In the Loop - November 2007

NRMP publishes tips and alerts regularly to keep EPA records managers 'in the loop.'

Some In The Loop articles and links are pertinent to EPA staff and are available to EPA Intranet users only.

Tip of the Week: NARA checklists (27-NOV-2007)

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently issued recordkeeping requirements checklists for agencies to include in their projects and processes for information systems. The checklists can be used to assist in identifying recordkeeping requirements for:

Business Process Design when planning and developing new information systems.
Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) lifecycle processes when planning, developing, operating, or replacing information systems.
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) processes when managing the lifecycle of an information system.

Tip of the Week: Close dates for contract records (20-NOV-2007)

Schedule 202 requires contract records to be closed "upon final payment" for the contract.

Contracts expire when the period of performance ends and no more work is done on the contract. However, the completion of administrative tasks may delay final payment until sometime after the expiration date.

Your contracting officer can supply you with final payment information for closing your contract records. For more information see the CPS page.

See schedule 020 for Superfund site-specific contract records.

Tip of the Week: Articles submitted to internal newsletters (13-NOV-2007)

EPA staff often develop articles for use in internal, Agency newsletters. Depending on the recordkeeping requirements and business needs of your office, consider using one of the following schedules for your drafts of newsletter articles:

The final version of the article is captured in the newsletter and maintained by the publishing office using schedule 250, items a or b.

See schedule 334 for manuscripts of articles submitted to external publications.

Tip of the Week: New schedule language (06-NOV-2007)

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently asked EPA to add text to the NARA Disposal Authority statement in all records schedules, highlighted below:

This schedule authorizes the disposition of the record copy in any media (media neutral), excluding any records already in electronic form. Records designated for permanent retention must be transferred to the National Archives in accordance with NARA standards at the time of transfer.

NARA suggested the change to ensure that electronic records with existing, approved schedules (e.g., databases, information systems) remain in electronic format.

The change does not mean that:

records in electronic format are excluded from using the schedules for dispositioning, or
certain electronic records (e.g., spreadsheets) may not be printed and maintained in paper format when appropriate.

Contact the Records Help Desk for more information.

In the Loop - November 2007

Local Navigation