Transmission of General Archive Schedule Number 22
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced changes to the General Records Schedules (GRS) with the issuance of GRS Transmittal 22 on April 19, 2010.
The GRS provides mandatory disposition instructions for temporary administrative and certain permanent records common to several Federal agencies. The transmittal includes updates to these instructions, often involving the addition, revision, or deletion of categories of records and their retention periods to reflect changes in technology, regulations, or agency practices.
However, the exact text or a summary of the changes made by GRS Transmittal 22 is not directly available from the search results. For authoritative details on the additions, modifications, or removals of records schedules, including retention periods, record types, and handling instructions, it is recommended to refer to the National Archives website or their archives publications directly associated with the General Records Schedule updates from 2010.
The changes in the GRS are supported by NARA's National Records Management Program (NRMP), including the Life Cycle Management Division in Washington, D.C., and Records Management staff in NARA's regional offices, who provide assistance and advice to records officers of agencies headquartered in Washington and in the field.
Some notable changes in the GRS include the relocation of transmittal documents from the head to the back of the schedules. In addition, qualifiers have been added to citations to clarify their applicability, such as permanent records only.
Six changes have been made to the General Records Schedules, and some citations have been deleted as they are not relevant to records management. The citation for Form 1093 has been updated from 40 U.S.C. 276a to 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq., and from 40 U.S.C. 327 333 to 40 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.
If an agency wishes to apply a retention period that differs from that specified in the GRS, it must submit a Standard Form (SF) 115, Request for Disposition Authority, to NARA for approval.
The complete General Records Schedules is available for downloading in HTML, MS Word, and PDF formats. Notably, GRS 24 has been expanded to include disposition authorities for public key infrastructure (PKI) records.
If needed, your agency's records officer can contact the NARA appraiser or records analyst with whom your agency normally works for support in carrying out this transmittal. Agencies that already have NARA-approved disposition instructions can continue using the agency schedule.
According to NARA regulations, agencies are required to disseminate GRS changes within six months of receipt to ensure the proper management and disposal of federal records.
- The changes in the General Records Schedules, as outlined in GRS Transmittal 22, fall under the realm of policy-and-legislation, as they involve updates to mandatory disposition instructions for federal records that impact multiple agencies.
- The updates in the General Records Schedules, such as the addition of qualifiers to citations and the relocation of transmittal documents, are significant general-news items in the field of records management and politics, particularly for those interested in the operations of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
