3.1 Purpose. This chapter presents detailed instructions about the transfer of Service records to Federal records repositories and general information about the transfer, sale, salvage, or donation of the Service's temporary records to outside parties. The disposition of Service records should be done in accordance with the records schedule found in 283 FW 2.
3.2 Policy. It is the policy of the Service to ensure the transfer of records is accomplished to promote program continuity, cost effective storage, document preservation, and access to unrestricted records for research purposes.
3.3 Procedures.
A. Records transferred from one agency to another require the approval of NARA except under the following circumstances.
(1) Records are transferred to Federal records centers or the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
(2) Records are loaned for official use.
(3) Statute, Executive Order, or Presidential reorganization plan requires the transfer of records or functions.
Such transfers should be done in accordance with procedures detailed in the Departmental Manual (384 DM 4).
B. Permanent records should be sent to the NARA when they are eligible for transfer or no longer needed by the agency to conduct daily business. The SF-258 entitled "Request To Transfer, Approval, And Receipt Of Records to National Archives Of The United States" is used when records are permanent and eligible for retirement to the NARA rather than a Federal Records Center. This form should also be used for any records that the Service has which are currently 30 years or older (see Exhibit 1).
When the required Standard Form 258 (see Exhibit 1) has been approved by the Records Officer or Regional Records Coordinators, the material may be boxed and sent through regular mail. The records then become the custody of the NARA who maintains them on site.
Offices who wish to maintain permanent records for a longer period of time should copy the records for their use and submit the originals to the NARA. Permanent records used just occasionally by the agency to conduct government business may be stored at a Federal Records Center prior to their transfer to the NARA.
Permanent records should also be transferred when the Service does not have the conditions necessary to ensure the integrity of the records.
C. For temporary records, employees should complete the required the SF-135 entitled "Records Transmittal And Receipt" (see Exhibit 2). The SF-135 should then be presented to the Records Officer or the Regional Records Coordinator for review, assignment of an accession number, and signature. After review, the paperwork should be sent to the Federal Records Center for approval. Once approved by the Federal Records Center, the records should be boxed and shipped (see Appendix 1 for detailed instructions about boxing and shipping). The SF-135 is used to transfer temporary records to a Federal Records Center for storage prior to their disposal or to transfer permanent records to a Federal Records Center for storage prior to their transfer to the NARA.
Temporary records which have been transferred to a Federal Records Center will be stored at the center until the time of their approved disposition date. At that time, the Federal Records Center will issue a notice of its intent to destroy the temporary records. The Service's approval will be requested prior to records destruction.
D. The sale or salvage of records may be done for records that remain in the custody of the Service and are eligible for disposal. Sale or salvage should be done in accordance with the established procedures for the sale of surplus personal property (see FPMR 41 CFR 101-45). The disposal of records that have restrictions (such as those subject to the Privacy Act of 1974) shall require the wastepaper contractor to pulp, macerate, or shred the records in the presence of a Federal employee or, if authorized by the agency that created the records, by a contractor employee.
E. The donation for preservation and use may also be done for records that remain in the custody of the Service and are eligible for disposal subject to the following conditions.
(1) The proposed recipient must make an application for them.
(2) The applicant must agree, in writing, that the records will not be sold to third parties.
(3) Transfer to the applicant must be made without cost to the Government.
(4) The requested records do not contain information whose revelation is prohibited by law.
(5) A foreign government applying for records has demonstrated that it has an official interest in the records.
(6) An individual applying for records has demonstrated that the records involved are directly pertinent to the custody or operation of real or personal property acquired from the Government.
(7) NARA has granted written approval prior to the transfer of the requested records (see 36 CFR 1228).