National Archives and Records Administration
General Records Schedule
GRS Transmittal No. 17
July 24, 2007
TO: Heads of Federal agencies
1. What does this document do?
GRS Transmittal 17 transmits a revised General Records Schedule (GRS) 10, which provides disposition authorities for Motor Vehicle and Aircraft Maintenance and Operations Records. The General Records Schedules provide mandatory disposition instructions for temporary administrative and certain permanent records common to several Federal agencies.
2. What changes have been made to GRS 10?
Five new items covering Aircraft Maintenance and Operations Records have been added to GRS 10. No changes were made to items 1 through 7 pertaining to motor vehicle records. Former item 8, Electronic Mail and Word Processing Copies, has been removed, per NARA Bulletin 2006-04.
3. Do I have to take any action to implement this GRS change?
NARA regulations (36 CFR 1228.50(d)) require agencies to disseminate GRS changes within 6 months of receipt. If your agency already has a NARA-approved agency records disposition schedule for the same series or system of records, you may apply either the disposition instructions in these GRS or the disposition instructions previously approved by NARA (see CFR 1228.42(b)). The chosen authority must be applied on an agency-wide basis. You must notify NARA within 90 days of this GRS Transmittal 17 if you intend to continue using the agency schedule. If you wish to apply a retention period that differs from that specified in the GRS, you must submit a Standard Form (SF) 115, Request for Disposition Authority, to NARA for approval.
4. What do I do with Aircraft Maintenance and Operations records in my agency that are not covered by GRS 10, Items 9-13?
All Aircraft Maintenance and Operations records in your agency must be covered by an approved disposition authority. If you have records that are not described in any part of GRS 10 or in another previously approved disposition authority, you must submit to NARA an SF 115 to request disposition authority for those records.
5. Why does item 13, related to aircraft accident/incident report records, have a shorter retention period than motor vehicle accident reports (item 6)?
The Federal Aviation Administration maintains a database for such records, identified as the (aircraft) Accident/Incident Database System, which has been scheduled as permanent. This provides a long term source of information on these matters.
6. Whom do I contact for further information?
a. NARA's Life Cycle Management Division provides assistance and advice to agency records officers in the Washington, DC, area. Your agency's records officer may contact the NARA appraiser or records analyst with whom your agency normally works. A list of the appraisal and scheduling work groups is posted on the NARA web site at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/appraisal/.
b. The Records Management staff in NARA's regional offices provides assistance to records officers across the country. A complete list of NARA regional facilities may be found at http://www.archives.gov/locations/index.html.
ALLEN WEINSTEIN
Archivist of the United States
