AC 15.2019

April 01, 2019

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Agency Disposition Profile Reports

NARA is preparing to distribute Disposition Profiles to all Agency Records Officers (AROs) and Senior Agency Officials for Records Management (SAORMs) who store records with the Federal Records Centers Program (FRCP).  Since 2013, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has provided annual Disposition Profiles to agencies that store records with the FRCP.

The Profile provides an overview of an agency’s current and prior year holdings, highlights those records that are past due for accessioning or destruction, and shows how agencies can save money over the long term by approving disposition of past-due records. This year, the Profiles again highlight records past due for disposal due to litigation holds, and they now include a listing of active freeze codes to assist you in reviewing these holds. One minor change this year is that information about unscheduled records will be listed in a separate section of the Profile.

The FRCP has destroyed more than 4.5 million cubic feet of records over the last 3 years that were past due for destruction. However, 1.5 million cubic feet of records past-due for destruction remain in storage. Records often become past due when agencies do not respond to disposal notices. To encourage responses, NARA implemented higher storage fees in FY 2019 for past-due and unscheduled records stored with the FRCP.

In addition to past-due and unscheduled records, NARA’s Office of Agency Services is turning its attention to the more than 3 million cubic feet of records in the FRCP with pending, deferred, and other uncertain statuses. These records are collectively known as “ambiguous disposition records” as their records schedule status remains uncertain or unresolved. This year’s Profile highlights the cost to agencies storing records with unresolved disposition schedule statuses.

If you currently serve as your agency’s SAORM or ARO, we ask that you review your Disposition Profile and take action to further reduce the number of records past-due for destruction or accessioning and to address records in unscheduled or ambiguous disposition statuses. The ultimate measure of success for any Federal records management program is the authorized, appropriate, and timely disposition of agency records.

If you have any questions about the Disposition Profiles, please contact your agency’s FRCP Account Manager or email frc@nara.gov.

LAURENCE BREWER
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government

DAVID M. WEINBERG
Director
Federal Records Centers Program