36 C.F.R. § 1234.32 Retention and disposition of electronic records.
Title 36 - Parks, Forests, and Public Property
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 §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 §1234.28). (d) Electronic mail records may not be deleted or otherwise disposed of 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 §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]
Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property
PART 1234—ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Subpart C—Standards for the Creation, Use, Preservation, and Disposition of Electronic Records
§ 1234.32 Retention and disposition of electronic records.
