[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 39, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 39CFR262.6]

[Page 105]
 
                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
 
                 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
 
PART 262--RECORDS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DEFINITIONS--Table of 
Contents
 
Sec. 262.6  Retention and disposal.

    (a) Records control schedule. A directive describing records series 
that are maintained by components of the Postal Service; it provides 
maintenance, retention, transfer, and disposal instructions for each 
series listed, and serves as the authority for Postal officials to 
implement such instructions.
    (b) Disposal (records). The permanent removal of records or 
information from Postal Service custody; included are:
    (1) Transfer to the National Archives.
    (2) Donation to the Smithsonian Institution, local museums or 
historical societies.
    (3) Sale as waste material.
    (4) Discarding.
    (5) Physical destruction.
    (c) Retention period. The authorized length of time that a records 
series must be kept before its disposal, usually stated in terms of 
months or years, but sometimes expressed as contingent upon the 
occurrence of an event; usually the retention period refers to the 
period of time between the creation of a series and its authorized 
disposal date; however, in some cases it refers to the length of time 
between the cutoff point and the disposal date.