Opinion ID: 184942
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Completeness

Text: In Armstrong we held that a paper printout of an electronic mail record is not an extra cop[y] within the meaning ofs 3301 if it does not include transmission data, such as thenames and addresses of both the recipient and the author andthe date the message was sent--the electronic equivalents ofthe address, return address, and date on correspondence sentby conventional mail. See 1 F.3d at 1283. Public Citizencites Armstrong for the proposition that electronic recordsoften contain information that may not be transferred topaper when printed; its point is that GRS 20 is arbitrary andcapricious because it does not require this information to bepreserved. The Archivist responds that GRS 20 does in factrequire that all such information be preserved in the agency'srecordkeeping system before the electronic original may bediscarded. We agree with the Archivist. With respect to electronic mail, GRS 20 on its face addresses the concerns raised in Armstrong by requiring the recordkeeping system to capture all relevant transmission data. See 60 Fed. Reg. at 44,646/3, 44,649/1 (item 14 and Notethereto). Public Citizen identifies no information that maynot be transferred when the record is copied to paper pursuant to the requirements of GRS 20. With respect to word processing files, Public Citizen claims,based upon the capabilities of extant computer software, thatthere may be hidden comments or summaries that are notprinted out--the electronic equivalents of a Post-itR note oran abstract--the preservation of which is not required byGRS 20. See id. at 44,649/1 (item 13). Although the Archivist claims in his brief that GRS 20, properly interpreted,does require the preservation of such hidden items in wordprocessing records, he did not make that point express inpromulgating GRS 20. The Archivist explains that GRS 20requires retention of all such information, for the preamble tothe schedule requires that a recordkeeping system preserve[ ] the[ ] content, structure, and context of a record. Id. at 44,644/1. In other words, as counsel for the Archivistput it at oral argument, if the information is part of a recordunder the RDA, see s 3301, then it must be preserved. Thus,the Archivist claims that GRS 20 says precisely what PublicCitizen thinks it should but does not say. The Archivist's interpretation of his own regulation iscontrolling unless plainly erroneous or inconsistent with theregulation. Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452, 461 (1997). Thatstandard is easily met here. We also note that the Archivist'sinterpretation is consonant with the requirement in GRS 20that a word processing file be copied to a recordkeepingsystem. 60 Fed. Reg. at 44,649/1 (item 13); see Armstrong, 1F.3d at 1283 (explaining that unless the paper versionsinclude all significant material contained in the electronicrecords ... the two documents cannot accurately be termed'copies' ). That the Archivist's interpretation comes for thefirst time in litigation does not make it unworthy of deference, as [t]here is simply no reason to suspect that theinterpretation does not reflect the agency's fair and considered judgment on the matter in question. Auer, 519 U.S. at462. Considering the substance of that interpretation, wetrust that Public Citizen is not aggrieved by this indulgence. Lastly, Public Citizen complains that the Archivist improperly relies upon the preamble in his interpretation of thegeneral schedule. We regularly rely upon the preamble in interpreting an agency rule. See National Mining Ass'n v.EPA, 59 F.3d 1351, 1355 n.7 (D.C. Cir. 1995). The purpose ofthe preamble, after all, is to explain what follows. See 5U.S.C. s 553(c) (After consideration of the relevant matterpresented, the agency shall incorporate in the rules adopted aconcise general statement of their basis and purpose). In sum, we reject Public Citizen's claim that GRS 20 failsto require that all relevant information be transferred to apaper recordkeeping system before an electronic original maybe discarded.