OMB/NARA Extend Compliance Deadline for Rule Mandating Use of Electronic Records by Federal Agencies

On June 28, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) jointly issued a memorandum providing guidance on managing Federal records. In a major policy change, the memo mandated that all Federal agencies must transfer permanent records to NARA in electronic formats after December 31, 2022. NARA said it would no longer accept paper records as of that date. This change would obviously have far-reaching impacts on all users of the National Archives and place a burden on federal agencies to comply in a timely manner. To see the original memo, click here.

The NCH has, for some time, been urging OMB and NARA to extend the deadline. The federal government shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic made compliance with this mandate even more unrealistic.

On December 23, 2022, OMB and NARA issued a new directive extending the compliance deadline to June 30, 2024. NCH thanks NARA for heeding the concerns expressed by its stakeholders in making this decision.