National Archives and Records
Administration
General Records Schedules
Transmittal No. 22
April 2010
GENERAL RECORDS SCHEDULE 16
Administrative Management Records
This schedule provides for the disposal of certain records relating to administrative management activities in Federal agencies, excluding records of operating personnel, budget, accounting, and printing functions, which are covered by other General Records Schedules. Included within the scope of the schedule are disposable records created in the course of organizational planning, development, and simplification of procedures; records management activities; and administration of management improvement programs. General Records Schedule 1 (Items 12 and 13) provide for the disposition of case files on individuals involved in incentive award and similar types of management improvement programs. Any records created prior to January 1, 1939, must be offered to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) before applying these disposition instructions.The organizational locations and titles of administrative management units vary from agency to agency. They may be scattered at numerous levels or locations, or may be centralized. For the purposes of this schedule, the nomenclature standards set forth by the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments (replaces Senate Committee on Government Operations) in Senate Report 243 (replaces 245), 80th Congress, 1st session, are followed: the first organizational level within an agency is the bureau level; subordinate components are, successively, division, branch, section, and unit.
This schedule is based on the presumption that management activities are carried on by a specialized person or unit with, at least, division-wide and usually bureau-wide or agency-wide responsibilities or by a group of such persons or units in an agency, although its provisions are applicable to exactly comparable records of agencies without such formal assignments of responsibility. Many similar or comparable records created at lower organizational levels or in field offices vary so greatly in content, value, and arrangement that they are not covered by this schedule.
Because of the nature of the activities documented by administrative management records, a relatively large proportion of them is of continuing value. Files with potential archival value are not covered by the General Records Schedules. They must be scheduled individually by submission of a Standard Form (SF) 115 to NARA. These records include organizational charts and reorganization studies, functional statements, delegations of authority, and agency histories. However, related temporary or ephemeral materials include working papers that do not have a direct bearing on the transaction, intermediate drafts of documents and worksheets that do not represent significant basic steps in the preparation of final drafts, letters or memoranda of transmittal and acknowledgment, routing slips, and extra copies of documents.
1. Administrative Issuances. [See note after item 1b.]
a. Notices and other types of issuances related to routine administrative functions (e.g., payroll, procurement, personnel).[NOTE: Record sets of formal directives, procedural and operating manuals, publications, and management improvement reports submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the case files documenting their development are potentially permanent records and must be scheduled by submission of an SF 115 to NARA. (NC1-64-77-8 items 1a & 2a)]Destroy when superseded or obsolete. (NC1-GRS-81-5 item 3c)
b. Case files related to (a) above that document aspects of the development of the issuance.
Destroy when issuance is destroyed. (NC1-GRS-81-5 item 3d)
2. Records Disposition Files.
Descriptive inventories, disposal authorizations, schedules, and reports.3. Forms Files.a. Basic documentation of records description and disposition programs, including SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority; SF 135, Records Transmittal and Receipt; SF 258, Agreement to Transfer Records to National Archives of the United States; and related documentation.
b. Routine correspondence and memoranda.(1) SF 115s that have been approved by NARA.
Destroy 2 years after supersession. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 16)
(2) Other records.
Destroy 6 years after the related records are destroyed or after the related records are transferred to the National Archives of the United States, whichever is applicable. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 17)
Destroy when 2 years old. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 18)
4. Records Holdings Files.a. One record copy of each form created by an agency with related instructions and documentation showing inception, scope, and purpose of the form.
Destroy 5 years after related form is discontinued, superseded, or canceled. (NC1-GRS-81-4 item 1)
b. Background materials, requisitions, specifications, processing data, and control records.
Destroy when related form is discontinued, superseded, or canceled. (NC1-64-77-8 item 4b)
Statistical reports of agency holdings, including feeder reports from all offices and data on the volume of records disposed of by destruction or transfer.
5. Project Control Files.a. Records held by offices that prepare reports on agency-wide records holdings.
Destroy when 3 years old. (NC1-GRS-80-4 item 6a)
b. Records held by other offices.
Destroy when 1 year old. (NC1-GRS-80-4 item 6b)
Memoranda, reports, and other records documenting assignments, progress, and completion of projects.
Destroy 1 year after the year in which the project is closed. (NC1-64-77-8 item 7)
6. Reports Control Files.
Case files maintained for each agency report created or proposed, including public use reports. Included are clearance forms, including OMB 83 (formerly SF 83); copies of pertinent forms or descriptions of format; copies of authorizing directives; preparation instructions; and documents relating to the evaluation, continuation, revision, and discontinuance of reporting requirements.
Destroy 2 years after the report is discontinued. (NC1-GRS-80-7 item 1)
7. Records Management Files.
Correspondence, reports, authorizations, and other records that relate to the management of agency records, including such matters as forms, correspondence, reports, mail, and files management; the use of microforms, ADP systems, and word processing; records management surveys; vital records programs; and all other aspects of records management not covered elsewhere in this schedule.
Destroy when 6 years old. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 19)
8. Reserved.
9. Feasibility Studies.
Studies conducted before the installation of any technology or equipment associated with information management systems, such as word processing, copiers, micrographics, and communications. Studies and system analyses for the initial establishment and major changes of these systems. Such studies typically include a consideration of the alternatives of the proposed system and a cost/benefit analysis, including an analysis of the improved efficiency and effectiveness to be expected from the proposed system.
Destroy 5 years after completion or cancellation of study. (N1-GRS-81-7 item 1)
10. Microform Inspection Records.
11. IRM Triennial Review Files.a. Agency copy of inventories, logs, and reports documenting the inspection of permanent microform records, as required by 36 CFR Part 1238.22. [See notes after item 10a.]
Destroy 1 year after the records are transferred to the National Archives of the United States. (N1-GRS-91-4 item 1)
[NOTES: (1) This item does not cover the copy of logs and reports that are attached to the SF 135 when records are transferred to a Federal records center or the SF 258 when records are transferred to the National Archives of the United States. (2) Inspection records for unscheduled records that are converted to microform are also unscheduled and may not be destroyed.]
b. Agency copy of logs and other records documenting the inspection of temporary microform records, as recommended by 36 CFR Part 1238.24.
Destroy when 2 years old or when superseded, whichever is later. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 22)
Reports required by the GSA concerning reviews of information resources management (IRM) practices. Included are associated correspondence, studies, directives, feeder reports, and monitoring surveys and reports.
Destroy when 7 years old. (N1-GRS-87-15 item 1)
12. Information Collection Budget Files.
Reports required by the OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act about the number of hours the public spends fulfilling agency reporting requirements. Included are associated feeder reports, report exhibits, correspondence, directives, and statistical compilations.
Destroy when 7 years old. (N1-GRS-87-16 item 1)
13. Documents Published in the Federal Register. [See note after item 13b.]
a. Files documenting the processing of notices announcing committee meetings, including meetings open to the public under the Government in Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(e)(3)); hearings and investigations; filing of petitions and applications; issuance or revocation of a license; grant application deadlines, the availability of certain environmental impact statements; delegations of authority; and other matters that are not codified in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Destroy when 1 year old. (N1-GRS-87-17 item 1a)
b. Files documenting the processing of semiannual regulatory agenda.
Destroy when 2 years old. (N1-GRS-87-17 item 1b)
[NOTE: Agency files documenting the development, clearance, and processing of proposed and final rules for publication in the Federal Register are not covered by the General Records Schedules. These records may be, but are not necessarily, permanent. They must be scheduled individually by each agency so NARA can conduct an analysis and appraisal to determine their appropriate disposition.(N1-GRS-87-17 item 1 Note)]
14. Management Control Records.Records created in accordance with procedures mandated by OMB Circular A-123, Management Accountability and Control Systems, and Pub.L. 97-255, the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act. Under these authorities, agencies are required to perform evaluations of their accounting and administrative controls to prevent waste, fraud, and mismanagement.
a. Policy, procedure, and guidance files.
Copies of internal directives maintained by the agency's internal control staff (but not those copies maintained in the agency's official file of internal directives); external directives such as OMB Circular A-123; and correspondence outlining policy and procedure for performing management reviews.
Destroy when superseded. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1a)
b. Management control plans.
Comprehensive plans documenting the agency's efforts to ensure compliance with OMB Circular A-123.
Destroy when superseded. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1b)
c. Risk analyses.
Reports and supporting materials used to document review of program areas for susceptibility to loss or unauthorized use of resources, errors in reports and information, and illegal and unethical actions.
Cut off closed files annually. Destroy after next review cycle. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1c)
d. Annual reports and assurance statements created by organizational components below the agency (department or independent agency) level and compiled by the agency into a single unified report for direct submission to the President or Congress. [See note after item 14d.]
Cut off closed files annually. Destroy after next reporting cycle. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1d)
[NOTE: This item does not cover the consolidated final reports submitted directly to the President or Congress. The final reports must be scheduled by submitting an SF 115 to NARA. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1d)]
e. Tracking files.
Files used to ensure the completion and timeliness of submission of feeder reports, including schedules of evaluations, interim reporting, lists of units required to report, and correspondence relating to the performance of the reviews.
Destroy 1 year after report is completed. (N1-GRS-98-2 item 23)
f. Review files. [See note after item 14f(2).]
Correspondence, reports, action copies of audit findings, and other records that identify program internal control weaknesses, and corrective actions taken to resolve such problems. Since A-123 provides for alternative internal control reviews under OMB Circulars A-76, A-127, or A-130, this item also applies to copies of these reviews, provided they are identified as alternative reviews in the management control plan.
(1) Office with responsibility for coordinating internal control functions.
Cut off when no further corrective action is necessary. Destroy 5 years after cutoff. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1f1)
(2) Copies maintained by other offices as internal reviews.
Cut off when no further corrective action is necessary. Destroy 1 year after cutoff. (N1-GRS-91-5 item 1f2)
[NOTE: Alternative reviews such as computer security reviews and management and consultant studies may need to be kept longer than provided in item 14f(2). This item applies only to copies maintained as internal reviews.]
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