AC 23.2017

March 6, 2017

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Agency Disposition Profile Reports

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is pleased to announce that the 2017 Disposition Profile for agencies storing records with the Federal Records Centers Program (FRCP) will be released to your Senior Agency Official and Agency Records Officer at the end of this month. This report provides an overview of your agency’s current and previous year’s holdings, highlights those records that are past due for accessioning or destruction, and shows how you can save money by approving disposition of past-due records.

We encourage you to review the 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 records are handled properly can help reduce your disposition backlog, alleviate the financial and administrative burden on your agency, and reduce litigation exposure. We are pleased to report that of the 2.25 million cubic feet of records eligible for disposal at the time the Tobacco Industry Litigation (TIL) Freeze was lifted in December 2014, nearly 900,000 cubic feet are now destroyed. As in the 2016 Disposition Profile, your agency’s progress towards dealing with records past due for disposition, frozen, and TIL disposals are reported.

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. NARA encourages you to work with your agency’s FRCP Account Manager to determine the best solutions for matters highlighted in the Profile to attain the financial and other benefits of timely disposition.

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

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