Federal Records Management

AC 32.2013

September 3, 2013

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Agency Review of New Draft General Records Schedules

NARA’s General Records Schedule (GRS) Team is pleased to forward two new draft schedules for review as part of its master project rewriting the GRS to reflect current government functions and practices.  For more information on this project, please visit our website at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs/.

These drafts are being sent to Federal agencies prior to public review via publication in the Federal Register.  We would like to hear from agencies first so that what is eventually published in the Federal Register already has your approval as our stakeholders. All Federal agencies are invited to participate in the review process. Attached for your review are two draft schedules:

  • DAA-GRS-2013-0007: Information Access and Protection Records
  • DAA-GRS-2013-0008: Grants and Cooperative Agreements Records

Each schedule draft file contains four parts:

  • Review version of the schedule, which may be easier to read than the ERA layout
  • Appraisal memorandum
  • Crosswalks from current GRS to the proposed draft GRS
  • ERA official version of the schedule

We appreciate your initiative in reviewing these drafts and providing comments. We also encourage you to share these drafts with your agency’s staff working in functions whose records the schedules describe. Their feedback on the above questions and on schedules’ viability and usefulness will be particularly valuable. The GRS master overhaul necessarily affects every agency throughout the Federal government. Please help us refine schedules so that they serve your needs.

Please use the attached comment form to provide comments. We would appreciate if you would send a separate comment form for each schedule. Your review should focus on these questions:

  • Are records correctly and completely described?
  • Are retention periods too long, too short, or just right?
  • Are items missing that should be included?
  • Are items present that should be deleted?
  • Will the schedule be useable by / useful to your office?

You may still dispose of records using the current GRS until the new schedules are approved and transmitted to agencies for implementation.

Please use the attached comment form to submit any comments, sending a separate comment form for each schedule. Questions and comments may be sent to GRS_Team@nara.gov. We will accept comments through September 27, 2013.

PAUL M. WESTER, JR.
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government

Attached:
AC 32.2013 DAA-GRS-2013-0007-draft.pdf
AC 32.2013 DAA-GRS-2013-0008-draft.pdf

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