Reforming records management policies and practices and developing a 21 51-century framework for
the management of government records is a priority for this Administration. Recognizing the
importance of managing email records, the Administration has specifically focused on the proper
management of these records. The attached guidance reaffirms the importance of recordkeeping
and is a reminder that agencies, and employees, are responsible for properly managing and retaining
email records.
In accordance with the President' s November 28, 2011 Memorandum, Managing Government
Records, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) issued a joint Managing Government Records Directive in 2012, which
mandated that agencies eliminate paper and use electronic recordkeeping. To ensure openness and
accountability, and reduce costs, the Directive requires that:
This Bulletin reminds Federal agencies about their records management responsibilities regarding email. This is especially important in light of the requirement in the Managing Government Records Directive (OMB M-12-18) for all email to be managed electronically by December 31 , 2016. In addition, recent disclosures by agencies have put this issue into more prominent focus. NARA will continue to issue guidance that assists agencies in meeting the goals of the Directive and Federal records management requirements under the Federal Records Act and associated regulations.
NARA has issued many bulletins, FAQs,regulations, and agency records management
training sessions that provide guidance on Federal email management (see list in Question 9).
Each has stated emails that are Federal records must be managed for their entire records life
cycle. The statutory definition of Federal records is found at
44 U.S.C. 3301
and is further explained in the Code ofFederal Regulations at
36 CFR 1222.10.
All agency-administered email accounts are likely to contain Federal records. This includes
email accounts with multiple users (such as public correspondence email addresses) or email
accounts for an individual on multiple systems (such as classified and unclassified email
accounts). In addition, agency officials may create Federal records if they conduct agency
business on their personal email accounts. Email sent on personal email accounts pertaining
to agency business and meeting the definition of Federal records must be filed in an agency
recordkeeping system.
Agencies must have policies in place to identify emails that are Federal records. These policies must ensure that emails identified as Federal records are filed in agency recordkeeping systems. Failure to identify and manage email as Federal records can result in their loss. In addition, agencies' policies and practices for email management must comply with other statutes and obligations, such as the Freedom of Information Act and discovery in litigation. Furthermore, the Managing Government Records Directive requires that Federal agencies manage all their email electronically by December 31 , 2016.
Currently, in many agencies, employees manage their own email accounts and apply their
own understanding of Federal records management. This means that all employees are
required to review each message, identify its value, and either delete it or move it to a
recordkeeping system. Some email, such as spam or all-staff announcements, may be deleted
immediately. On the other hand, substantive policy discussions conducted in email may be
appropriate for preservation for several years or ultimate transfer to NARA.
NARA recognizes that placing the responsibility on employees to make decisions on an
email-by-email basis can create a tremendous burden. As a result, NARA recommends that
agencies immediately begin to adopt automated or rules-based records management policies
for email management, such as the Capstone approach.
Capstone is an approach to managing email. It is not a type of technology. (See
NARA
Bulletin 2013-02: Guidance on a New Approach to Managing Email Records.)
When adopting the Capstone approach, agencies must identify those email accounts most likely to
contain records that should be preserved as permanent. Agencies will determine Capstone
accounts based on their business needs. They should identify the accounts of individuals
who, by virtue oftheir work, office, or position, are likely to create or receive permanently
valuable Federal records. Capstone officials will generally be the top-level senior officials of
an agency, but may also be other key decision makers at lower levels ofthe agency.
Following this approach, an agency can schedule all ofthe email in Capstone accounts as
permanent records. The agency could then schedule the remaining (non-Capstone) email as
temporary and retain all of them for a set period of time based on the agency's needs. The
Capstone Bulletin addresses additional options and best practices.
Establishing the appropriate retention periods for email will help an agency determine the
best approach to implement for recordkeeping and backup systems to ensure that the agency
can access their email for business needs, including in response to congressional, FOIA, or
discovery requests.
As Federal records, emails must be kept for specific periods of time as mandated in records
disposition schedules. Some schedules allow for transitory emails to be deleted immediately
or when no longer needed. Some schedules require emails to be kept in agencies for decades
and then transferred to NARA for permanent preservation. Some schedules allow agencies to
delete emails after having been moved to a recordkeeping system.
In addition, NARA recommends agencies determine the minimum time frame all their email
must be kept electronically-in a searchable and retrievable manner-in order to meet
immediate business and access needs. For example, an agency may decide to use journaling
tools to keep all email for one year to meet audit and access requirements.
Continued use ofthe "print and file" method of managing email puts agencies at risk of
losing records, not having them available for business needs, and allegations of unauthorized
destruction. Converting to automated email management will reduce the risks involved in
human management of email. The decision to manage email electronically needs to involve
Senior Agency Officials for Records Management, Records Officers, General Counsels,
Chief Information Officers, and others. Until such conversion, agencies must ensure email
management policies are in place and that staff are following them. Oversight can be done
through training, audits, and supervisory controls.
Agencies should also ensure that electronic records backup policies and practices are
adequate, including what backups are needed and how long to maintain the backup. Backups
are not recordkeeping systems, but they can help restore records in the case of a technology
or other type of failure. If computers or mobile devices are not backed up, then emails and
other Federal records should not be stored on them.
In accordance with the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. §§ 2905(a) and 3106) and its implementing regulations (36 CFR Part 1230), when an agency becomes aware of an incident of unauthorized destruction, they must report the incident to the Office of the Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government. The report should describe the records, the circumstances in which the unauthorized destruction took place, and the corrective steps being taken to properly manage the records in the future . IfNARA learns ofthe incident before the agency has reported it, NARA will notify the agency and request similar information. The goal of this process is to ensure that the circumstances that may have led to the loss of Federal records are corrected and that similar losses do not occur in the future.
NARA has issued many bulletins, F AQs, regulations, and training on Federal email
management and related technologies. Regulations on electronic records and email are found
in 36 CFR 1236.
NARA training and guidance on email is available online here.
NARA guidance on email and related technologies include:
If additional information is needed or if you have any questions, please contact your agency Records Officer or the NARA Appraisal Archivist or records management contact with whom you regularly work. Please refer to the List of NARA Contacts for Your Agency.
published by:
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
September 15, 2014 - M-14-16