In a message yesterday, Patrick Cunningham wrote:
>
NARA has new guidelines for offsite storage of Federal records by commercial
records centers and NARA's guidelines stipulate climate control for all
records. It would be cost-prohibitive for my company to require those
guidelines as the vast majority of our records are disposed of within ten
years of creation.
>

The NARA regulations on offsite storage are found in 36 CFR Part 1228, subpart K (http://www.nara.gov/nara/cfr/cfr1228k.html).  The environmental control requirements are found in section 1228.232.  For temporary paper records, the only requirements are:

"Paper-based temporary records must be stored under environmental conditions that prevent the active growth of mold. Exposure to moisture through leaks or condensation, relative humidities in excess of 70%, extremes of heat combined with relative humidity in excess of 55%, and poor air circulation during periods of elevated heat and relative humidity are all factors that contribute to mold growth."

I hope this clarification helps in the discussion of this topic.

Nancy Allard
Senior Policy Specialist
Policy and Communications Staff
NARA

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