NARA Releases Proposed Rule Revisions in First Phase of Records Management Regulations Makeover

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via Federal Register of the United States:

NARA proposes to revise its records management regulations to reflect changes in technology, practice, and organizational structure.
This is phase I of the revisions and includes changes to provisions in regulations on managing vital records, records disposition programs, general records schedules, emergency authorization to destroy records, transfer of records to records storage facilities, transfer, use, and disposition of records in a NARA Federal Records Center, and program assistance and inspections.
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he proposed revisions to the Federal records management regulations contained in 36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B, affect Federal agencies’ records management programs in the areas of managing essential (formerly referred to as “vital”) records, records disposition programs, the General Records Schedules, emergency authorizations to destroy records, storage of records in records storage facilities, and NARA assistance and inspection programs. We are making administrative changes, such as updating office names and organizational codes, updating URLs, and adding new links to NARA’s records management Web pages. We are removing repetitive definitions sections from each part to a centralized definitions part (to come in part 1220) applying to all parts (streamlining under the Paperwork Reduction Act) and removing repetitive authorities sections from each part because authorities are noted under the table of contents (streamlining under the Paperwork Reduction Act). We are making other minor editorial changes for consistency among parts and revising some language to comply with Plain Language requirements.

We are replacing references to the Standard Form 115 (SF 115), Request for Disposition Authority, with “records schedule” because we now use the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) for scheduling records and no longer accept SF 115s, except when special circumstances merit its use. We have made revision to incorporate use of the ERA throughout the records management regulations, including revising references to the SF 115.

Read the Complete Proposed Rule (via Fed. Register)
 

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