It is the purpose of this chapter, and chapters 21, 31, and 33 of this title, to require the establishment of standards and procedures to assure efficient and effective records management. Such records management standards and procedures shall seek to implement the following goals:

(1) Accurate and complete documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government.

(2) Control of the quantity and quality of records produced by the Federal Government.

(3) Establishment and maintenance of mechanisms of control with respect to records creation in order to prevent the creation of unnecessary records and with respect to the effective and economical operations of an agency.

(4) Simplification of the activities, systems, and processes of records creation, maintenance, transfer, and use.

(5) Judicious preservation and disposal of records.

(6) Direction of continuing attention on records from their initial creation to their final disposition, with particular emphasis on the prevention of unnecessary Federal paperwork and the transfer of records from Federal agencies to the National Archives of the United States in digital or electronic form to the greatest extent possible.

(7) Establishment and maintenance of such other systems or techniques as the Archivist or the Administrator considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and chapters 21, 31, and 33 of this title.

(Added Pub. L. 94–575, § 2(a)(1), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2724; amended Pub. L. 98–497, title I, § 107(b)(14), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2288; Pub. L. 113–187, § 9(a), Nov. 26, 2014, 128 Stat. 2012; Pub. L. 115–85, § 2(a)(1), Nov. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 1274.)