Opinion ID: 184942
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: The Federal Records Act is a collection of statutes governing the creation, management, and disposal of records byfederal agencies. See 44 U.S.C. ss 2101-18, 2901-09,3101-07, 3301-24. The RDA portion of the FRA establishesthe exclusive means by which records subject to the FRAmay be discarded. See id. s 3314; see also id. s 3301(defining records). The RDA requires an agency to get the approval of theArchivist before disposing of any record. See Armstrong v.EOP, 1 F.3d 1274, 1279 (D.C. Cir. 1993). This is ordinarilydone in either of two ways. In one the agency submits to theArchivist a list or schedule of records it proposes to discard,see s 3303, which the Archivist may approve only if hedetermines that the records do not, or will not after thelapse of the period specified, have sufficient administrative,legal, research, or other value to warrant their continuedpreservation by the Government. s 3303a(a). In the otherthe Archivist promulgates a schedule listing types of recordsheld by multiple agencies, which he has determined pursuantto the same standard of value should be discarded. Sees 3303a(d). Whether the agency or the Archivist initiates theprocess, however, for the Archivist to authorize the disposalof a record is to order its disposal. See s 3303a(b). If theArchivist errs in authorizing disposal, therefore, valuablefederal records could be lost forever. Items 13 and 14, the only parts of GRS 20 challenged here,authorize the disposal of word processing and electronic mailfiles that have been copied to an agency recordkeeping system from a personal computer (whether stand-alone or networked). See GRS 20, 60 Fed. Reg. at 44,649/1. In the __________  The challenged items provide: 13. Word Processing Files preamble to GRS 20 the Archivist explained that a federalagency needs the authority to delete files from personalcomputers in order to avoid system overload and to ensureeffective records management. Id. at 44,644/2. He alsoexplained that for records to be useful they must be accessible to all authorized staff, and must be maintained in recordkeeping systems that have the capability to group similar records and provide the necessary context to connect the record with the relevant agency function or transaction. Storage of electronic mail or word processing records on electronic information systems that do not have these attributes will not satisfy the needs of the agency or the needs of future researchers. Id. at 44,644/1.