Records Management Handbook, Schedules, and Guidance

Last Modified: October 17, 2024

The paper version of the APHIS Records Management Handbook is no longer available. To better serve our customers, this Web site contains current schedules and information.

We recommend that you print or download only those chapters that apply to your program. Please check the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website for the most recent changes to the records schedules.

Administrative and General Records Schedules

The APHIS schedules have been updated to reference the appropriate GRS wherever possible. The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

Several APHIS and General Records Schedules are listed.

PRP - Property and Procurement: This chapter from the APHIS Records Management Handbook contained several records series that were not related to one another. The PRP chapter is listed here to provide links to the new locations of the items previous included in the chapter.

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.
 

Related GRS

  • General Records Schedule (NARA)
    • Accountable Officers
    • Budget Prep & Apportionment
    • Expenditure Accounting
    • Procurement, Grant & Supply
    • Stores, Plant & Cost Accounting

Electronic Records pertains to records exported from databases.

IT Operations and Management covers records related to day-to-day activities of IT departments and systems. This includes help desk, tape backups, IT project contracts, and similar records.

CIO covers high-level IT items such as enterprise architecture, CIO committees, and capital investments. Two supplemental documents provide guidance (26.18 KB) and a FAQ (22.15 KB) on implementing the GRS.

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions. In some instances, a link is provided to the relevant GRS.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

The following series of items in the APHIS schedules are relevant to this topic:

ADM 7-2: Telephone
INF: Entire schedule
PDM 11: Mail Management

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

Please note that the GRS Information Services includes dispositions for FOIA and Privacy Act records. These are more detailed than and take precedence over the items contained in the APHIS INF schedule.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies

Related GRS

The Personnel (PER) chapter of the Records Management Handbook is provided as a reference for staff familiar with it. Each item will refer you to other records series. The Personnel and Ethics GRS's have been fully adopted and are incorporated under this topic.

The most important types of records, the Official Personnel Folders, the Service Record Cards, and the Employee Medical Folders, are maintained according to The Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping, an OPM manual that prescribes a system of recordkeeping for Federal personnel. 

Instructions given are for record copies. All other copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions. In some instances, a link is provided to the relevant GRS.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

Security applies to documents, buildings and other facilities, and personnel clearances. 

The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions. Links have been added to PRP to direct the reader to the applicable GRS.

Retentions for "All other offices" is no longer listed. All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

Several items in the Property and Procurement (PRP) chapter apply to this topic. These include:

PRP 2-2 Motor Vehicle Reports
PRP 7 Transportation
PRP 11 Motor Vehicles
PRP 12 Aircraft Operation
PRP 13 Accidents


The dispositions contained in the GRS are mandatory and take precedence over APHIS dispositions. Links to the applicable GRS have ben added throughout the PRP document.

All non-record copies are treated as informational unless separately scheduled. Informational copies can be destroyed when no longer needed, but cannot be retained beyond the retention period for the recordkeeping copies.

Related GRS

Program Schedules, Management, and Storage

Locate a Federal Records Center

Help and References

Records management is everyone’s responsibility!

Anyone conducting business on behalf of the United States Government is responsible for understanding the records they are creating and the proper actions for maintaining and disposing of them. APHIS Information Management and Compliance (IMC) manages the APHIS Records Management Program and is available to provide records management training and advice.

IMC assists with determining what constitutes official records, and provides advice on setting up filing systems for accruing and storing records, establishing file plans and records schedules, coordinating destruction or storage with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and more. For further information, simply send an email to APHIS-Records@usda.gov.

To request training, send an email to APHIS-Records@usda.gov outlining the type and level of training needed, the audience, office location, preferred dates, and a point of contact. The requesting office is responsible for funding any travel-related expenses outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

The key to successful records management is having efficient records procedures in place that are fully integrated into your operations. IMC can help you work towards this goal.

The links provided in this page will help you to understand records management and towards fulfilling your responsibilities as and APHIS employee or contractor.

Links in this section are pointers to other hosts and locations on the Internet. This information is provided as a service, however the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not associated with or responsible for the content of these sites.

Records in any format, whether paper or electronic, by law must not be accrued and locally stored forever.  In records management, determining record accrual, archival, and disposal procedures is called record scheduling.

All records must be scheduled and approved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  This includes records accrued, entered into, processed in, and/or stored in electronic system databases.

If your electronic records are not scheduled, complete an MRP Form 400 (Employees Only ) and email it to the APHIS Records Manager at APHIS-Records@usda.gov to begin the approval process.

The key to successful records management is having efficient records procedures in place that are fully integrated into your operations.  IMC can help you work towards this goal.

Contact Us

Please direct questions or comments concerning forms, issuances, or records management to the Information Management Branch using the appropriate email below.

For inquiries about forms

 

(Note: questions about completing and submitting forms should be sent to the program office receiving the form.)

For inquiries about issuances

For inquiries about records

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