Sec. 10. Whenever the Archivist and the head of the agency that has custody of them shall jointly determine that any records in the custody of any agency of the United States Government are a continuing menace to human health or life or to property, the Archivist shall cause such menace to be eliminated immediately by whatever method he may deem necessary. If any records in the custody of the Archivist are disposed of under this section, the Archivist shall report the disposal thereof to the agency from which they were transferred. Sec. 11. At any time during the existence of a state of war between the United States and any other nation or when hostile action by a foreign power appears imminent, the head of any agency of the United States Government may authorize the destruction of any records in his legal custody situated in any military or naval establishment, ship, or other depository outside the territorial limits of continental United States (1) the retention of which would be prejudicial to the interests of the United States or (2) which occupy space urgently needed for military purposes and are, in his opinion, without sufficient administrative, legal, research, or other value to warrant their continued preservation: Provided, That within six months after the disposal of any such records, the official who directed the disposal thereof shall submit a written report thereon to the Archivist in which he shall describe the character of such records and state when and where the disposal there of was accomplished.

Sec. 12. The Archivist shall transmit to Congress at the beginning of each regular session reports as to the records authorized for disposal under the provisions of section 7 of this Act and as to the records disposed of under the provisions of sections 10 and 11 of this Act.

Sec. 13. Photographs or microphotographs of any records made in compliance with regulations promulgated as provided in section 2 of this Act shall have the same force and effect as the originals thereof would have and shall be treated as originals for the purpose of their admissibility in evidence. Duly certified or authenticated reproductions of such photographs or microphotographs shall be admitted in evidence equally with the original photographs or microphotographs.

Sec. 14. All moneys derived by agencies of the Government from the sale of records authorized for disposal under the provisions of this Act shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States unless otherwise required by existing law applicable to the agency.

Sec. 15. The procedures herein prescribed are exclusive and no records of the United States Government shall be alienated or destroyed except in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 16. The Act entitled "An Act to provide for the disposition of certain records of the United States Government", approved August 5, 1939 (53 Stat. 1219), the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the disposition of certain photographed records of the United States Government, and for other purposes", approved September 24, 1940 (54 Stat. 958), and all other Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES COUNCIL CONCERNING THE DISPOSAL

OF RECORDS, PROMULGATED ON AUGUST 15, 1945

Whereas Sec. 2 of "An Act to provide for the disposal of certain records of the United States Government" approved July 7, 1943 (Public, No. 115, 78th Cong., 1st sess.), as amended by the Act approved July 6, 1945 (Public, No. 133, 79th Cong., 1st sess.), requires that the National Archives Council promulgate regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of the said Act, "establishing procedures for the compiling and submitting of lists and schedules of records proposed for disposal, procedures for the disposal of records authorized for disposal, and standards for the reproduction of records by photographic or microphotographic processes with a view to the disposal of the original records," which regulations, "when approved by the President, shall be binding on all agencies of the United States Government"; Therefore be it resolved, that the following regulations be promulgated:

I. All lists or schedules of records submitted to the Archivist of the United States in compliance with the provisions of Sec. 3 of the abovementioned Act, shall be submitted on forms supplied or approved by the Archivist in the number of copies required by him and shall contain such information as may be called for by the said forms and by instructions issued by the Archivist. The said lists or schedules shall be accompanied by samples of the several items proposed therein for disposal unless the Archivist shall have waived this requirement.

II.

Whenever any records shall have been authorized for disposal in accordance with the provisions of Secs. 6, 7, or 8 of the above-mentioned Act and whenever any records of types that have been proposed for disposal in schedules approved in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 6 of the said Act have been in existence for the periods specified in such schedules, the agency or agencies having the custody of such records shall, subject to the proviso in Sec. 6 and the provisions of Sec. 9 of the said Act, (a) cause the said records" to be sold as waste paper: Provided that, unless the said records shall have been treated in such a manner as to destroy their record content, any contract for sale of them shall prohibit their resale as records or documents; (b) cause them to be destroyed, if they cannot advantageously be sold or if, in the opinion of the head of the agency having custody of said records, destruction is necessary to avoid the disclosure of information that might be prejudicial to the interests of the Government or of individuals; or (c) cause them to be transferred, with the approval of the Archivist of the United States and without cost to the United States Government, to any government, organization, institution, corporation, or person that has made application for them.

A

III. The standards for the reproduction of records by photographic or microphotographic processes with a view to the disposal of the original records shall be as follows:

(a) The records shall be photographed in such order that the integrity of the files will be preserved.

(b) All photographic film or paper used and the processing thereof shall comply with the minimum standards approved by the National Bureau of Standards for permanent photographic reproduction of records or for temporary photographic reproduction of records authorized for disposal after the lapse of a specified time.

(c) The reproductions shall be placed in conveniently accessible files and adequate provisions shall be made for preserving, examining, and using them.

I hereby certify that the above regulations were unanimously adopted by the National Archives Council on July 30, 1945.

By direction of the National Archives Council the promulgation of the above regulations is accomplished on August 15, 1945, by transmittal of copies thereof to the heads of all agencies of the United States Government.

APPENDIX II-SAMPLE DIRECTIVES IN REGARD TO RECORDS OFFICERS

2. Mr. Klunker is made responsible for the institution of program, setting of standards, recommendation of policy, training of personnel, direction of operations, and evaluation of results relating to the management of the records of this agency and will report directly to the Chief, Administrative Services Division on the progress of this program.

3. All chiefs of divisions will cooperate in the prosecution

of this program.

John R. McGillivray
Director

ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT ORDER)

No.

32-44

ARMY SERVICE FORCES

Office of the Chief of Ordnance
Washington 25, D. C., 6 March 1944

SUBJECT: ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT RECORDS
DISPOSAL TO THE ADMINISTRATION BRANCH, GENERAL OFFICE.

1. The Administration Branch, in addition to its other responsibilities, shall perform the following duties which shall be coordinated with regulations issued by The Adjutant General, Headquarters, Army Service Forces, the National Archives, and other responsible agencies:

Classify into major categories the various records of the

Ordnance Department;

b. Determine those classifications of records which should be destroyed, those which should be duplicated by microfilming or photostating and the originals or copies destroyed, and those records which should be maintained permanently;

C. Determine the most advantageous storage places for the various classifications of records recommended for preservation;

d. Determine the most economical method of preserving such records in good condition;

e. Determine which general classifications of records in the hands of the cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contractors should be obtained and maintained by the Ordnance Department;

f. Determine the period of time for which various classifications of records should be maintained; and

g. Assist in developing and secure adoption of policies and procedures and prepare for publication instructions covering the maintenance and disposition of Ordnance Department records.