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Effective Date: 5/12/89

Series: Information Resources Management

Part 384: Records Disposition

Chapter 1: Disposition

Originating Office: Office of Information Resources Management

1.1 Purpose. This chapter establishes the records disposition program in the Department, prescribes policy, and assigns responsibility for developing and maintaining an effective and efficient records disposition program.

1.2 Policy. Bureaus and offices will establish and maintain an active and continuing program to manage records throughout their life cycle.

1.3 Objectives. The objectives of an effective records disposition program are to ensure efficient, prompt and orderly reduction in the quantity of records maintained in office space and to provide for the proper maintenance of records deemed appropriate for long term or permanent preservation.

1.4 Definition. Disposition refers to the actions taken with regard to records following their appraisal by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). No disposition of any record is authorized before its appraisal. 44 U.S.C. 2901, Federal Records Act of 1950, defines Arecords disposition@ as Aany activity with respect to:

A. Disposal of temporary records no longer necessary for the conduct of business by destruction or donation;

B. Transfer of records to Federal agency storage facilities or records centers;

C. Transfer to the National Archives of the United States of records determined to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant continued preservation; or

D. Transfer of records from one Federal agency to any other Federal agency.@

1.5 Responsibilities. The Assistant Secretary - Policy, Budget and Administration has general oversight responsibility for the Department records disposition program.

A. Departmental. The Division of Directives and Regulatory Management, Office of Management Improvement, is assigned responsibility for the management of the Departmentwide program which includes the following:

(1) Ensure development and execution of an effective Departmentwide records disposition program in compliance with 44 U.S. C. 3102.

(2) Promote effective organization and operation of the program throughout the Department.

(3) Monitor program execution in the bureaus and the Office of the Secretary and advise and assist in program implementation.

(4) Disseminate new policies and procedures developed by NARA, and evaluate bureau/office implementation of these policies and procedures.

(5) Maintain liaison with NARA concerning program responsibilities.

B. Bureau. The head of each bureau and the Director, Office of Administrative Services in the Office of the Secretary are responsible for promoting an active and effective records disposition program by:

(1) assigning responsibility for program implementation to monitor and promote records disposition to the authorized Records Management Officer (see 380 DM 1.7A).

(2) promoting the application of technology to reduce the volume of records stored in office space; e.g., computerization of data, micrographics, etc.

1.6 Basic Elements of a Disposition Program. A disposition program includes at a minimum, the following basic elements.

A. Timely application of all record schedules approved by NARA.

B. Prevention of unauthorized disposition of records by removal from Federal custody or destruction without regard to the provisions of an approved records schedule.

C. Establishment of a system for the life cycle management of records.

D. Use of Federal records centers as storage facilities for records with reduced reference activity.

E. Efficient, prompt and orderly reduction in the quantity of records maintained in office space and equipment.

F. Destruction of obsolete non-record material and record material that is authorized for destruction by NARA. When NARA has approved the destruction of records, prompt destruction is essential. Managers should be aware that the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) apply to all records in existence in the agency. An FOIA request for records maintained beyond their authorized destruction date would effectively bar the disposal of such records.

1.7 Disposition Methods. Although the standard method of reducing records in office space is by transferring them to a Federal records center, (see 384 DM 4.5), records that remain in the custody of the bureau/office of record and are eligible for disposal can be disposed of by the following methods.

A. Sale or Salvage. Scheduled paper records normally shall be sold as wastepaper. Records other than paper records (film and plastic records, etc.) may be salvaged or sold in the same manner and under the same conditions as paper records. The contract for sale shall prohibit the resale of all records for use as records or documents. All sales shall be in accordance with the established procedures for the sale of surplus personal property (see FPMR 41 CFR 101-45). Local GSA wastepaper contractors should be used when available. Special conditions apply to the following types of records.

(1) The disposal of classified records is governed by 442 DM 13.

(2) The disposal of records that have restrictions, that is laws or regulations forbid their use by the public (e.g., records subject to the Privacy Act of 1974), shall require the wastepaper contractor to pulp, macerate, or shred the records in the presence of a Federal employee or, if authorized by the agency that created the records, by a contractor employee.

B. Donation For Preservation and Use. A bureau/office may transfer records authorized for disposal to an eligible person, organization, institution, corporation, or government (including a foreign government) if the following provisions are met.

(1) The proposed recipient must make application for them.

(2) The applicant must agree, in writing, that the records will not be sold to third parties.

(3) Transfer to the applicant must be made without cost to the Government.

(4) The requested records do not contain information, whose revelation is prohibited by law or would be contrary to the public interest.

(5) A foreign government applying for records has demonstrated that it has an official interest in the records.

(6) An individual applying for records has demonstrated that the records involved are directly pertinent to the custody or operation of real or personal property acquired from the Government.

(7) NARA has granted written approval prior to the transfer of the requested records. Procedures for requesting NARA approval are in NARA Regulations 36 CFR 1228.74.

C. Destruction. If the records cannot be sold advantageously or otherwise salvaged, paper or film records may be destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Electronic records, maintained on disks or tapes, are to be destroyed by erasing the disks or tapes rather than merely telling the system to delete them. Only by erasure or by using a program which will completely overwrite the data to be destroyed can the records be protected against unauthorized access to information which has ben approved for destruction (see 382 DM 11).

1.8 Federal Records Centers Disposition Procedures.

A. National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). Records stored in the NPRC will be destroyed in compliance with General Records Schedules 1 and 2 (36 CFR 1228.22) without further agency clearance.

B. All Other Federal Records Centers.

(1) Contingency Records. Records scheduled for destruction after an event that had not taken place at the time of scheduling will be disposed of when the records center receives written concurrence in response to NA 13000, Agency Review for Contingent Disposal, or other written authorization. If a bureau/office does not respond to the review notice within 90 calendar days of its issuance, the records center may return the records to the bureau/office and reject further transfers of that series.

(2) Archival Records. Federal records centers will send an SF 258 to the pertinent bureau/office 90 days before historical records are transferred from the records center to the National Archives. The signed SF 258 must be returned to the address indicated by the center 60 days before the scheduled transfer date. Custody of the records passes to NARA when the authorized bureau/office and NARA representatives both have signed the SF 258.

(3) All Other Records. All other Departmental records held in Federal records centers will be disposed of with the concurrence of the bureau/office concerned by use of NA 13001, Notice of Intent to Destroy Records, or other written concurrence for each disposal action. If a bureau/office is notified of the eligibility of its records for disposal and fails to respond to the notification within 90 calendar days, the records will be disposed of in accordance with the appropriate authority.

1.9 Emergency Authorization to Destroy Records. Under certain conditions records may be destroyed without regard to the provision of this chapter under the following circumstances.

A. Menace to Human Life, Health, or Property. When the head of a bureau or office determines that records constitute such a menace, he/she will report such findings to NARA in compliance with NARA Regulations, 36 CFR 1228.92. Offices that store radar scope, aerial or other still or motion picture film on nitrocellulose base shall be made aware of the dangers involved with the deterioration of this material and follow the disposal procedures outlined in the above CFR citation.

B. State of War or Threatened War. The head of a bureau or office is authorized by NARA Regulations, 36 CFR 1228.94, to destroy records stored outside the territorial limits of the continental United States when he/she determines that the retention of the records would be:

(1) prejudicial to the interests of the United States;

(2) that they occupy space urgently needed for military purposes; and are without sufficient value to warrant preservation.

1.10 Reporting Requirement (Annual Summary of Records Holdings.) Each bureau and the Office of the Secretary will submit the Annual Summary of Records Holdings Report to the Office of Management Improvement no later than December 15 of each year. All organized collections of file material occupying files space and equipment, whether of temporary or permanent value, will be reported. Report Control Symbol DOI-85-091 has been assigned to this reporting requirement. The report will be prepared as of September 30 and will be submitted in memorandum form. The following information is to be included in each report.

A. The total cubic feet of records on hand at the start of the fiscal year.

B. The total cubic feet of records shipped to Federal records centers during the fiscal year.

C. The total cubic feet of records destroyed.

D. The total cubic feet of records on hand at the end of the fiscal year.

E. An explanation of any significant increase or decrease compared to the previous year report.

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5/12/89 #3431

Replaces 5/12/89 #2853