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EPA Records Schedule 007
Status: Final, 12/31/2010
Title: Directives and Policy Guidance Documents Issued by Specific Programs and Regions
Program: All Programs
Applicability: Agency-wide
Function: 306-112 - Policy and Guidance Development
NARA Disposal Authority:
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.
- N1-412-06-7
Description:
Includes all records that document EPA's major policy decisions and program operational procedures originated within each program and regional office providing the mandates for overall and specific program direction and action. Records consist of official policy decisions, delegations of authority, memos that set policy or issue guidance, operating guidance, procedures manuals, other procedural materials, technical resource documents, regulatory interpretation and implementation documents, and mandates for action. These collections of materials may be in the form of a program directives system or a program compendium with finding aids and indexes.
Disposition Instructions:
Item a(1): Published or released to the public and related background materials - Nonelectronic
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Permanent
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Close inactive records upon issuance or publication or when superseded.
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Transfer to the National Archives in 5 year blocks, 20 years after file closure.
Item a(2): Published or released to the public and related background materials - Electronic
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Permanent
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Close inactive records upon issuance or publication or when superseded.
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Transfer to the National Archives 5 years after file closure, with any related documentation and external finding aids, as specified in 36 CFR 1235.44-1235.50 or standards applicable at the time.
Item a(3): Published or released to the public and related background materials - Electronic copy of records transferred to the National Archives
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Disposable
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Close file upon transfer to the National Archives.
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Delete after electronic record copy is successfully transferred to the National Archives.
Item b: Unpublished or not released to the public and related background materials
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Disposable
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Close inactive records upon decision to not publish or issue.
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Destroy 10 years after file closure.
Guidance:
This schedule covers all directives, guidance documents, and compendiums at the point of origin. The directives approval files maintained by the Human Capital Planning and Policy Division (HCPPD) of the Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM) are also covered by item a.
The office that issues the guidance or directive is responsible for implementing the disposition and ensuring that a permanent record is maintained either in issuing office or a central facility (e.g., records center, central program office). For example, if a regional program develops a directive or guidance document that is issued program-wide (e.g., Superfund presumptive remedy documents), the regional program office is responsible for implementing the disposition.
Programs should determine what background materials and drafts are necessary to fully document the development of the directive or guidance and retire them with the directives and guidance. Background materials and drafts that are not needed to document the development of the directive or guidance can be destroyed when no longer needed in accordance with EPA 008 as nonrecords.
Programs should maintain an on-site reference set of current directives to support litigation and ongoing activities. Reference sets are nonrecords and are covered by EPA 008.
Directives and policy guidance documents that are finalized and distributed within the Agency may be considered "published" even if they are not released to the public.
Also includes signature or signatory authority and authority to use the "auto pen" for automatically affixing signatures to documents.
Information copies maintained by programs other than the issuing one should be destroyed when superseded or no longer needed.
Previous schedule items combined into this schedule were for the following programs: Organization and Management, Water, Solid Waste, Administrator and Deputy Administrator, and Office Management. Specific item numbers are cited below.
Reasons for Disposition:
This item documents the major functions, organization, policies, and operation of the Agency. These records were previously appraised by the National Archives as N1-412-94-2/4. The disposition instructions have been rewritten as media neutral to allow for maintaining the record copy in EPA's electronic recordkeeping system.
The following changes were made in the 01/31/2008 version:
- Divided item a into three subitems, a(1)-(3).
- Revised the titles of disposition items a(1)-(3).
- Revised the disposition instruction for item a(3).
Item c for electronic copies created with word processing and electronic mail applications was removed 08/09/2006 pursuant to NARA Bulletin 2006-04.
Custodians:
Multiple units
Related Schedules:
EPA 008
Previous NARA Disposal Authority:
NC174-118/I/4, NC1-412-77-1/12, NC1-412-78-6/7, NC1-412-82-8/26, NC1-412-85-6/16, NC1-412-85-7/22, NC1-412-85-11/7, N1-412-86-2/15, N1-412-94-2/4
Entry: 03/29/1991
EPA Approval: 01/20/2006
NARA Approval: 08/10/2006