The Energy Department is “not effectively managing” its email records, an IG report has said, blaming the lack of a process to ensure that records are identified and managed in accordance with requirements of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Under those requirements, agencies must have policies to ensure that all information defined as federal records, including email, are maintained in agency recordkeeping systems. “Failure to appropriately identify and manage email as records impairs the agencies’ ability to respond to the requirements of various statutes and obligations, including the Freedom of Information Act, discovery in litigation, law enforcement efforts, and maintenance of historical records of departmental activities,” the IG noted.
The audit was a follow-up to one done in 2010 identifying problems including failure to include those requirements in departmental recordkeeping policies and guidance, making records management a low priority, and failure to properly train employees to identify and maintain electronic records. In 2012, OMB told agencies to manage all email records using an automated software application by the end of 2016.
The latest review found that with only one exception, the programs and sites reviewed still relied on users to identify and retain email records. “The department also had not effectively implemented the archival and retrieval process related to email records. To be clear, under existing policies recovery of email may be possible for varying periods of time, however, the, process would be very difficult and cost prohibitive. Furthermore, the department had not fully addressed the use of personal email accounts to conduct government business,” it said.
Effective records management still is not being treated as a priority, it said, adding that “because of the extent of policy weaknesses and the lack of understanding by employees regarding their email retention responsibilities, we did not feel it would be productive and therefore did not test whether any particular individual’s email had been properly maintained.”
