Entities Not Subject to the Federal Records Act
The National Archives and Records Administration has oversight authority over agencies that meet the definition of a “Federal agency” in section 2901(14) of the Federal Records Act (FRA). Certain agencies, boards, commissions, and government corporations may be excluded by the FRA itself or by their enabling legislation, may be congressionally-chartered as a non-profit or public corporation, or may otherwise fail to meet the definition of a Federal agency. Agencies may also cease to be a federal agency for the purpose of the FRA through changes to their statute or the discontinuance of their federal appropriation.
The list provided here is not exhaustive, but it represents those entities that NARA has concluded are not Federal agencies under the Federal Records Act. Entities not subject to the FRA may still be able to use services offered by NARA’s Federal Records Center Program. There also may be occasions where records from these entities have been accessioned into the holdings of the National Archives of the United States.
- American Red Cross
- Appalachian Regional Commission
- Architect of the Capitol
- Central Bank for Cooperatives (CoBank)
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Delaware River Basin Commission
- Delta Regional Authority
- Federal Credit Banks (Federal Intermediate Credit Banks and Federal Land Banks)
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Federal National Mortgage Association (1970-present)
- Government of Guam
- Government of Northern Mariana Islands
- Government of Puerto Rico
- Government of the District of Columbia
- Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands
- International Boundary Commission (US/Canada)
- International Joint Commission
- Interstate Commission on the Potomac Water Basin
- Legal Services Corporation
- National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Central Liquidity Facility
- National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
- National Trust for Historic Preservation (1979-present)
- Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks America)
- Northern Border Regional Commission
- Regional Banks for Cooperatives
- Smithsonian Institution
- Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
- Southwest Border Regional Commission
- State Justice Institute
- Susquehanna River Basis Commission
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Institute of Peace
- U.S. Postal Service (1970 - present)
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. Supreme Court
- United States Botanic Garden
- Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars