AC 17.2014

March 10, 2014

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Agency Disposition Profile Reports

In July of 2013, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) sent agencies a report called the Disposition Profile in an effort to advance progress on records that are past due for disposition.  Presuming your agency has records stored by NARA’s Federal Records Centers Program (FRCP) that are past due for disposition, you will receive this report again in March of 2014.

The report provides an overview of your agency’s current  and previous year’s holdings in the Federal Records Centers, highlights those records that are past due for accessioning or destruction, and shows how you can save money over the long term by approving disposition of past-due records.  We encourage you to review this report and determine whether there are opportunities to take action on past-due disposals and accessions, including lifting litigation freezes where appropriate. Ensuring that all of these records are handled properly can help reduce your disposition backlog, alleviate the financial and administrative burden on your agency, and reduce litigation exposure. A generic report is attached as a sample

It is our intention to provide this report annually in lieu of the “catch-up” disposition cycle typically conducted by the records centers in July. For more information about the pilot changes to the FRCP July catch-up cycle, see FRC 01.2013: Update on Federal Records Centers Disposal Activities.

The ultimate measure of success of any Federal records management program is the authorized, appropriate, and timely disposition of the agency's records. We realize that there may be a variety of obstacles to achieving this goal, but we want to partner with your agency to address them. NARA encourages you to work with your agency’s FRCP Account Manager to determine how you can take action on this report and realize the financial benefits of timely disposition. Action could be as simple as requesting that FRCP re-issue disposal notices for past due transfers for your agency with a commitment to respond on your part. You may be surprised at the savings.

We look forward to continuing to work together to build on our shared commitment to Federal records management.

DAVID M. WEINBERG
Director, Federal Records Centers Program

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