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MAINE BULLETIN NO. ME 120-12-1

 

                                                                                                                                 February 24, 2012
 

Subject: ADM – Farm Bill Program Applications and Contract File Maintenance

Purpose. To establish a consistent and efficient system for filing, storing and disposing of records associated with Farm Bill programs, Program Applicants, and Contracts. This bulletin provides guidance on Phase I of the archiving process.

Expiration Date. September 30, 2012

The GM-120, Part 408, Records Management Guide was last updated October 1998. Since that time, NRCS has taken over the administrative responsibility for certain conservation financial assistance programs, and maintains the records of all contract applications, contracts, payments, and contract decisions regarding these programs. NRCS must also keep a record of when practices are installed in order to know when the maintenance lifespan expires.

In order to ensure consistency with GM-300 and GM-120, the following policy will be followed for Maine:

  1. All Official Conservation Program Contract Case Files for Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA), Conservation Security Program (CSP) (Maine does not offer this program as of 2012), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) will be housed with NRCS at the Service Center that manages the contracts. Archiving and record management will be the responsibility of the District Conservationist at that Service Center location.
     
  2. All Official Conservation Program Contract Case Files for the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) will be housed with Farm Service Agency (FSA) at the Service Center that manages the contract. Supporting conservation plan information will also be filed with NRCS in the client’s Conservation Plan (Cooperator’s) folder.
     
  3. All Official Conservation Program Contract Case files for the Farmland & Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP), Healthy Forest Reserve Program (HFRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) will be housed at the NRCS State Office. Archiving and record management will be the responsibility of the applicable State Office Program Manager.
     
  4. All new Conservation Program Contract Case File folders will have a label that includes: Program Name; Program Fiscal Year; Contract Number, and Client’s Name.
     
  5. The Conservation Program information, such as cost-share or payment rates, documentation of Local Working Group (LWG) program delivery recommendations, funding pools, ranking criteria, ranking cut-off by funding pool, and practices offered shall be maintained by program and program fiscal year for at least three years after the last contract funded for that program fiscal year has been completed, terminated or cancelled.
     
  6. Conservation Program Contract Case File folders will be kept in the official file folders and labeled according to the Records Management Guide. Example: EQIP Fiscal Year 2011 Case File folders would be labeled: “EQIP FY11: 300-19-5” where the number 300 represents “Primary Subject – Land Treatment Programs”; Number 19 represents “EQIP –Conservation Program Name Abbreviation”, and Number 5 represents “Case File”. (See “Attachment A –Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Filing Guidance).
     
  7. Management of records pertaining to applications not selected for funding will be as follows in accordance with the “Conservation Program Contracting Manual, CPM 440, Part 512, Subpart C – Application for Assistance".
  • Application information for individuals not selected for funding due to lack of funds, shall be held as “Active” for as long as the individual continues to defer and promote their application forward to each successive program fiscal year and remain eligible for the program for which they applied.
  • If an applicant “Cancels” or the application is deemed “ineligible”, the applicant information, including correspondence regarding the application status, shall be maintained for the duration of that program fiscal year, Or for 60 days from the date of receipt of the final letter. Example: 30 days beyond the Appeal period, or whichever is longer. The application status shall be changed electronically in ProTracts.
  • When the conservation program fiscal year is over, or the 60 day period has expired for all applicants in this group, the applicant name, application number, reason for non-selection, and the date of decision for all applicants shall be recorded by conservation program name and program fiscal year on a single sheet of paper. Also needed on the paper, is the date and District Conservationist’s signature or applicable State Office Program Manager. The document is to be filed with the “General Program information” for that “Program and Fiscal Year”. This can be accomplished by exporting a list of “Cancelled” or “Ineligible” applications from ProTracts and adding columns to document the reason and date of the decision made. All hard copy material related to these “Cancelled” or “Ineligible” applications, may be destroyed and shredded. This includes the application form, associated with Maine-specific application materials, ranking information, correspondence, and etc. Material related to conservation planning, plan maps, soils information, and etc., may be placed in the individual’s Conservation Plan (Coordinator’s) folder.
  1. Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Files shall be kept “Active” as long as the contract is open. Once the contract is “Closed” (for any reason), each individual contract file label shall be marked as follows:

Completed/Cancellation/Termination Date: ___________
Archive Date: _________ Disposition Date: ____________
(2 years from Completion Date) (6 years & 3 months from Completion Date)

The “Archive Date” is two years from the “Completion Date”; and the “Disposition Date” is six years and three months from the “Completion Date”. (See Attachment C – Archived Conservation Program Contract Case File Label Templates).

The Archived Conservation Program Contract Case File must have a label that includes: (Program Name, Program Fiscal Year, Contract Number and Client’s Name). If any of this information is lacking from the label, it shall be added with pen/ink or create a new label. (See Attachment B – Archived Conservation Program Contract Case File Label Templates).

  1. Archived Six Part Conservation Program Contract Case File Content Requirements includes the following: These files may be kept in locked cabinets, or in a box (marked with the date of the most recent file) and located in a locked storage room. To reduce bulk, only the information listed in (Attachment D, - Archived Six Part Conservation Program Contract Case File) are applicable.

Information in the Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Files related to General Correspondence, Practice Designs and Implementations or Conservation Plan and maps may be placed in the Cooperator’s Conservation Plan folder. Conservation Plans should be updated to reflect when planned practices were implemented before the plan is transferred to the Cooperator’s File. Other information in the file not listed above can be destroyed by shredding when the file is archived.

At the end of the six year and three month retention period, the contents of the Archived Conservation Program Contract Case files may be shredded and destroyed onsite or stored in separate boxes for a mass shredding arranged by the State Administrative Officer. Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Files may be kept past the retention period deadline at the discretion of the District Conservationist or applicable State Office Program Manager.

After the initial contract clean out and storage are completed for Phase I of the archiving process, each office will provide the State Administrative Officer an accounting of the number of archived folders stored in their location. The number of Archived Conservation Program Contract Case files that are eligible to be destroyed should also be provided to the State Administrative Officer. The bulk of archived folders being stored will determine if offsite storage will be arranged for the Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Files. If necessary, guidance for preparing the files for off-site storage will be provided as Phase II of the archiving process.

Contact. If you have any questions about this information provided, please contact Brian Vigue, State Administrative Officer, at 990-9567 or Susan Arrants, Resource Conservationist, at 207-990-9564.

/s/  Pauline J. Pare, Acting

JUAN C. HERNANDEZ
State Conservationist
 


Some of the following documents require  Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Attachment A- Archived Conservation Program Contract Case Filing Guide (.pdf)
Attachment B - Archived Conservation Program Contract Case File Label Template (.docx)
Attachment C - Archived Conservation Program Contract Case File Label Template (.docx)
Attachment D - Archived File Labeling Instructions (Six Part Folder Files) (.pdf)