to this action. If EPA receives 

relevant adverse comments, the direct 

final rule will be withdrawn and all 

public comments received will be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on this proposed action. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period 

on this action. Any parties interested in 

commenting on this action should do so 

at this time. Please note that if EPA 

receives adverse comment on part of 

this rule and if that part can be severed 

from the remainder of the rule, EPA may 

adopt as final those parts of the rule that 

are not the subject of an adverse 

comment. For additional information, 

see the direct final rule which is located 

in the rules section of this Federal 

Register.

Dated: October 26, 2004. 

James B. Gulliford, 

Regional Administrator, Region 7.

[FR Doc. 04–24531 Filed 11–2–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

46 CFR Part 531

[Docket No. 04–12] 

RIN 3072–AC30

Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier 

Service Arrangements

AGENCY: Federal Maritime Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Federal Maritime 

Commission proposes an exemption 

from the tariff publication requirements 

of the Shipping Act of 1984 for service 

arrangements made by non-vesseloperating common carriers, subject to 

the conditional filing requirements set 

forth in this new Part.

DATES: Submit an original and 15 copies 

of comments (paper), or e-mail 

comments as an attachment in 

WordPerfect 10, Microsoft Word 2003, 

or earlier versions of these applications, 

no later than November 19, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments 

concerning this proposed rule to: Bryant 

L. VanBrakle, Secretary, Federal 

Maritime Commission, 800 North 

Capitol Street, NW., Room 1046, 

Washington, DC 20573–0001, 

Secretary@fmc.gov.