Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 1, 2020 / Proposed Rules 77095 

Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321–4370f), and 

have made a preliminary determination 

that this action is one of a category of 

actions that do not individually or 

cumulatively have a significant effect on 

the human environment. This proposed 

rule involves a safety zone during shipto-ship LNG transfer operations lasting 

approximately 24 hours that would 

prohibit entry within 100 yards of the 

proposed location of the transfer 

operations. Normally such actions are 

categorically excluded from further 

review under paragraph L60(a) of 

Appendix A, Table 1 of DHS Instruction 

Manual 023–01–001–01, Rev. 1. A 

preliminary Record of Environmental 

Consideration supporting this 

determination is available in the docket. 

For instructions on locating the docket, 

see the ADDRESSES section of this 

preamble. We seek any comments or 

information that may lead to the 

discovery of a significant environmental 

impact from this proposed rule. 

G. Protest Activities 

The Coast Guard respects the First 

Amendment rights of protesters. 

Protesters are asked to call or email the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

coordinate protest activities so that your 

message can be received without 

jeopardizing the safety or security of 

people, places, or vessels. 

V. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

We view public participation as 

essential to effective rulemaking, and 

will consider all comments and material 

received during the comment period. 

Your comment can help shape the 

outcome of this rulemaking. If you 

submit a comment, please include the 

docket number for this rulemaking, 

indicate the specific section of this 

document to which each comment 

applies, and provide a reason for each 

suggestion or recommendation. 

We encourage you to submit 

comments through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at https://

www.regulations.gov. If your material 

cannot be submitted using https://

www.regulations.gov, call or email the 

person in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document for 

alternate instructions. 

We accept anonymous comments. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. For more about privacy and 

submissions in response to this 

document, see DHS’s eRulemaking 

System of Records notice (85 FR 14226, 

March 11, 2020). 

Documents mentioned in this NPRM 

as being available in the docket, and all 

public comments, will be in our online 

docket at https://www.regulations.gov 

and can be viewed by following that 

website’s instructions. Additionally, if 

you go to the online docket and sign up 

for email alerts, you will be notified 

when comments are posted or a final 

rule is published. 

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165 

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation 

(water), Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Security measures, 

Waterways. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard is proposing 

to amend 33 CFR part 165 as follows: 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 46 U.S.C. 70034, 70051; 33 CFR 

1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6, and 160.5; 

Department of Homeland Security Delegation 

No. 0170.1. 

■ 2. Add § 165.788 to read as follows: 

§ 165.788 Safety Zone; Bahia de San Juan, 

Ponce, Puerto Rico. 

(a) Regulated area. A safety zone is 

established in the following area: The 

waters around liquefied gas carriers 

conducting ship-to-ship liquefied 

natural gas transfer operations in an area 

100-yards around each vessel in the 

approximate position 17°54′20′′ N, 

066°35′6′′ W. All coordinates are North 

American Datum 1983. 

(b) Regulations. (1) No person or 

vessel may enter, transit or remain in 

the safety zone unless authorized by the 

Captain of the Port, San Juan, Puerto 

Rico, or a designated Coast Guard 

commissioned, warrant, or petty officer. 

Those in the safety zone must comply 

with all lawful orders or directions 

given to them by the COTP or the 

designated Coast Guard commissioned, 

warrant, or petty officer. 

(2) Vessels encountering emergencies, 

which require transit through the safety 

zone, should contact the Coast Guard 

patrol craft or Duty Officer on VHF 

Channel 16. In the event of an 

emergency, the Coast Guard patrol craft 

may authorize a vessel to transit through 

the safety zone with a Coast Guard 

designated escort. 

(3) The Captain of the Port and the 

Duty Officer at Sector San Juan, Puerto 

Rico, can be contacted at telephone 

number 787–289–2041. The Coast 

Guard Patrol Commander enforcing the 

safety zone can be contacted on VHF– 

FM channels 16 and 22A. 

(4) Coast Guard Sector San Juan will, 

when necessary and practicable, notify 

the maritime community of periods 

during which the safety zones will be in 

effect by providing advance notice of 

scheduled ship-to-ship liquefied natural 

gas transfer operations of liquefied gas 

carriers via a Marine Broadcast Notice to 

Mariners. 

(5) All persons and vessels must 

comply with the instructions of onscene patrol personnel. On-scene patrol 

personnel include commissioned, 

warrant, or petty officers of the U.S. 

Coast Guard. Coast Guard Auxiliary and 

local or state officials may be present to 

inform vessel operators of the 

requirements of this section, and other 

applicable laws. 

Dated: November 3, 2020. 

G.H. Magee, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port San Juan. 

[FR Doc. 2020–24821 Filed 11–30–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS 

ADMINISTRATION 

36 CFR Parts 1224, 1225, and 1236 

[FDMS No. NARA–20–0006; NARA–2021– 

001] 

RIN 3095–AB99 

Federal Records Management: 

Digitizing Permanent Records and 

Reviewing Records Schedules 

AGENCY: National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

our electronic records management 

regulations to add a subpart containing 

standards for digitizing permanent 

Federal records so that agencies may 

dispose of the original source records, 

where appropriate and in accordance 

with the Federal Records Act 

amendments of 2014. We are also 

making a minor revision to our records 

schedule review provisions to establish 

a requirement for agencies to review, 

every five years, all records schedules 

that are ten years old and older, based 

on the date the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA) 

approved the schedule. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

February 1, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 3095–AB99, by either 

of the following methods: 


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• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the site’s 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail (for paper, flash drive, or CD– 

ROM submissions. Include RIN 3095– 

AB99 on the submission): We normally 

accept mail submissions, but due to the 

current COVID–19 pandemic, we do not 

have usual staff presence at the building 

and mail is likely to be delayed 

significantly past the comment period. If 

you wish to submit comments by cannot 

do so through the eRulemaking portal, 

please contact us at the number below 

so we can work with you to make 

alternate arrangements. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include NARA’s name and the 

regulatory information number for this 

rulemaking (RIN 3095–AB99). We may 

publish any comments we receive 

without changes, including any 

personal information you include. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimberly Keravuori, by email at 

regulation_comments@nara.gov, or by 

telephone at 301.837.3151. Contact 

rmstandards@nara.gov with any 

questions on records management and 

digitization. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

We propose to amend 36 CFR part 

1224, Records Disposition Programs, 

and 36 CFR part 1225, Scheduling 

Records, to set a timeframe for required 

review of existing records schedules. 

The current regulations state that 

schedules should be reviewed 

‘‘regularly.’’ This rulemaking clarifies 

the word ‘‘regularly’’ by establishing a 

timeframe for those recurring reviews. 

This is based upon investigation that 

determined that many schedules have 

not been being kept up to date or 

revised when needed. We propose 

revising the regulations to require that 

every five years agencies must review 

records schedules that are ten years old 

or older, based on the date NARA 

approved the schedule. 

In addition, we propose to amend 36 

CFR part 1236, Electronic Records 

Management, to add a new subpart 

establishing standards for digitizing 

permanent paper and photographic 

records, including paper and 

photographs contained in mixed-media 

records. In 2014, the Federal Records 

Act at 44 U.S.C. 3302 was amended by 

Public Law 113–187 to require NARA to 

issue standards for reproducing records 

digitally ‘with a view to the disposal of 

the original records.’ The amendment 

applies to both temporary and 

permanent records. 

This rulemaking covers only 

permanent records of the kinds listed 

above. We previously amended 36 CFR 

part 1236 to add standards for digitizing 

temporary records, which constitute the 

majority of Federal records (RIN 3095– 

AB98, 84 FR 14265 (April 10, 2019), 

effective May 10, 2019). We plan to 

issue additional digitizing requirements 

for other specific media types in future 

revisions to the rule. In the interim, 

agencies should contact rmstandards@

nara.gov about digitizing other types of 

permanent records. 

Permanent records are approved by 

the Archivist of the United States as 

having sufficient historical or other 

value that warrants continuing to 

preserve them beyond the time agencies 

need the records for administrative, 

legal, or fiscal purposes. Agencies retain 

permanent records for administrative, 

legal, or fiscal purposes for a specific 

period of time. At the end of the 

scheduled retention period, they then 

transfer permanent records to the legal 

custody of the National Archives. 

These digitizing standards for 

permanent records ensure that agencies 

can continue to use digital versions for 

the same business purposes as the 

original records, and that the digital 

records will be appropriate for 

preserving in NARA’s archival holdings. 

We intend the regulation to be neutral 

about who performs the digitizing 

activities for the agency, whether a 

parent agency, a component agency, a 

vendor or other similar entity acting on 

the agency’s behalf. 

This proposed rulemaking defines the 

requirements for digitizing as a records 

management activity, drawing from 

principles within the Federal Agencies 

Digital Guidelines Initiatives (FADGI), 

Technical Guidelines for Digitizing 

Cultural Heritage Materials Creation of 

Raster Image Files (2016), and from 

International Organization for 

Standardization (ISO) Technical 

Specifications (TS) and Technical 

Reports (TR); specifically ISO/TR 

13028:2010, Information and 

documentation—Implementation 

guidelines for digitizing records. It also 

provides agencies with guidance 

necessary to proceed with projects for 

digitizing and disposing of original 

source permanent records. These 

technical digitizing standards apply to 

both unclassified and classified national 

security records. However, this 

rulemaking does not address other 

standards specific to classified 

information, such as classified-specific 

metadata or acquiring secure 

equipment. These subjects do not fall 

under our records management 

authority and are outside the scope of 

this regulation. 

The standards in this proposed 

rulemaking apply retroactively to 

digitized permanent records that have 

not been transferred to the National 

Archives. If agencies determine their 

previously digitized records are not in 

compliance with these standards, redigitizing may be necessary. Redigitizing the records will allow 

agencies to use the GRS as the authority 

to destroy the original paper source 

records and transfer the new digitized 

records to NARA. However, if agencies’ 

previously digitized records can’t meet 

the requirements in this proposed 

regulation, they also have other options: 

(1) Send the paper versions of the 

permanent records for storage to 

NARA’s Federal records centers by 

December 31, 2022; (2) work with us to 

develop an agency-specific records 

schedule that addresses the previously 

digitized records, providing authority to 

transfer the electronic records to NARA 

and destroy the original source records 

(this option is available if NARA 

determines the previously digitized 

records are acceptable permanent 

records, even if the scanned versions 

were digitized to standards that differ 

from the ones in this regulation); or (3) 

request an exception as part of the 

agency’s strategic response to meeting 

the OMB/NARA Memorandum M–19– 

21 goals (see NARA Bulletin 2020–01, 

Guidance on OMB/NARA Memorandum 

Transition to Electronic Records (M–19– 

21) at https://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/bulletins/2020/2020-01 for details 

on agency strategic response 

requirements and exceptions). Some 

agencies might find a combination of 

these options will be needed to address 

any issues with previously scanned 

paper records. 

While this rulemaking is proposed 

and under development, we recommend 

that agencies discuss digitization 

projects with their general counsel and 

agency records officer before disposing 

of original permanent records. Agencies 

should also continue to follow the 

process in the General Records 

Schedule, 36 CFR 1225.24, and NARA 

Bulletin 2010–04, Guidance Concerning 

Notifications for Previously Scheduled 

Permanent Records (https://

www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/ 

bulletins/2010/2010-04.html). 


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Regulatory Analysis 

Review Under Executive Order 12866, 

Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 FR 

51735 (September 30, 1993), and 

Executive Order 13563, Improving 

Regulation and Regulation Review, 76 

FR 23821 (January 18, 2011) 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has reviewed this rulemaking 

and determined it is not ‘‘significant’’ 

under section 3(f) of Executive Order 

12866. It is not significant because it 

applies only to Federal agencies, 

updates the regulations due to a 

statutory requirement, to incorporate 

technological developments, and to 

account for increased rapidity in 

changing technology and agency 

practices, and is not establishing a new 

program. Although the proposed 

revisions change and add new 

requirements for agencies, the 

requirements are necessary to keep the 

existing regulations up-to-date, comply 

with the statute, and ensure agencies are 

preserving records for the United States. 

Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.) 

This review requires an agency to 

prepare an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis and publish it when the agency 

publishes the proposed rule. This 

requirement does not apply if the 

agency certifies that the rulemaking will 

not, if promulgated, have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities (5 U.S.C. 603). 

We certify, after review and analysis, 

that this rulemaking will not have a 

significant adverse economic impact on 

small entities. 

Review Under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 

This rulemaking does not impose 

additional information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act on the public. 

Review Under Executive Order 13132, 

Federalism, 64 FR 43,255 (August 4, 

1999) 

Review under Executive Order 13132 

requires that agencies review 

regulations for Federalism effects on the 

institutional interest of states and local 

governments, and, if the effects are 

sufficiently substantial, prepare a 

Federal assessment to assist senior 

policy makers. This rulemaking will not 

have any effects on state and local 

governments within the meaning of the 

Executive Order. Therefore, no 

Federalism assessment is required. 

Review Under Executive Order 13771, 

Reducing Regulation and Controlling 

Regulatory Costs, 82 FR 9339 (February 

3, 2017) 

Review under E.O. 13771 seeks to 

reduce Federal regulations that impose 

private expenditures in order to comply 

with them, and to control those costs in 

any such regulations. OMB has 

reviewed this rulemaking and 

determined that it is exempt from E.O. 

13771 requirements. This rulemaking is 

exempt because it applies only to 

Federal agencies, involves agency 

organization, management, or 

personnel, modifies an existing rule, 

and does not involve regulatory costs 

subject to the Executive Order. 

Review Under the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act (Sec. 202, Pub. L. 104–4; 2 

U.S.C. 1532) 

Review under the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act requires that 

agencies determine whether any Federal 

mandate in the rulemaking may result 

in state, local, and tribal governments, 

in the aggregate, or the private sector, 

expending $100 million in any one year. 

NARA certifies that this rulemaking 

does not contain a Federal mandate that 

may result in such an expenditure, and 

this rulemaking is therefore not subject 

to this requirement. 

List of Subjects 

36 CFR Parts 1224 and 1225 

Archives and records, Recordkeeping, 

Records disposition, Records 

management, Records schedules, 

Scheduling records. 

36 CFR Part 1236 

Archives and records, Digitization, 

Digitized records, Digitizing, Electronic 

mail, Electronic records, Metadata, 

Permanent records, Recordkeeping, 

Records management, Quality 

assurance, Quality control, Quality 

management, Temporary records. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, NARA proposes to amend 36 

CFR parts 1224, 1225, and 1236 as 

follows: 

PART 1224—RECORDS DISPOSITION 

PROGRAMS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1224 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2111, 2904, 3102, and 

3301. 

■ 2. In § 1224.10, in paragraph (c), add 

two sentences at the end to read as 

follows: 

§ 1224.10 What must agencies do to 

implement an effective records disposition 

program? 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * Every five years, agencies 

must review all records schedules that 

are ten years old and older, based on the 

date NARA approved the schedule. See 

§ 1225.22 of this subchapter. 

* * * * * 

PART 1225—SCHEDULING RECORDS 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 1225 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2111, 2904, 2905, 

3102, and Chapter 33. 

■ 4. Amend § 1225.22 by: 

■ a. Revising the section heading and 

the introductory text; and 

■ b. In paragraph (a), by removing the 

words ‘‘an SF 115’’ and adding in their 

place the words ‘‘a new records 

schedule’’. 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 1225.22 When must agencies reschedule 

or review their records schedules? 

Agencies should review their records 

schedules on a regular basis to 

determine if they remain accurate. Every 

five years, agencies must review all 

records schedules that are ten years old 

and older, based on the date NARA 

approved the schedule. Agencies must 

submit a new records schedule to NARA 

in the following situations: 

* * * * * 

PART 1236—ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

MANAGEMENT 

■ 5. The authority citation for part 1236 

continues to read as follows: 

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

3105, 3301, 3302, and 3312. 

■ 6. In § 1236.2, revise the section 

heading, and in paragraph (b) add 

definitions in alphabetical order for 

‘‘Administrative metadata’’, 

‘‘Checksum’’, ‘‘Descriptive metadata’’, 

‘‘Embedded metadata’’, ‘‘Intellectual 

control’’, ‘‘Media’’, ‘‘Mixed-media files’’, 

‘‘Physical control’’, ‘‘Quality assurance 

(QA)’’, ‘‘Quality control (QC)’’, ‘‘Quality 

management (QM)’’, and ‘‘Technical 

metadata’’ to read as follows: 

§ 1236.2 Definitions that apply to this part. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

Administrative metadata are elements 

of information used to manage records 

and relate them to one another. 

Administrative metadata elements 

describe how a record was created, any 

access and use restrictions that apply to 

it, information about the record series to 

which it belongs, and the disposition 


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schedule that identifies its retention 

period. 

Checksum is a function that takes an 

input string, which can be of any length, 

and generates an output of fixed length. 

The output, or hash, is used to 

authenticate information, such as 

whether a file has been corrupted or 

modified. The values returned by a hash 

function are called hash values, hash 

codes, digests, or simply hashes. 

Descriptive metadata are elements of 

information that describe the records or 

set of records itself. They apply to both 

the original source records and any 

versions produced through digitization. 

Descriptive metadata elements for 

individual source records include such 

elements as the title of a record, a 

description of its contents, its creator, 

and the date it was created. These 

elements support searching for and 

discovering records. 

* * * * * 

Embedded metadata are textual 

components that exist alongside the 

content (usually binary data) within the 

file. Embedded metadata may be used to 

make self-describing digital files that 

contain specified administrative, rights, 

and technical metadata and can be 

appropriately managed outside of a 

recordkeeping system. 

Intellectual control is having the 

information necessary to identify and 

understand the content and context of 

the records. This includes knowing the 

disposition schedule under which the 

records fall, the date range when the 

records were created, and any access or 

use restrictions that apply to the 

records. 

Media are the physical forms on 

which records are stored, such as paper, 

photographs, compact discs, DVDs, 

analog tapes, flash drives, local hard 

drives, or servers. 

* * * * * 

Mixed-media files include records in 

different forms of media. A file, when 

used in the phrase ‘‘mixed-media file,’’ 

is a group of records—regardless of 

location and type of media—that belong 

together or relate to a topic, such as a 

case file. For example, a mixed-media 

case file could be a box with paper 

notes, audio recordings of interviews, 

and a CD of photographs, along with 

physical evidence stored separately in 

an evidence locker. Records in a file 

may be in more than one media type 

due to changes in how agencies create, 

maintain, and use records, shifts in 

technology, and the topic or activity 

involved. 

Physical control is having the 

information necessary to physically 

manage the records. This includes 

knowing where the records are housed, 

whether any records that fall within the 

project’s scope are missing or stored 

separately, and the records’ physical 

form (such as media types, the records’ 

dimensions, and the smallest level of 

detail used to convey information). 

Quality assurance (QA) are the 

proactive quality management (QM) 

activities focused on preventing defects 

by ensuring that a particular product or 

service achieves certain requirements or 

specifications. A QA program is heavily 

dependent on quality control (QC) data 

to search for patterns and trends. QA 

activities also include controlled 

experiments, design reviews, and 

system tests. QA programs can improve 

quality through creating plans and 

policies or creating and conducting 

training. 

Quality control (QC) are activities that 

examine products through inspection or 

testing to determine if they meet their 

specifications. The purpose is to detect 

defects (deviations from predetermined 

requirements) in products or processes. 

Quality management (QM) are the 

overall management functions and 

underlying activities that determine 

quality policies, objectives, and 

responsibilities, and implement them 

through planning, control, assurance, 

and improvement methods within the 

quality system. 

Technical metadata are elements of 

information that describe processes 

used to create electronic files, and 

parameters that aid a system in 

rendering the files properly. Technical 

metadata may include elements such as 

a file’s byte size, file format and version, 

color encoding, and the type of 

equipment used to make the file (camera 

name, scanner manufacturer, etc). 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Add subpart E to read as follows: 

Subpart E—Digitizing Permanent Federal 

Records 

Sec. 

1236.40 Scope of this subpart. 

1236.41 Definitions for this subpart. 

1236.42 General requirements. 

1236.44 Preparing records for digitization. 

1236.46 Project management and 

documentation requirements. 

1236.48 File format requirements. 

1236.50 Digitization requirements for 

permanent paper and photographic print 

records. 

1236.52 Digitization requirements for 

permanent mixed-media files. 

1236.54 Metadata requirements. 

1236.56 Quality control (QC) inspection 

requirements. 

1236.58 Validating digitized records and 

disposition instructions. 

Subpart E—Digitizing Permanent 

Federal Records 

§ 1236.40 Scope of this subpart. 

(a) This subpart covers the standards 

and procedures you (an agency, 

employee, or agents acting on the 

agency’s behalf, such as contractors) 

must apply when digitizing permanent 

paper records using reflective 

digitization techniques. Such records 

include most paper-based documents 

regardless of size, such as modern office 

paper, maps, posters, manuscripts, 

graphic-arts prints (lithographs, intaglio, 

etc.), drawings, bound volumes, and 

photographic prints. This subpart also 

covers any records that may be 

incorporated into mixed-media records. 

(b) This subpart does not cover 

standards and procedures you must 

apply when digitizing permanent 

records using transmissive digitization 

techniques. Such records include 

photographic negatives, transparencies, 

aerial film, roll film, and micrographic 

and radiographic materials. In addition, 

this subpart does not cover records on 

dynamic media, such as motion picture 

and audio-visual records, videotapes, 

and audio cassette tapes. 

(c) For guidance on digitizing out-ofscope media types or non-paper-based 

portions of mixed-media records, such 

as dynamic media, x-rays, negative or 

positive film, or other special media 

types, please contact the Records 

Management Policy and Standards 

Team by email at rmstandards@

nara.gov or by phone at 301.837.1948. 

(d) This subpart also does not cover 

standards and procedures for optical 

character recognition (OCR) technology. 

You may perform OCR during 

digitization to meet agency business 

needs and transfer the resulting files to 

NARA, but this subpart does not require 

OCR. 

(e) This subpart does not address 

other applicable laws and regulations 

governing documents and electronic 

files, including, but not limited to, 

proper handling of classified or 

controlled unclassified information and 

compliance with 36 CFR part 1194 

(which establishes requirements for 

compliance with section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act). You should work 

with your legal counsel and other 

officials to ensure compliance with 

these and other applicable 

requirements. 

(f) This subpart also does not address 

other business needs or legal constraints 

that may make it necessary for an 

agency to retain original source records 

for a period of time after digitizing. You 

should work with your agency legal 

counsel to determine whether such 


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retention might be necessary because it 

relates to rights and interests, appeal 

rights, benefits, national security, 

litigation holds, or other similar reasons. 

§ 1236.41 Definitions for this subpart.

In addition to the definitions

contained in § 1236.2 and 36 CFR part 

1220, the following definitions apply to 

this subpart: 

Batch is a group of files that are 

created under the same conditions or 

are related intellectually or physically. 

During digitization, batches represent 

groups of records that are digitized and 

undergo QC inspection processes 

together. 

Color encoding accuracy is measured 

in DICE by computing the color 

difference (DE2000) between the digital 

imaging results of the standard target 

patches and their pre-measured color 

values. By imaging the DICE target and 

evaluating through the DICE software, 

variances from known values can be 

determined, which is a good indicator of 

how accurately the system is recording 

color. DICE measures the average 

deviation of all color patches measured 

(the mean). 

Color channel misregistration 

measures the spread of red, green, and 

blue light in terms of pixel 

misregistration. This parameter is used 

to evaluate lens performance. The 

vernacular term for this is called color 

fringing. 

Color management is using software, 

hardware, and procedures to measure 

and control color in an imaging system, 

including capture and display devices. 

Digital Image Conformance 

Evaluation (DICE) is the measurement 

and monitoring component of the 

Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines 

Initiative (FADGI) Conformance 

Program. DICE consists of ISOcompliant reference targets and analysis 

software for testing and monitoring 

digitization programs to ensure they 

meet FADGI technical parameters. You 

can access DICE online at http://

www.digitizationguidelines.gov/ 

guidelines/digitize-OpenDice.html. 

Digitization project is any action an 

agency (including an agent acting on the 

agency’s behalf, such as a contractor) 

takes to digitize permanent records. For 

example, a digitization project can range 

from a one-time digitization effort to a 

multi-year digitization process; can 

involve digitizing a single document 

into an electronic records management 

system or digitizing boxes of records 

from storage facilities; or can include 

digitizing active records as part of an 

ongoing business process or digitizing 

inactive records for better access. 

Digitized record is an electronic 

record created by converting paper or 

other media formats to a digital form 

that is of sufficient authenticity, 

reliability, usability, and integrity to 

serve in place of the original source 

record. 

Dynamic range is the ratio between 

the smallest and largest possible values 

of a changeable quantity, frequently 

encountered in imaging or recorded 

sound. Dynamic range is another way of 

stating the maximum signal-to-noise 

ratio. 

Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines 

Initiative (FADGI) is a collaborative 

effort by Federal agencies to articulate 

Technical Guidelines that form the basis 

for many of the digitization technical 

parameters in this Part, which equate to 

the FADGI three-star level. You can 

access FADGI online at http://

www.digitizationguidelines.gov/ 

guidelines/digitize-technical.html. 

Image quality measures a digital 

image’s overall accuracy in faithfully 

reproducing an original. A digital image 

created to a high degree of accuracy 

meets or exceeds objective performance 

attributes (such as level of detail, tonal 

and color fidelity, and correct 

exposure), and has minimal defects 

(such as noise, compression artifacts, or 

distortion). 

Lightness non-uniformity measures 

how evenly a lens records the lighting 

of neutral reference targets from center 

to edge and between points within the 

image. 

Mass digitization is the large-scale 

scanning of source records using 

scanners capable of high-volume 

throughput. Mass digitization 

approaches are appropriate for paper 

records of uniform size and type that 

can be digitized without being damaged 

by the equipment, and in which there is 

no information requiring higher 

specifications to ensure accurate capture 

(such as fine detail or precise color 

accuracy). 

Modulation transfer function (MTF)/ 

spatial frequency response (SFR). MTF 

is the modulation ratio between the 

output image and the ideal image. SFR 

measures the imaging system’s ability to 

maintain contrast between increasingly 

smaller image details. Using these two 

functions, a system can make an 

accurate determination of resolution 

related to sampling frequency. 

Noise is an undesirable image 

artifact(s) in a digitized record that is 

not part of the original source material. 

Raster image is a digitally encoded 

representation of a subject’s tonal and 

brightness information into a bitmap. 

Data from digital cameras and scanning 

devices record light characteristics as 

numerical values into a grid, or raster, 

of picture elements (pixels). Raster data 

differs from vector data, in which 

geometrical points, lines, curves, and 

shapes are based upon mathematical 

equations, thus creating an image 

without specific data-to-pixel mapping. 

Reference target is a chart of test 

patterns with known values used to 

evaluate the performance of an imaging 

system. 

Reflective digitization is a process in 

which an imaging system captures 

reflected light off of scanned objects 

such as bound volumes, loose pages, 

cartographic materials, illustrations, 

posters, photographic prints, or 

newsprint. 

Reproduction scale accuracy 

measures the relationship between the 

physical size of the original object and 

the size in pixels per inch (ppi) of that 

object in the digital image. 

Resolution is the level of spatial detail 

an imaging system can resolve in an 

image. 

Sampling frequency measures the 

imaging spatial resolution and is 

computed as the physical pixel count or 

pixels per unit of measurement, such as 

pixels per inch (ppi). This parameter 

provides information about the size of 

the original and the data needed to 

determine the level of detail recorded in 

the file. (See also modulation transfer 

function (MTF)/spatial frequency 

response (SFR) above.) 

Sharpening artificially enhances 

details to create the illusion of greater 

definition. Image quality testing using 

the SFR quantifies the level of 

sharpening introduced by imaging 

systems or applied by users in postprocessing actions. 

Source record or original source 

record is the record from which a 

digitized version or digitized record is 

created. 

Spatial resolution determines the 

amount (quantity, ppi, megapixels, etc.) 

of data in a raster image file in terms of 

the number of picture elements or pixels 

per unit of measurement, but it does not 

define or guarantee the quality of the 

information. Spatial resolution defines 

how finely or widely spaced the 

individual pixels are from each other. 

The actual rendition of fine detail is 

more dependent on the spatial 

frequency response (SFR) of the scanner 

or digital camera. 

Tone response or opto-electronic 

conversion function (OECF) is a measure 

of how accurately the digital imaging 

system converts light levels into digital 

pixels. 

Transmissive digitization is a process 

in which the system transmits light 


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through a photographic slide or 

negative. 

White balance error measures the 

digital file’s color neutrality. When the 

balance is neutral, a white patch in the 

reference target should be recorded as 

even values across red, green, and blue 

channels, with a value approaching the 

limit of the file format to define white. 

§ 1236.42 General requirements. 

(a) Purpose and objectives. This 

subpart establishes processes and 

requirements to ensure that agencies: 

(1) Identify the scope of each 

digitization project; 

(2) Account for all records included in 

the scope of the digitization project 

regardless of their media type; 

(3) Produce complete and accurate 

digitized records that can be used for all 

the same purposes as the originals; and 

(4) Validate that the resulting 

digitized records meet the standards 

required in § 1236.58 for replacing 

permanent Federal records. 

(b) Records management 

requirements. You must comply with 

existing records management 

requirements identified in 36 CFR part 

1222 and other subparts of this part. 

You must also place digitized records in 

a system that can successfully produce 

and manage the records over time and 

must ensure you have intellectual and 

physical control over source records 

sufficient to support digitization. 

Having and maintaining an appropriate 

level of intellectual and physical control 

over source records is critical to a 

digitization project’s success, regardless 

of whether the agency, or an agent 

acting on the agency’s behalf (such as a 

contractor), performs the digitization 

activities. 

(1) You must establish and document 

all the elements of intellectual control. 

See definition at § 1236.2. 

(2) You must also establish and 

document all the elements of physical 

control. See definition at § 1236.2. For 

more information on documenting the 

smallest level of detail, see 

§ 1236.50(c)(2). 

(i) Understanding the physical 

properties of source records is necessary 

to properly identify a project’s scope 

and acquire appropriate equipment. 

(ii) Non-standard media, such as postit notes, envelopes, or onion-skin paper, 

may require special handling and 

equipment. Using improper equipment 

may result in damage to original 

records. 

(iii) You must also document any 

records that you cannot digitize 

according to the standards in this 

subpart. 

(iv) For more information about 

selecting equipment and about records 

that need special handling, please 

contact the Records Management Policy 

and Standards Team by email at 

rmstandards@nara,gov or by phone at 

301.837.1948. 

(3) Before starting a digitization 

project, you must have intellectual and 

physical control over the original 

records that will be included in the 

project. In addition, you must create an 

inventory of records you will digitize, 

ensure that the proposed series are 

complete, document any missing 

records or gaps in coverage as described 

in § 1236.46, document any restrictions 

relating to the source records that will 

also apply to digitized records, and note 

them as metadata as required in 

§ 1236.54. You will need to maintain 

intellectual and physical control over 

the records throughout the project. 

(4) You must also document the 

contents of any electronic or analog 

storage media, such as CDs, DVDs, or 

magnetic tapes, you discover when 

preparing records for digitization. 

(i) Determine whether any files on the 

storage media are records. If the files are 

non-records, you may dispose of them. 

(ii) If the files are records and are part 

of the same records series you are 

digitizing, handle them as described in 

§ 1236.52. 

(iii) If the files are records but not part 

of the record series you are digitizing, 

locate their disposition schedule and 

migrate them to an electronic 

information system that complies with 

the requirements in §§ 1236.10 through 

1236.14. 

(c) Quality management (QM) 

requirements. To be successful at 

digitizing permanent records, you need 

to minimize errors throughout the 

project, beginning as early in the 

digitization process as possible. You 

must therefore develop a quality 

management (QM) plan that ensures the 

project meets the quality assurance (QA) 

objectives and quality control (QC) 

inspections procedures in §§ 1236.42 

through 1236.56. This includes defining 

requirements, implementing a testing 

and analysis process, performing 

corrective measures, and verifying that 

products conform to the requirements. 

The plan must document QC procedures 

and image and metadata quality 

inspection processes necessary to 

identify and correct deviations 

throughout all phases of the project. 

(d) Image quality requirements and 

QA. The project must meet the image 

quality performance parameters, such as 

resolution, tone, and color accuracy, 

defined in § 1236.2 and specified in 

§ 1236.50. 

(1) To determine whether equipment 

meets the image quality requirements, 

you must scan a reference target with 

the device and measure the results with 

analytical software to determine how 

well the digital imaging equipment’s 

optical resolution, sensor size, and 

signal processing perform against the 

performance evaluation technical 

parameters in § 1236.50(c). Results that 

fall within the performance metric 

value’s tolerance range confirm the 

equipment meets the requirements. 

Equipment specifications, such as 

scanner ppi settings or camera sensor 

megapixels, are theoretical resolution 

claims and do not ensure digital image 

quality. 

(2) To ensure image quality of digital 

files you create during the project, you 

must also monitor the digitization 

workflow by digitizing reference targets 

and analyzing the results against the 

technical parameters in § 1236.50(c). 

When all the measurements fall within 

the technical parameters’ performance 

metric value tolerance range, the digital 

files meet the image quality objectives. 

This image QC process is a major 

component of your project’s QA 

program. 

(3) Your agency must use image QA 

processes to: 

(i) Determine whether equipment 

performance meets specifications before 

you select the equipment; 

(ii) Evaluate internal or external 

vendor imaging systems against image 

specifications; 

(iii) Monitor device performance 

during digitization; and 

(iv) Verify that resulting digital files 

meet project specifications. 

(e) Image QC standards. You must 

have an image quality testing and 

analysis process that ensures the 

resulting digitized records conform to 

the requirements in § 1236.50. You 

should adopt methods consistent with 

the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines 

Initiative (FADGI) Digital Image 

Conformance Evaluation (DICE) 

program (see § 1236.41 for a description 

of DICE) to ensure you meet digitization 

image quality parameters, but you do 

not have to use DICE to do so. Any 

method that ensures you meet the image 

quality parameters in § 1236.50 is 

acceptable. 

(1) The DICE program, or other 

automated QC tools you select, should 

work in concert with manual inspection 

practices. 

(2) If you do not adopt DICE, you 

must document the image quality 

measurement and monitoring 

procedures and reference targets you 

use instead, and how you verify quality 

conformance. 

(3) FADGI also describes many 

recommended best practices which you 


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1Higher spatial resolution provides more pixels, 

and generally will render finer detail of the original 

in the digital image, but not always. The actual 

rendition of fine detail is more dependent on the 

spatial frequency response (SFR) of the scanner or 

digital camera, the image processing applied, and 

the characteristics of the item being scanned. 

Adjusting resolution settings to capture the 

appropriate level of detail in the original source 

records provides appropriate resolution. 

may use to supplement, but not 

supersede, applicable regulations and 

NARA implementing guidance. 

(f) Image quality parameters. Section 

1236.50 outlines the set of performance 

parameters you must use. These 

parameters equate to FADGI three-star 

aimpoints and tolerance ranges. The 

FADGI Guidelines incorporate image 

quality specifications, testing 

methodology, and analyses that are 

compliant with ISO/TS 19264–1:2017 

(Photography—Archiving systems— 

Image quality analysis—Part 1: 

Reflective originals) for digitizing 

cultural heritage materials. We are not 

incorporating the FADGI Guidelines in 

their entirety because they include 

general digitization practices outside the 

scope of this subpart. However, you may 

find it helpful when implementing this 

subpart to consider FADGI discussions, 

analyses, and papers related to the 

technical digitization parameters, 

especially if you are digitizing special or 

sensitive materials. 

(g) Inspection of digitized files. You 

must inspect the resulting digitized files 

to check that they meet the digital file, 

image quality, and metadata 

specifications. Sections 1236.48 through 

1236.56 describe digital file quality 

criteria your agency must inspect 

through a combination of automated 

and manual methods outlined in 

§ 1236.56 to verify compliance with 

these digital imaging specifications. 

§ 1236.44 Preparing records for 

digitization. 

(a) A successful digitization project 

relies on maintaining source records in 

their original order throughout the 

process, capturing all the information 

and characteristics of the source 

material, and performing visual and 

automated QC inspections at multiple 

stages during a project to ensure the 

resulting digital record is complete. 

(b) Image quality and QC, described in 

§ 1236.42, are only two of the 

components of digitizing as a records 

management activity. In addition, you 

must: 

(1) Account for all records included in 

the project’s scope prior to digitization. 

You should note any missing records or 

records being retained in their original 

form in the details section of the 

Electronic Records Archives (ERA) 

Transfer Request (TR) instrument and 

include scans of any charge-out 

documentation so that skipped or 

missing records can be inter-filed if they 

are transferred at a later date; 

(2) Survey source records for items 

that require special handling and select 

equipment that safely digitizes the 

originals without damaging them during 

the scanning process; 

(3) Capture all information in records 

or files, regardless of the original media 

type; 

(4) Accurately capture administrative, 

descriptive, and technical metadata 

specified in § 1236.54, including access 

and use restrictions metadata; 

(5) Determine and apply an 

appropriate method for associating 

digitized records with each other, when 

relevant (such as when digitizing each 

page of a paper document separately, or 

each document in a paper file folder 

separately). Acceptable methods include 

associating individual image files in a 

folder structure matching the original 

paper folder structure or utilizing file 

formats with support for multi-page files 

such as PDF or TIFF; and 

(6) Ensure that each individual file is 

usable and that you will be able to 

locate, retrieve, present, and interpret it 

over time. 

(c) You must also take steps to 

maintain intellectual and physical 

control of source records pursuant to 36 

CFR 1222.34. In this regard, for each 

record series or file unit you plan to 

digitize, you must: 

(1) Document the age, media types, 

dimensions, required level of detail, and 

condition of source records prior to 

digitization; and 

(2) Institute procedures and controls 

that: 

(i) Ensure you can locate, access, and 

digitize source records with appropriate 

safeguards against loss and damage; 

(ii) Restrict and log access to records 

while they are being digitized to 

minimize the risk of unauthorized 

additions, deletions, or alterations; and 

(iii) Ensure that staff appropriately 

digitize all records or, if you keep some 

records in their original format, 

maintain the association between the 

digitized and original records using the 

relationship metadata elements in 

§ 1236.54(c). You should note any 

records that you do not digitize in the 

details section of the Electronic Records 

Archives (ERA) Transfer Request (TR) 

and include scans of any charge-out 

documentation so that skipped or 

missing records can be inter-filed if they 

are transferred at a later date. 

§ 1236.46 Project management and 

documentation requirements. 

(a) You must ensure that any projects 

to digitize records meet the parameters 

in this subpart, and the records are 

complete, unaltered, and meet all QA 

criteria. 

(b) Accordingly, you must have the 

following documents when digitizing 

permanent records and retain them in 

association with the digitized records, 

as specified in § 1236.58(f): 

(1) A defined project plan that 

identifies the: 

(i) Record series or file units you will 

digitize (note any missing records in the 

details section of the ERA TR and 

provide scans, as outlined in 

§ 1236.44(b)(1)); 

(ii) Estimated volume and media 

types of the original source records; 

(iii) Image quality parameters you 

must meet to capture the appropriate 

level of detail present in the original in 

order to interpret the information in the 

records—including resolution,1 color, 

and tonal fidelity. See § 1236.50(c) for 

the minimum requirements for image 

quality parameters. The color mode 

must be either color or grayscale; we do 

not accept bi-tonal mode for permanent 

records. You must digitize in color 

when the original source documents 

have color present; 

(iv) Estimated date range of the source 

records; and 

(v) Estimated storage requirements for 

the records once digitized (which may 

affect project decisions, such as 

compression and file format); 

(2) Applicable NARA-approved 

records schedule(s); 

(3) Any related finding aids, indexes, 

inventories, logs, registers, or metadata 

the agency uses to manage the records; 

(4) QM plans describing QA 

objectives that achieve the requirements 

in §§ 1236.48 through 1236.54; 

(5) QC procedures to identify and 

correct errors during digitization in 

accordance with the requirements in 

§ 1236.56; 

(6) QC reports identifying detected 

errors and remediation steps in 

accordance with the requirements in 

§ 1236.56. 

§ 1236.48 File format requirements. 

(a) You must digitize, encode, retain, 

and transfer most paper-based 

documents in one of the following file 

formats, either uncompressed or using 

one of the specified lossless 

compression codecs: 


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TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (a) 

Format name and version Acceptable lossless compression codecs 

TIFF 6.0 .................................................................................................... Uncompressed, LZW compression. 

JPEG2000 part 1 ...................................................................................... JPEG 2000 part 1 core coding system lossless compression. 

Portable network graphics 1.2 (PNG) ....................................................... DEFLATE (ZIP). 

PDF/A–1 .................................................................................................... DEFLATE (ZIP). 

PDF/A–2 .................................................................................................... DEFLATE, JPEG 2000 part 1 core coding system lossless compression. 

(b) You must digitize, encode, retain, 

and transfer photographic print records 

in one of the following file formats, 

either uncompressed or with one of the 

specified lossless compression codecs: 

TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (b) 

Format name and version Acceptable compression codecs 

TIFF 6.0 .................................................................................................... Uncompressed, LZW. 

JPEG2000 part 1 ...................................................................................... JPEG 2000 part 1 core coding system lossless compression. 

Portable network graphics 1.2 (PNG) ....................................................... DEFLATE. 

(c) You must transfer metadata 

specified in § 1236.54 table 1 to 

paragraph (c)(1), table 2 to paragraph 

(c)(2), and table 3 to paragraph (d) in 

comma separated values (CSV) format. 

§ 1236.50 Digitization requirements for 

permanent paper and photographic print 

records. 

(a) Equipment requirements. The 

equipment you use to digitize Federal 

records must be appropriate for the 

media type, capable of achieving 

documented project objectives, and 

meet the parameters specified in 

paragraph (c) of this section for paper 

records in good physical condition that 

are suitable for mass digitization or 

paragraph (d) of this section for 

photographic print records and paper 

records that require higher resolution or 

color accuracy or that can’t physically 

be digitized by mass digitization. 

(1) The specifications in paragraph (c) 

of this section are applicable for paper 

records that are suitable for mass 

digitization using high-volume 

scanners. To be suitable for this set of 

standards, the records must be in good 

physical condition, with well-defined 

printed type (such as typeset, typed, 

laser-printed, etc.), and have moderate 

to high contrast between the ink of the 

text and the paper background. 

(2) The specifications in paragraph (d) 

of this section are applicable for 

photographic prints and paper records 

that are old, brittle, or folded, or that 

could be damaged by high-speed 

equipment. For records in poor physical 

condition, agencies must use equipment 

that does not result in further damage. 

For records with poor legibility or 

diffuse characters (such as carbon 

copies, Thermofax/Verifax, etc.), 

handwritten annotations or other 

markings, low inherent contrast, 

staining, fading, halftone illustrations, 

or photographs, digitization equipment 

or record staging must be capable of 

capturing record content, including all 

text, any embossed seals, or other 

details that can’t be digitized by mass 

digitization. 

(3) For records where the smallest 

significant detail in a record is 1.0 mm 

or smaller, such as aerial photographs 

and topographic maps (which require a 

high degree of enlargement and 

precision regarding the dimensional 

accuracy of the scans when compared to 

textual documents or other types of 

photographs), you must use table 2 to 

paragraph (d) of this section, but you 

must set the resolution so that the MTF 

and SFR performance of the scanner 

exceeds the tolerance ranges in table 2. 

For many imaging devices, increasing 

the ppi settings may not increase the 

actual level of resolution or capture the 

desired detail. The equipment you 

select for digitizing records with fine 

detail must be capable of meeting the 

higher quality parameters. 

(4) For records that can’t be captured 

to the specifications in paragraph (c) or 

(d) of this section, such as records 

containing a high degree of fine detail 

or need for color accuracy, you must 

contact NARA. 

(b) Implementation requirements. You 

must: 

(1) Implement an image quality 

analysis process and use device-level 

reference targets to verify that 

digitization devices conform to imaging 

parameters in this subpart; 

(2) Replace reference targets as they 

fade, or accumulate dirt, scratches, and 

other surface marks that reduce their 

usability; 

(3) Regularly test equipment to ensure 

scanners and digital cameras/copy 

systems are performing optimally. 

(i) You must scan a reference target 

containing a grayscale, color chart, and 

accurate dimensional scale at the 

beginning of each workday; and 

(ii) Perform additional tests when you 

detect problems; 

(4) Test equipment with the specific 

software/device driver combination(s) 

you use, and re-test after every software 

update; 

(5) Ensure that equipment operation, 

settings, and image processing actions 

remain consistent for the entire batch 

and are applied to all images in the 

batch; 

(6) Encode original image files using 

a compression type, and in a format, 

specified in § 1236.48, and with the 

resolution, color mode, bit depth, and 

color space specified in table 1 to 

paragraph (c) of this section; 

(7) You must not reformat, use a lossy 

compression codec, or interpolate 

(upsample) files to meet the standards 

in this subpart; and 

(c) Digitizing requirements for mass 

digitization of paper records in good 

physical condition. For these records, 

produce image files (as described in 

table 1 to paragraph (c)) at 300 ppi sized 

to the original document. 

(1) Records suitable for the 

specifications in table 1 are paper 

records with well-defined printed type 

(such as typeset, typed, laser-printed, 

etc.), and with moderate to high contrast 

between the ink of the text and the 

paper background. 

(i) Performance metric values for the 

tone response (OECF) (Lightness, L*) 


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conform to the FADGI category for 

Federal textual records; and 

(ii) These values are appropriate when 

original source records do not have 

visible content that is recorded in the 

same tone densities as the two darkest 

patches (L*20 and L*21) of the DICE 

target. 

(2) The specifications in table 1 are 

not appropriate for records that include 

fine detail, require a high degree of color 

accuracy, or have other unique 

characteristics that cannot be captured 

using the specifications in this table, or 

that cannot safely undergo high-volume 

digitization because they are fragile, 

would be damaged, or have other 

physical conditions that do not lend 

themselves to high-volume or mass 

digitization. 

(3) You must digitize in an RGB color 

mode when the original source paper 

records have color present. You may 

digitize non-photographic print paper 

records in grayscale mode if there is no 

color present. 

(4) At a minimum, you must digitize 

the paper records covered by this 

paragraph to the following parameters: 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (c) 

Digital file specifications 1 Attributes 

Color mode 2 ............................................................................................. RGB color or grayscale.3

Bit depth .................................................................................................... 8- or 16-bit. 

Working color space ................................................................................. gray gamma 2.2, AdobeRGB1998, sRGB, ProPhoto, ECIRGBv2. 

Sampling Frequency 4 ............................................................................... ≥300 ppi. 

Performance evaluation technical parameters Performance metric values 

Difference from aim 

(applies to 20≤ L* ≤100) 

Tone response (OECF) (Lightness, L*) .................................................... ¥5≤ L* ≤5. 

White balance error (a*b*) (applies only to nominal gray patches) ......... ¥4≤ a*b* ≤4. 

Non-uniformity (Lightness, L*) .................................................................. ≤3%. 

Color encoding accuracy (mean DE2000) 5 .............................................. ≤5. 

Color channel misregistration ................................................................... ≤0.50 pixel. 

MTF10 (10% SFR) .................................................................................... sampling efficiency ≥80% and SFR response at half sampling frequency ≤0.3. 

MTF50 (50% SFR) .................................................................................... 50% of half sampling frequency: [35%,75%]. 

Reproduction scale accuracy .................................................................... <+/¥2% of aim. 

Sharpening (maximum SFR) .................................................................... ≤1.1. 

[Noise] DL* standard deviation ................................................................. ≤2. 

1 Count values are expressed as 8-bit equivalents. 

2 Must digitize in color when the original source paper records have color present. 

3We do not accept permanent records digitized in bi-tonal (black and white) mode. 

4The sampling frequency and the image dimensions determine the total number of pixels in the image, but do not determine the actual level of 

detail captured by an image system. The Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is the scientific method to evaluate the spatial resolution performance of an imaging system. The MTF concept is an objective method to determine spatial resolution that is more accurate, compared to subjective methods such as dots-per-inch (dpi) or visual observation bar target readings. Resolution is a measure of how well spatial details are preserved in an imaging system by evaluating a range of measurements and quantifying them in a functional curve MTF plot. 5DE2000 is the specific formula used to calculate color difference for this metric. 

(d) Digitizing requirements for 

photographic prints, and paper records 

not suitable for mass digitization. For 

these records, produce image files (as 

described in table 2 to paragraph (d)) at 

400 ppi sized to the original document. 

You may need to apply higher 

resolution for some photographic prints 

to capture fine detail. 

(1) The photographic print 

specifications also apply to 

manuscripts, illustrations, or graphics, 

as well as documents with poor 

legibility or diffuse characters, such as 

carbon copies, Thermofax, etc. 

(2) You must digitize photographic 

prints (and items outlined in paragraph 

(d)(1) of this section), including 

monochrome and black and white 

originals, using RGB color mode (which 

captures nuances in black, gray, sepia, 

etc, as well as color contained in the 

original). Paper records may be digitized 

in grayscale mode if there is no color 

present; if color is present, you must 

digitize them using RGB color mode. 

(3) At a minimum, you must digitize 

all the records covered by this 

paragraph to the following parameters: 

TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (d) 

Digital file specifications 1 Attributes 

Color mode 2 ............................................................................................. RGB color or grayscale.3

Bit depth .................................................................................................... 24-bit. 

Color space ............................................................................................... Gray gamma 2.2, AdobeRGB1998, ProPhoto, ECIRGBv2. 

Sampling frequency 4 ................................................................................ ≥ 400 ppi minimum. 

Performance evaluation technical parameter Performance metric values 

Tone response (OECF) (Lightness, L*) .................................................... ±5-count levels ≤4. 

White balance error (a*b*) ........................................................................ ±4-count levels ≤4. 

Non-uniformity (Lightness, L*) .................................................................. <3%. 

Color accuracy (mean DE2000) 5 .............................................................. <4. 

Color channel misregistration ................................................................... <0.50 pixel. 

MTF10 (10% SFR) .................................................................................... sampling efficiency >80% and SFR response at half sampling frequency <0.3. 

MTF50 (50% SFR) .................................................................................... 50% of half sampling frequency: [35%,75%]. 

Reproduction scale accuracy .................................................................... <+/¥2% of aim. 

Sharpening (maximum SFR) .................................................................... <1.1. 


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TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (d)—Continued 

Digital file specifications 1 Attributes 

Noise ......................................................................................................... <4-count levels. 

[Noise] DL* standard deviation ................................................................. <2. 

1 Count values are expressed as 8-bit equivalents. 

2 Must digitize photographic prints, manuscripts, etc., in color, even when originals are in black and white or monochrome. Must digitize other 

paper documents in color when the original source paper records have color present; otherwise, may digitize such paper records in grayscale. 3We do not accept permanent records digitized in bi-tonal (black and white) mode. 

4The sampling frequency and the image dimensions determine the total number of pixels in the image, but do not determine the actual level of 

detail captured by an image system. The Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is the scientific method to evaluate the spatial resolution performance of an imaging system. The MTF concept is an objective method to determine spatial resolution that is more accurate, compared to subjective methods such as dots-per-inch (dpi) or visual observation bar target readings. Resolution is a measure of how well spatial details are preserved in an imaging system by evaluating a range of measurements and quantifying them in a functional curve MTF plot. 5DE2000 is the specific formula used to calculate color difference for this metric. 

§ 1236.52 Digitization requirements for 

permanent mixed-media files. 

(a) Related records may be managed 

together but stored on more than one 

media type. For example, a ‘‘case file’’ 

may include paper records, on-line 

electronic records, and electronic 

records on storage media such as 

magnetic tapes or other optical media. 

This reflects the way agencies create, 

maintain, and use these records; these 

are mixed-media files. 

(b) When digitizing files that fall 

within the scope of this subpart (see 

§ 1236.40) but are part of a mixed-media 

file, you must: 

(1) Assess any electronic records in 

the mixed-media file to determine if 

they are digitized copies of paper 

records. 

(i) If they are not digitized versions of 

paper records, ensure the electronic 

records remain associated with the rest 

of the records in the original mixedmedia file. 

(ii) If they are digitized versions of 

paper records, determine whether they 

meet the digitization standards in this 

subpart. If so, ensure they remain 

associated with the rest of the records in 

the original mixed-media file. If not, redigitize the original paper records to the 

standards of this subpart. 

(2) Digitize any paper records and 

photographic prints in the mixed-media 

file according to standards in 

§ 1236.50(c) and (d); 

(c) You should contact the Records 

Management Policy and Standards 

Team at rmstandards@nara.gov for 

guidance on what to do with types of 

media in a mixed-media file that are 

outside the scope of this subpart, such 

as dynamic media, x-rays, negative or 

positive film, or other special media 

types. 

§ 1236.54 Metadata requirements. 

(a) General. Whether embedded into 

image files or captured in a recordkeeping system, metadata provides 

information explaining what each 

record contains, when and why it was 

created, what media it was recorded on, 

original dimensions, and whether any 

restrictions govern its use. Metadata also 

describes the digitization process and 

the technical attributes of the resulting 

electronic records. It is important to 

capture this information about original 

source records and about the 

intervening digitization steps because 

we will not have the original source 

records or other project documentation 

to use when maintaining the digitized 

versions as archival records in the 

future. 

(1) You should consider business and 

legal needs when developing the project 

plan and how your agency will capture 

the metadata. 

(2) Depending on your agency’s 

existing record-keeping practices and 

level of intellectual control, you may 

use information from the record series, 

file unit, or project level as the source 

for administrative and descriptive 

metadata fields. If the components of a 

record have not been individually 

indexed with unique descriptions, you 

may apply the series or file unit level 

descriptions to all of the image files 

within that grouping. If the components 

of the record do not have individual 

titles, you must apply the item Record 

IDs instead. 

(3) If you provide other metadata 

elements in addition to the metadata 

requirements in this subpart, we will 

accept that metadata as part of the 

transfer process. 

(4) ‘‘Mandatory if applicable’’ 

instructions in the tables in this section 

mean that you must provide the 

metadata if the agency captures the 

metadata as part of its business 

processes. You do not have to create 

‘‘mandatory if applicable’’ metadata as 

an extra step to transfer records to 

NARA. 

(b) Overall requirements. You must: 

(1) Capture the metadata specified by 

paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of this 

section at the file or item level as part 

of the digitization project; 

(2) When digitization and image 

processing are complete and when 

agencies determine that records are no 

longer in active use and no longer 

subject to changes that would alter a 

checksum, you must generate 

checksums and record them as technical 

metadata in a record-keeping system for 

each image file, and use them to 

monitor electronic records for 

corruption or alteration; 

(3) Create file names and record IDs 

that are unique to each file (although 

you must capture other metadata at the 

file or item level, some might be 

common to multiple files or items, but 

not these two elements); 

(4) Embed the metadata specified by 

paragraph (c) of this section in each 

image file, capture and maintain it in a 

record-keeping system, associate it with 

the records it describes, and keep it 

consistent and accurate in both places; 

(5) Ensure that scanning equipment 

embeds the system-generated technical 

metadata specified by paragraph (e) of 

this section in each image file and that 

image processing does not alter or delete 

it; 

(6) Transfer metadata specified by 

paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section to 

NARA in CSV format; and 

(7) Retain documentation and 

information described in 36 CFR 

1222.28 and associate it with the 

digitized records. 

(c) Administrative metadata. (1) 

Capture in a record-keeping system and 

embed in each image file the following 

administrative metadata: 


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TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(1) 

Metadata label Description Requirement level 

Identifier: File Name ..................................... The complete name of the computer file, including its extension Mandatory. 

Identifier: Record ID ..................................... The unique identifier assigned by an agency or a records management system. § 1236.20(b)(1) requires that agencies assign unique identifiers to each record.Mandatory. 

Identifier: Disposition Schedule Item # ........ The number assigned to the disposition schedule item to which 

the record belongs.

Mandatory. 

Relation: Has Part ........................................ A related record that is either physically or logically required in 

order to form a complete record. Mixed-media files that contain records on multiple media types should use this element 

to identify all components.

Mandatory if a record includes 

multiple parts, such as the 

component parts of a case 

file or mixed-media file. 

Relation: Is Part Of ...................................... A related record or file in which the described record is physically or logically included. Records that are components of 

mixed media files should use this element to indicate their 

status.

Mandatory if file is a component 

of a multi-part record. 

(2) Capture in a record-keeping 

system and embed in each file any of 

the following access and use restrictions 

metadata inherited from the original 

source records: 

TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(2) 

Metadata label Required fields Description Requirement level 

Access Restrictions Access Restriction 

Status.

Indicate whether or not there are access restrictions on the 

record.

Mandatory. 

Specific Access Restriction.Specific access restrictions on the record, based on national 

security considerations (e.g., CNSI, CUI), donor restrictions, 

court orders, and other statutory or regulatory provisions, including Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

exemptions.

Mandatory if access restriction 

exists. 

Use Restrictions ....... Use Restriction Status.Indicate whether or not there are use restrictions on the record Mandatory. 

Specific Use Restriction.The type of use restrictions on the record, based on copyright, 

trademark, service mark, donor, or statutory provisions, including Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

exemptions.

Mandatory if use restriction exists. 

Rights: Rights Holder .................................. A person or organization owning or managing intellectual property rights relating to the record.Mandatory if there is a rights 

holder. 

(d) Descriptive metadata. Capture the 

following descriptive metadata from 

source records at the lowest level 

needed to support access and 

preservation and to maintain contextual 

information. Depending on your 

agency’s existing record-keeping 

practices and level of intellectual 

control, you may use information from 

the record series, file unit, or project 

level as the source for administrative 

and descriptive metadata fields. If the 

components of a record have not been 

individually indexed with unique 

descriptions, you may apply the series 

or file unit level descriptions to all of 

the image files within that grouping. If 

the components of the record do not 

have individual titles, you must apply 

the item Record IDs instead. Retain the 

metadata in a record-keeping system for 

each image file: 

TABLE 3 TO PARAGRAPH (d) 

Metadata label Description Requirement level 

Title .............................................................. A name given to the original record. If a name does not exist, 

the mandatory metadata element Identifier: Record ID serves 

as the title for the record.

Mandatory. 

Description ................................................... A narrative description of the content of the record, including abstracts for document.Mandatory. 

Creator ......................................................... The agent (person, agency, other organization, etc) primarily responsible for creating the original record.Mandatory. 

Date: Creation Date ..................................... The date or date range indicating when the original record met 

the definition of a Federal record.

Mandatory. 

Source Type ................................................. The medium of the original source record scanned to create a 

digital still image.

Mandatory. 

Source Dimensions ...................................... The dimensions of the original source record (including unit of 

measure).

Mandatory. 


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(e) Technical metadata. (1) Technical 

metadata is the metadata the scanning 

equipment generates during the 

digitization process. 

(2) Embed image files with the 

following technical metadata describing 

the digitization process and the 

resulting electronic records, and ensure 

that image processing does not delete or 

alter it: 

TABLE 4 TO PARAGRAPH (e)(2) 

Metadata label Definition Requirement level 

File Size ................................................... The size in bytes of the image file ....................................................... Mandatory. 

Format Name and Version ....................... The format name or description of the file format ................................ Mandatory. 

Image Width ............................................. The width of the digital image, i.e., horizontal or X dimension, in 

pixels.

Mandatory. 

Image Height ............................................ The height of the digital image, i.e., vertical or Y dimension, in pixels Mandatory. 

Color Space ............................................. The well-defined name of the International Color Consortium (ICC) 

profile used.

Mandatory. 

Date and Time Created ........................... The Date or Date Time the digital image was created ........................ Mandatory. 

Scanner Make and Model ........................ The manufacturer and model of the scanner used to create the 

image.

Mandatory if using a scanner. 

Scanning Software Name and Version .... The name and version of the software the scanner uses to create 

the image.

Mandatory if using scanning 

software. 

Digital Camera Make and Model ............. The manufacturer and model of the digital camera used to create the 

image.

Mandatory if using a digital 

camera. 

Samples Per Pixel .................................... The number of color components per pixel .......................................... Mandatory. 

(3) When digitization and image 

processing are complete and when you 

determine that the records are no longer 

in active use and no longer subject to 

changes that would alter a checksum, 

you must generate checksums, record 

them as technical metadata in a recordkeeping system for each image file, and 

use them to monitor electronic records 

for corruption or alteration: 

TABLE 5 TO PARAGRAPH (e)(3) 

Fixity metadata label Description Requirement level 

Message Digest Algorithm ........................... The specific algorithm used to construct the message digest for 

the digital object or bitstream.

Mandatory. 

Message Digest (checksum) ....................... The output of Message Digest Algorithm ..................................... Mandatory. 

(f) Transfer metadata. (1) When you 

transfer digitized records to NARA’s 

legal and physical custody, you must 

also transfer the associated metadata 

specified by paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) 

of this section. 

(2) In addition, you will need to enter 

the following separate metadata into the 

Electronic Records Archive (ERA) when 

you create the Transfer Request (TR) to 

begin transferring the records: 

TABLE 6 TO PARAGRAPH (f)(2) 

Metadata label Required fields Description Requirement level 

Transfer Title ............ Transfer Title ........... The name assigned to the collection, set or series of records 

you are transferring to NARA.

Mandatory. 

Dates ........................ Inclusive Start Date The beginning date on which the record group, collection, series, or set you are transferring to NARA was created, maintained, or accumulated by the creator.Mandatory. 

Inclusive End Date .. The last date on which the record group, collection, series, or 

set you are transferring to NARA was created, maintained, or 

accumulated by the creator.

Mandatory. 

Creating Organization.Creating Organization.The name of the organization responsible for creating, accumulating, or maintaining the collection, series, or set when in 

working (primary) use.

Mandatory. 

Record Group Number.Parent Record 

Group Number.

The unique number assigned to a record group ......................... Mandatory. 

General Records 

Type.

General Records 

Type.

The general form of the records set, series, or collection you 

are transferring, such as: architectural and engineering drawings, artifacts, data files, maps and charts, moving images, 

photographs and other graphic materials, sound recordings, 

textual records, or web pages.

Mandatory. 

Access Restrictions Access Restriction 

Status.

Indicate whether or not there are access restrictions on the set, 

collection, or series of records you are transferring to NARA.

Mandatory. 


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TABLE 6 TO PARAGRAPH (f)(2)—Continued 

Metadata label Required fields Description Requirement level 

Specific Access Restriction.Specific access restrictions on the set, collection, or series of 

records, based on national security considerations (e.g., 

CNSI, CUI), donor restrictions, court orders, and other statutory or regulatory provisions, including Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions.

Mandatory if access restriction 

exists. 

Use Restrictions ....... Use Restriction Status.Indicate whether or not there are use restrictions on the set, 

collection, or series of records you are transferring to NARA.

Mandatory. 

Specific Use Restriction.The type of use restrictions on the set, collection, or series of 

records, based on copyright, trademark, service mark, donor, 

or statutory provisions, including Privacy Act and Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) exemptions.

Mandatory if access restriction 

exists. 

Record Schedule 

Number.

Records Schedule 

Number.

The number NARA assigned to the record schedule that applies to all the records in the collection, series, or set you are 

transferring.

Mandatory. 

§ 1236.56 Quality control (QC) inspection 

requirements. 

(a) You must design a QC plan to 

document and correct errors due to 

malfunctioning or improperly 

configured digitization equipment, 

improper software application settings, 

incorrect metadata capture, or human 

error. You should perform QC 

inspections of files for compliance with 

all parameters and criteria identified for 

QA in parts §§ 1236.48 through 1236.54. 

(b) You must select equipment that 

meets or exceeds identified parameters. 

To determine that digitization devices 

are capable of meeting imaging 

parameters, you must conduct an image 

quality analysis process and use devicelevel reference targets. 

(c) QC procedures must verify that 

digital image files: 

(1) Meet file format requirements 

specified in § 1236.48, 

(2) Comply with the file attribute and 

technical evaluation parameter 

tolerance ranges specified in § 1236.50, 

and 

(3) Meet the metadata requirements 

specified in § 1236.54. 

(d) You must inspect a random 

sample of either ten images or 10% of 

each batch of digital images, whichever 

is larger, for the following 

characteristics: 

(1) File quality: You can open and 

view the files; they are well-formed 

according to the specified file format in 

§ 1236.48; they have the correct pixel 

dimensions; they are encoded with the 

correct color mode, bit depth, color 

profile, and, if compressed, they are 

compressed as specified in § 1236.50. 

You may verify file quality using 

automated techniques. 

(2) Image quality: Ensure that digital 

files meet image quality parameters 

(spatial resolution, image tone, 

brightness, contrast, and color accuracy) 

specified in § 1236.50; that the files 

have no clipping (missing detail lost in 

highlights or shadows), channel 

misregistration, or quantization errors; 

and that the informational content of the 

record is not compromised by excessive 

image artifacts (dust, Newton’s rings, 

missing pixels, scan lines, drop-outs, 

flare, or over-sharpening). 

(i) You should inspect image quality 

attributes on a color-managed computer. 

(ii) Perform a visual review to assure 

images are accurate and consistent. 

Verify the files are not dimensionally 

distorted, have correct orientation 

(portrait/vertical, landscape/horizontal, 

horizontally or vertically flipped), and 

informational content is not cropped. 

(iii) Conduct visual evaluation of 

images at 100% magnification on a 

color-managed computer monitor. 

(iv) In addition to conducting visual 

inspections, you may also verify digital 

file specifications using automated 

techniques. 

(v) Conduct manual QC inspections to 

evaluate subjective factors, such as 

appearance or legibility. 

(3) Metadata quality: Ensure that files 

are named according to project 

specifications, that correct 

administrative, descriptive, and 

technical metadata are captured in a 

record-keeping system, and correct 

metadata elements are embedded in file 

headers. 

(i) You must conduct manual QC 

inspections to evaluate the accuracy of 

metadata. 

(ii) You may also evaluate the 

accuracy of metadata using automated 

techniques, if applicable. 

(4) If you detect errors during 

inspection, perform the following steps 

to ensure that the specifications and 

requirements in §§ 1236.41 through 

1236.56 have been met: 

(i) If 1% or more of examined records 

fail to meet any of the criteria in this 

subpart, determine the source and scope 

of any errors, correct or re-digitize 

affected records, and conduct additional 

inspections of 10% random samples 

until you achieve a 100% success rate 

for the sample set; 

(ii) If less than 1% of examined 

records fail to meet any of the criteria 

in this subpart, determine the source 

and scope of any errors and correct or 

re-digitize the affected records. 

(e) You must conduct a QC inspection 

for completeness. You must: 

(1) Employ automated and visual 

inspection processes to verify record 

completeness; 

(2) Visually compare source records 

with their digitized versions to verify 

that 100% of the source materials have 

been captured and accounted for, and 

that the digitized records are in the 

same order as the original; 

(3) Verify that all records have been 

accounted for by referring to box lists, 

folder title lists, or other inventories; 

(4) Verify that all sources of record 

information have been digitized by 

examining records for related envelopes, 

notes, or other forms of media. If 

another form of media is present that 

cannot be digitized, associate it with the 

digitized records using the Relation 

metadata elements in 1236.54(c); and 

(5) Identify and document any 

missing pages or images (and you will 

note this information in the Details 

section of the ERA Transfer Request 

(TR) when transferring the records). 

§ 1236.58 Validating digitized records and 

disposition instructions. 

(a) When you complete a digitization 

project, you must validate that the 

digitized versions meet the standards in 

§§ 1236.41 through 1236.56. 

(b) The validation should be 

conducted by separate staff, 

independent from the staff that 

performed the digitization QC 

inspections described in § 1236.56. 

(c) To conduct the validation, you 

must verify that: 

(1) All records identified in the 

project’s scope have either been 


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digitized or were originally identified in 

project documentation as missing or 

incomplete records (and you will note 

this information in the Details section of 

the ERA Transfer Request (TR) when 

transferring the records); 

(2) All required metadata is accurate, 

complete, and correctly labeled; 

(3) All image technical attributes 

specified in § 1236.50 have been met; 

(4) All image files are legible and the 

smallest level of detail necessary to 

understand and use the records has 

been captured; 

(5) Mixed-media files are digitized 

appropriately for the material type, or if 

mixed-media components are retained 

in their original format, they are 

associated with digitized components 

through metadata, per the requirements 

specified in § 1236.54; and 

(6) Project documentation has been 

created according to § 1236.46. 

(d) After validating, you must 

determine whether or not the agency 

has any reasons for retaining the 

original source records for a period of 

time once digitized. See § 1236.40(f). 

(e) After validating, you may dispose 

of the original source records pursuant 

to a NARA-approved records schedule 

that addresses disposition after 

digitization. 

(f) Agencies cannot use the GRS to 

dispose of original source records if the 

digitized records do not meet the 

requirements in this subpart. In such 

cases, agencies should contact the 

Records Management Policy and 

Standards Team at rmstandards@

nara.gov to determine what steps they 

must take to be able to transfer the 

records to the National Archives. 

(g) Agencies must retain the project 

documentation described in § 1236.46 

until the National Archives confirms 

receipt of the records and legal custody 

of the records has been transferred. 

(h) Agencies must transfer the 

administrative, technical, and 

descriptive metadata captured during 

the digitization project, as defined in 

§ 1236.54, with the digitized records. 

David S. Ferriero, 

Archivist of the United States. 

[FR Doc. 2020–26239 Filed 11–30–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R2–ES–2019–0019; 

FF09E21000 FXES11110900000 212] 

RIN 1018–BD29 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Endangered Species 

Status for the Peppered Chub and 

Designation of Critical Habitat 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 

12-month finding on a petition to list 

the peppered chub (Macrhybopsis 

tetranema) as endangered or threatened 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (Act). The peppered 

chub is a freshwater fish historically 

found in Colorado, Kansas, New 

Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and is 

now extirpated in all but approximately 

6 percent of its historical range. After 

review of the best available scientific 

and commercial information, we find 

that listing the peppered chub is 

warranted due to a dramatic reduction 

in the species’ range (a loss of all but 

one population) and the low resiliency 

level of the remaining population. The 

primary stressors affecting the peppered 

chub are habitat fragmentation and 

degradation resulting from several 

sources, as discussed in this document 

and its supporting materials. Because 

we have found the species is at risk of 

extinction, we propose to list the 

peppered chub as an endangered 

species under the Act. If we finalize this 

rule as proposed, it would add this 

species to the List of Endangered and 

Threatened Wildlife and extend the 

Act’s protections to the species. We also 

propose to designate critical habitat for 

the peppered chub under the Act. The 

proposed critical habitat designation 

includes approximately 1,068 river 

miles (1,719 river kilometers) in four 

units in Kansas, New Mexico, 

Oklahoma, and Texas. We announce the 

availability of a draft economic analysis 

of the proposed critical habitat 

designation. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

February 1, 2021. Comments submitted 

electronically using the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, 

below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time on the closing date. We 

must receive requests for public 

hearings, in writing, at the address 

shown in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT by January 15, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by one of the following methods: 

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter FWS–R2–ES–2019–0019, which is 

the docket number for this rulemaking. 

Then, click on the Search button. On the 

resulting page, in the Search panel on 

the left side of the screen, under the 

Document Type heading, check the 

Proposed Rule box to locate this 

document. You may submit a comment 

by clicking on ‘‘Comment Now!’’ 

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 

FWS–R2–ES–2019–0019, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

We request that you send comments 

only by the methods described above. 

We will post all comments on http://

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see Public 

Comments, below, for more 

information). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Debra Bills, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Arlington 

Ecological Services Field Office, 2005 

Northeast Green Oaks Boulevard, Suite 

140, Arlington, TX 76006; telephone 

817–277–1100. Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Relay 

Service at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary 

Why we need to publish a rule. Under 

the Act, if we determine that a species 

may be an endangered or threatened 

species throughout all or a significant 

portion of its range, we are required to 

promptly publish a proposal in the 

Federal Register and make a 

determination on our proposal within 1 

year. To the maximum extent prudent 

and determinable, we must designate 

critical habitat for any species that we 

determine to be an endangered or 

threatened species under the Act. 

Listing a species as an endangered or 

threatened species and designation of 

critical habitat can only be completed 

by issuing a rule. 

What this document does. We 

propose to list the peppered chub as an 

endangered species under the Act, and 

we propose the designation of critical 

habitat for the species. 

The basis for our action. Under the 

Act, we may determine that a species is 


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