Federal agencies need information from their customers for many purposes. BLM collects information from its customers when they seek services, such as leases and permits, and when they need to show that they have complied with regulations or other requirements. BLM also collects information to determine the level of customer satisfaction with its programs and to get suggestions for improvement.

Before BLM can collect information from its customers, however, it generally needs to get approval to do so. The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that all federal agencies get approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect information from 10 or more people who are not federal employees. If an agency seeks from its own employees information that is not related to their work, it must also get OMB approval to collect that information. The approval process involves filling out a form and preparing information to support the information in the form. People who prepare the form and supporting statements may also need to answer questions from OMB about their submissions.

As a government employee you may have to work with or handle records or information about individuals. Generally, such records will require special handling and safeguarding because they are subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act establishes special requirements for collecting, creating, maintaining, and distributing records that can be retrieved by the name of an individual or other identifier (whether in paper or electronic form). These are called Privacy Act Systems of Records.

When information is collected from the public, the form used must have a privacy notice stating the purpose and uses of the information collected and if the information is going to be filed by

the person's name or by another identifier. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must approve this form. When you develop a record system (or change an existing one) that includes information that can be retrieved by a person's name or other identifier, you must notify the public of such a system in the Federal Register. The subject of a Privacy Act System of Records can ask to see, correct, and appeal the information in that record. These disclosure restrictions are subject to civil and criminal penalties. For more information, see 3 CFR 2.56 or contact your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Privacy Act coordinator.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is meant to ensure that the public has access to information that is maintained by the government. FOIA also recognizes that the government must safeguard certain information that falls under one of the nine FOIA exemptions. Some of the requirements of the Electronic FOIA Amendments of 1996 ensure access to government information maintained in all formats (e.g. E-mail, back-up tapes), and makes more information available to the public electronically. (See BLM Electronic Reading Room Homepage at www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia or under "Information" on the BLM internet website.)

If you receive a request from the public for information, you will need to determine if the material requested is public or nonpublic information. Even if a request does not cite FOIA, you should still consider whether it is protected under FOIA or the Privacy Act (see the following section). BLM has a Records Access Category Listing that is a good reference to check to see if a category of records is public or nonpublic. Records classed as nonpublic must be requested under FOIA to ensure a thorough review for sensitive information. One of the contacts above can give you a copy of the listing. Consult your FOIA coordinator for more information.

Federal records are not exclusively paper documents. They may exist in the form of electronic data stored on magnetic tape or CDS, E-mail messages, photographs, slides, films, videos, maps, charts, graphs, and micrographic materials.

You will handle many different types of government records during your government career. You are responsible for:

• Either maintaining records that you receive or generate according to BLM’s filing system or sending them to your office records manager for safekeeping.
  
• Maintaining any sensitive information safely and according to BLM policy. Assigning a filing code or case file number to documents that you generate.
  
• Destroying or removing records from your office only if authorized to do so by BLM Records Disposition Schedule.

Records can neither be destroyed before their scheduled date, nor can they be removed from the agency's custody. Federal records are, after all, the sole property of the government. Employees who are leaving BLM must be careful not to take any federal records at the time of departure. Remember, the premature destruction or alienation of records is a serious violation of the Federal Records Act, punishable by fine and a jail sentence. Each office has a designated records manager who can help you with records management matters.

A BLM self-study course called Electronic Records Management for E-Mail, Course 1270-04 is available at www.ntc.blm.gov/. You can register for this course at the BLM National Training Center homepage. It takes about one hour to complete. Because of the large amount of work that is accomplished by electronic mail, you are strongly encouraged to complete this course as soon as possible after beginning work with BLM.

For more information on the handling of official records and documents, contact the Bureau Records Officer (WO560) or your office FOIA or records coordinators. See the list of FOIA and Records contacts for state offices, national centers, and headquarters at: www.blm.gov/nhp/main/FOIA/Coordinators.html.  The IRM Policy Website has a great deal of information on records, FOIA, and Privacy Act guidance at web.blm.gov/internal/wo-500.