Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 /Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / Notices 39195

a. Official file.

Destroy when 5 years old.

b. Electronic version of records created by

the electronic mail and word processing

applications.

Delete when file copy is generated or when

no longer needed for reference or updating.

This approach will better document the

nature of the series and give NARA the

opportunity to consider the existence of

electronic versions of records when

approving schedules. If you have any

questions about the new scheduling

procedures, contact the NARA staff member

assigned to work with your agency.

The Electronic Records Work Group

referred to in NARA Bulletin 98–02 has

identified a series of possible options for

replacing GRS 20, or parts of it, and other

mechanisms for the disposition of certain

types of electronic records. A paper,

‘‘Preliminary Options for Replacing GRS 20,’’

has been posted for public comment on the

Internet Web site for the Work Group at

<http://www.nara.gov/records/grs20/

opt312.html>. As the work group has a tight

deadline, we need your comments and

suggestions by March 31. You may contribute

to this effort by sending an electronic mail

message to grs20@arch2.nara.gov; by sending

a letter to Electronic Records Work Group,

National Archives and Records

Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, Room

2100, College Park, MD 20740–6001; or by

sending a facsimile transmission to 301–713–

6852. If you send mail, please allow

sufficient time for it to arrive by March 31.

The Work Group may not be able to fully

consider materials that arrive after that date.

Any comments that you submit will be

considered your personal views unless you

indicate that they represent your agency’s

comments.

Also enclosed is NARA Bulletin 98–01,

Checklist of NARA bulletins, which provides

a list of bulletins issued prior to fiscal year

1998 that are still in effect.

Michael L. Miller,

Director, Modern Records Programs.

[FR Doc. 98–19466 Filed 7–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION

Electronic Records Work Group Draft

Report; Appendix D

AGENCY: National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Request for comment.

SUMMARY: This notice contains the

Electronic Records Work Group’s

proposed Appendix D. Appendix D

addresses the second Work Group

recommendation, that NARA modify the

General Records Schedules (GRS) to

authorize the destruction of copies of

administrative records covered by those

GRS that are not needed for

recordkeeping purposes after a

recordkeeping copy has been produced.

This appendix proposes a new item to

be added to General Records Schedules

1–16, 18, and 23 to provide the

disposition authority previously

provided by GRS 20.

Because the proposed disposition for

these GRS records is being published in

full text for public comment as part of

this notice, the Work Group believes

that this notice will serve as the Federal

Register notice required by 44 U.S.C.

3303a. Therefore, the Work Group

believes that NARA will not need to

publish a separate Federal Register

records schedule notice for this GRS

change unless the GRS disposition

language is revised substantively in

response to comments and the Archivist

determines that additional public

comment is warranted.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent

electronically to the e-mail address

<grs20@arch2.nara.gov≤. We ask that

lengthy attachments be sent in ASCII,

WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0

format. If you do not have access to

e-mail, comments may be mailed to

Electronic Records Work Group (NPOL),

Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College

Park, MD 20740–6001, or faxed to 301–

713–7270.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Miller at 301–713–7110, ext.

229.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

addition to your comments on the

proposed GRS changes which are

presented in Appendix D at the end of

this notice, we also ask your comments

on the following question:

D1. Are the definition of program

records and administrative records

clear?

Dated: July 16, 1998.

Lewis J. Bellardo,

Deputy Archivist of the United States.

Appendix D: Proposal To Revise The

Entire GRS To Cover all Formats of the

Administrative Records Included

Therein

Background

In the 1995 edition of the General

Records Schedules, GRS 20, items 13,

14 and 15, authorized the deletion of

electronic source records that remained

on electronic mail and word processing

systems after a record was produced for

inclusion in a recordkeeping system.

The disposition of the recordkeeping

system would be governed by a separate

GRS or agency schedule item. This

authority was challenged in a court suit

on the basis that the GRS cannot

provide Governmentwide authorization

for destruction of electronic mail

messages and word processing records

that qualified as program records. As

stated in the draft report of the

Electronic Records Work Group, the

Archivist has determined that the GRS

will be limited to common

administrative records, and he charged

the Electronic Records Work Group to

develop guidance to distinguish

between administrative and program

records. This appendix provides that

guidance and recommends changes to

the GRS to replace GRS 20, items 13, 14,

and 15, and include other source

records.

Proposed Definitions

Program records are those records

created by each Federal agency in

performing the mission of the agency.

The agency’s mission is defined in

enabling legislation and further

delineated in formal regulations.

Administrative records are those

records created by several or all Federal

agencies in performing common

facilitative functions that support the

agency’s mission activities, but do not

directly document the performance of

mission functions. Administrative

records relate to activities such as

budget and finance, information

management, human resources,

equipment and supplies, facilities,

public and congressional relations,

contracting, and legal matters not

directly related to the agency’s core

mission (e.g., adherence to general

statutes such as laws on procurement,

privacy, and government ethics).

While both program and

administrative records are needed for

the agency to accomplish its mission,

the distinction is important for the

scheduling of an agency’s records.

Discussion

The General Records Schedules (GRS)

issued by the National Archives and

Records Administration (NARA) in

accordance with 36 CFR 1228.40 apply

to certain administrative records created

by several or all agencies. Their purpose

and maintenance requirements are

generally standard from agency to

agency. The GRS provide mandatory

disposition authority for those records,

unless an agency receives an exception

from NARA.

All program records and

administrative records not covered by a

GRS must be scheduled by the creating

agency. Many agencies have records

relating to administrative functions that

are not described in the GRS. These

records may supplement the records

covered by the GRS or they may be

organized or maintained in a way that
39196 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 /Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / Notices

make application of the GRS

inappropriate. If records described in

the GRS are part of a larger file series

and cannot be economically segregated,

the agency schedule for the series, not

the GRS, would control the disposition

of the entire series. Agencies also have

administrative records that are not

appropriate for GRS coverage because

the content or organization of the files

may vary significantly from agency to

agency, such as records relating to the

selection of political appointees (see

NARA Bulletin 95–6).

The Work Group recommends that a

new item be added to GRS 1–16, 18, and

23, to authorize disposal of the source

records used to produce records

maintained in those GRS recordkeeping

systems, after a recordkeeping copy has

been produced. These source records

will include electronic source records

generated using electronic mail, word

processing, and other office automation

systems. This authority is needed

because the electronic source record

that remains on the office automation

application is a record, in addition to

the record in the recordkeeping system.

This new item is appropriate for

inclusion in the GRS because the GRS

applies only to administrative records.

This new item is recommended because

unlike unique agency program records,

the Work Group believes that the

electronic source records of records

covered by the GRS have virtually no

potential for unique or added value.

Consequently, unlike program records,

the source records need not be

appraised in a series-based manner.

(This authority would not be added to

GRS 17 and 21 because they cover

cartographic, architectural, and

audiovisual records. Even though such

nontextual records may be generated in

digital format, NARA needs to conduct

further study before determining

whether electronic source records

should be added to these two GRS. GRS

19, Research and Development Records,

was withdrawn in a previous edition of

the GRS, and NARA has decided to

withdraw GRS 22, Inspector General

Records, in the next edition.)

The new item proposed by the Work

Group would align the disposition

authority for the source records with

records documenting a specific

administrative function, as opposed to

providing one GRS authority across

functional areas, as was done in the

1995 edition of GRS 20. It will provide

authority for deletion of the source

records, including those that are

maintained on office automation

applications apart from an agency

recordkeeping system. The new item

will be applicable to source records in

all physical formats that the agency does

not maintain in a recordkeeping system.

However, the item will authorize

deletion of source records maintained

apart from the recordkeeping system

only after a recordkeeping copy is

produced. The item will not apply to

the records in a recordkeeping system.

Proposed Changes

1. General Introduction to the GRS

Replace:

‘‘As provided in GRS 20, Electronic

Records, the disposal instructions for

most records in the remaining schedules

are applicable to both hard copy and

electronic versions of the records

described. GRS 20 specifies several

exceptions to this authority. In those

cases, the electronic version of the file

must be scheduled by submission of an

SF 115 to NARA.’’

With:

‘‘The items in GRS 1–16, 18, and 23,

apply to records that contain the

information described in the schedule.

The coverage is neutral with respect to

the recording medium. The specified

retention periods apply to the records

described in each item which are

maintained in a recordkeeping system,

regardless of the physical medium used

to maintain the records. In addition, an

item in each of those schedules provides

authority for agencies to destroy/delete

source records after a record has been

produced for inclusion in the

appropriate recordkeeping system.’’

2. New Item to be Added at the End of

GRS 1–16, 18, and 23

‘‘Records Maintained Apart From a

Recordkeeping System.’’

‘‘Records, including electronic source

records, used to generate the records

covered by the other items in this

schedule which cover the records in an

agency recordkeeping system. Includes

records in all formats/media that are

used as sources for the creation of the

record maintained in a recordkeeping

system, such as electronic records that

remain on electronic mail and word

processing utilities after the record for

the recordkeeping system has been

produced.

‘‘Destroy/delete after the

recordkeeping copy has been produced.

Electronic source records may be

maintained for a limited period of time

for operational purposes other than

recordkeeping, such as updating.’’

3. New Paragraph to be Added to the

Introductions to GRS 1–16, 18, AND 23

‘‘A new item has been added to this

schedule to authorize the destruction of

source records, regardless of physical

format, that are maintained in addition

to the record in an agency

recordkeeping system. This item covers

records that are used to create the

recordkeeping copy, e.g., the electronic

record that remains on electronic mail

and word processing utilities after a

record has been produced for inclusion

in a recordkeeping system.’’

[FR Doc. 98–19467 Filed 7–20–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION

Electronic Records Work Group Draft

Report; Appendix E

AGENCY: National Archives and Records

Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Request for comment.

SUMMARY: This notice contains the

Electronic Records Work Group’s

proposed general records schedule

(GRS) to cover information technology

records common to many or all Federal

agencies. The proposed GRS would

implement the Work Group’s proposed

recommendation that NARA should

revise GRS 20 disposition authorities to

cover only systems administration (or

systems management) and operations

records and that the new schedule

should cover only administrative

records. Agency systems records for

program (mission-related) activities will

not be covered by the proposed GRS.

The Work Group intends to

recommend to the Archivist a proposed

new GRS for information technology

records based on the comments received

during this comment period. Because

we expect a number of comments on

fundamental issues relating to the

approach that the GRS should take and

the records that should be covered, we

believe that the draft that will be

submitted to the Archivist of the United

States in September will require an

additional Federal Register comment

period before NARA issues it in final

form.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before August 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent

electronically to the e-mail address

<grs20@arch2.nara.gov>. We ask that

lengthy attachments be sent in ASCII,

WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, or MS Word 6.0

format. If you do not have access to email, comments may be mailed to

Electronic Records Work Group (NPOL),

Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Rd., College

Park, MD 20740–6001, or faxed to 301–

713–7270.