The United States Code (44 U.S.C. 2907) provides for the establishment, operation and
maintenance of records centers by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
for Federal agencies. NARA Records Centers are authorized to store records of a Federal
agency that are properly covered by a NARA-approved records disposition schedule or the
General Records Schedule. The records disposition schedule provides for either the
accessioning of the permanent records into the National Archives or destruction after a specified
period of time or occurrence of an event. The sensitive confidential nature of many of the
records requires that the destruction process must be secure and thorough so as to ensure
against public dissemination of any of the data in the records.
The NARA Records Centers have an ongoing need for the destruction of stored paper and
cardboard that is no longer viable for record keeping purposes. The Records Centers require a
smooth, continual process of shipping and destruction in order to create space for the new
annual accessions that it receives from various agencies. In order to facilitate the process, the
Government desires to create a no-cost contract for the shipping, storage, and destruction of
the stored records while receiving revenue for part of the recycled paper value per the high Pulp
and Paper Week (PPW) for the area nearest the NARA facility/facilities for mixed paper.
The nature of the material to be destroyed comes in two basic varieties: 1) Governmentwitnessed
material (that which must be destroyed in the presence of a Government official via a
one-step process in order to insure maximum protection from disclosure); and 2) Contractorwitnessed
material (requires a certified document verifying that the destruction of the material
was witnessed by the Contractor's management staff). These classifications, as briefly noted
above, require different procedures for shipping, storage, and destruction. It is imperative that
the requisite safeguards are followed.