[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 36, Volume 3]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 36CFR1234.32]



[Page 918-919]

 

              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY

 

        CHAPTER XII--NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

 

PART 1234_ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT--Table of Contents

 

Subpart C_Standards for the Creation, Use, Preservation, and Disposition 

                          of Electronic Records

 

Sec.  1234.32  Retention and disposition of electronic records.



    Agencies shall establish policies and procedures to ensure that 

electronic records and their documentation are retained as long as 

needed by the Government. These retention procedures shall include 

provisions for:

    (a) Scheduling the disposition of all electronic records, as well as 

related documentation and indexes, by applying General Records Schedules 

(particularly GRS 20 or GRS 23) as appropriate or submitting an SF 115, 

Request for Records Disposition Authority, to NARA (see part 1228 of 

this chapter). The information in electronic information systems, 

including those operated for the Government by a contractor, shall be 

scheduled as soon as possible but no later than one year after 

implementation of the system.

    (b) Transferring a copy of the electronic records and any related 

documentation and indexes to the National Archives at the time specified 

in the records disposition schedule in accordance with instructions 

found in Sec.  1228.270 of this chapter. Transfer may take place at an 

earlier date if convenient for both the agency and the National Archives 

and Records Administration.

    (c) Establishing procedures for regular recopying, reformatting, and 

other necessary maintenance to ensure the retention and usability of 

electronic records throughout their authorized life cycle (see Sec.  

1234.28).

    (d) Electronic mail records may not be deleted or otherwise disposed 

of



[[Page 919]]



without prior disposition authority from NARA (44 U.S.C. 3303a).

    (1) Electronic mail records with very short-term (transitory) value. 

Agencies may use the disposition authority in General Records Schedule 

23, Item 7, or on a NARA-approved agency records schedule for electronic 

mail records that have very short-term retention periods of 180 days or 

less. (See Sec.  1234.24(b)(2)).

    (2) Other records in an electronic mail system. When an agency has 

taken the necessary steps to retain a record in a scheduled 

recordkeeping system (whether electronic or paper), the identical 

version that remains on the user's screen or in the user's electronic 

mailbox has no continuing value. Therefore, NARA has authorized deletion 

of the version of the record in the electronic mail system under General 

Records Schedule 20, Item 14, after the record has been preserved in a 

recordkeeping system along with all appropriate transmission data. If 

the records in the recordkeeping system are not scheduled, the agency 

must follow the procedures at 36 CFR part 1228.

    (3) Records in recordkeeping systems. The disposition of electronic 

mail records that have been transferred to an appropriate recordkeeping 

system is governed by the records schedule or schedules that control the 

records in that system. If the records in the recordkeeping system are 

not scheduled, the agency must follow the procedures at 36 CFR part 

1228.



[55 FR 19218, May 8, 1990. Redesignated and amended at 60 FR 44641, 

44642, Aug. 28, 1995; 66 FR 27028, May 16, 2001; 71 FR 8808, Feb. 21, 

2006]