NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (NARA)

Statement of Regulatory Priorities

Overview

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) primarily issues regulations directed to other Federal agencies and to the public. These regulations include records management, information services, access to and use of NARA holdings, and grant programs. For example, records management regulations directed to Federal agencies concern the proper management and disposition of Federal records. Through the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), NARA also issues Government-wide regulations concerning information security classification and declassification programs. NARA regulations directed to the public address access to and use of our historically valuable holdings, including archives, donated historical materials, Nixon Presidential materials, and Presidential records. NARA also issues regulations relating to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant programs.

NARA has three regulatory priorities for fiscal year 2016, which are included in The Regulatory Plan. The first are revisions to the Federal records management regulations found at 36 CFR chapter XII, subchapter B (phases I and II). The proposed changes include changes resulting from the 2011 Presidential Memorandum on Managing Government Records, the 2012 Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18), and Public Law 113-187, The Presidential and Federal Records Acts Amendments of 2014. The proposed rules will affect Federal agencies' records management programs relating to proper records creation and maintenance, adequate documentation, electronic recordkeeping requirements, use of the Electronic Records Archive (ERA) for records transfer, and records disposition. Phase I (RIN 3095-AB74) includes changes to provisions in 36 CFR parts 1223 (Managing Essential Records), 1224 (Records Disposition Programs), 1227 (General Records Schedules), 1229 (Emergency Authorization to Destroy Records), 1232 (Transfer of Records to Records Storage Facilities), 1233 (Transfer Use and Disposition of Records in a NARA Federal Records Center), 1235 (Transfer of Records to the National Archives of the United States), 1236 (Electronic records management), 1237 (Audiovisual Cartographic and Related Records Management), and 1239 (Program Assistance and Inspections). NARA has substantially revamped these provisions and they are out for public comment this fall. Phase II (RIN 3095-AB85) is underway, with the remaining parts of subchapter B currently undergoing revision.

The second priority is a new regulation on Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), a component of NARA, is promulgating this rule pursuant to Executive Order 13556. The Order establishes an open and uniform program for managing information requiring safeguarding or dissemination controls. This rule sets forth guidance to agencies on safeguarding, disseminating, marking, and decontrolling CUI, self-inspection and oversight requirements, and other facets of the program.

And the third priority is a new regulation on the Office of Government Information Services functions and procedures. The Open Government Act of 2007 (Pub. L. No. 110-175, 121 Stat. 2524), amended the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. section 552, as amended), and created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). OGIS is proposing regulations, pursuant to 44 U.S.C. section 2104, to clarify, elaborate upon, and specify the procedures in place for Federal agencies and public requesters who seek OGIS's services within the FOIA system. The regulations will specify the means by which OGIS carries out its role as the Federal FOIA Ombudsman - by working with Federal agencies to provide an alternative to litigation in resolving FOIA disputes, by independently reviewing agency FOIA policies, procedures, and compliance, and by recommending improvements to FOIA's administration.