|
 |
|
File Structure Phase Activities/Folder Categories Information
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 6 Superfund file structure outlines how Superfund
Division records are organized. Records are broadly defined by statute
and regulation to include all recorded information, regardless of medium
or format, made or received by EPA or its agents under Federal law in
connection with the transaction of public business, and either preserved
or appropriate for preservation because of their administrative, legal,
fiscal, or informational value.
The full definition of a Federal record as presented in the Federal Records
Act is:
"...all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine-readable materials,
or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics,
made or received by an agency of the U.S. Government under Federal law
or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved
or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor
as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures,
operations, or other activities of the Government or because of the
informational value of the data in them." (44
U.S.C. 3301, Definition of Records) 
Records are first arranged by site, then by phase, which is modeled after
the life cycle of a site cleanup. The record phases are manifested as
a system of folders, which correspond to the methods and criteria outlined
in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan,
more commonly referred to as the National
Contingency Plan or NCP (40
C.F.R. Part 300). The records are then coded to a keyword code and
description. Keywords correlate to the contents of the record or act as
an identifier for a particular kind of file, document, or data.
|
