Do agencies need to request NARA approval for the disposition of all microform and source records?
36 C.F.R. § 1238.32
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Permanent or unscheduled records. Agencies must schedule both source documents (originals) and microforms. NARA must approve the schedule, SF 115, Request for Records Disposition Authority, in accordance with part 1225 of this subchapter before any records, including source documents, may be destroyed.
(1) Agencies that comply with the standards in § 1238.14 must include on the SF 115 the following certification: “This certifies that the records described on this form were (or will be) microfilmed in accordance with the standards set forth in 36 CFR part 1238.”
(2) Agencies using microfilming methods, materials, and procedures that do not meet the standards in § 1238.14(a) must include on the SF 115 a description of the system and standards used.
(3) When an agency intends to retain the silver original microforms of permanent records and destroy the original records, the agency must certify in writing on the SF 115 that the microform will be stored in compliance with the standards of § 1238.20 and inspected as required by § 1238.22.
(b) Temporary records. Agencies do not need to obtain additional NARA approval when destroying scheduled temporary records that have been microfilmed. The same approved retention period for temporary records is applied to microform copies of these records. The original records can be destroyed once microfilm is verified, unless legal or other requirements prevent their early destruction.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-36.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026