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SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Order Forms for U.S. Court Records in the National Archives

NATF Forms 90, 91, 92, and 93

(OMB Control No. 3095-0063)

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the agency of the federal government responsible for identifying, preserving, and making available to the public and to the federal government all forms of government records not restricted by law that have been determined to have sufficient historical, informational, or evidential value to warrant continued preservation.

Records are normally used in the various research rooms operated within the National Archives system. In order to accommodate those researchers who cannot visit the appropriate research room in order to view certain original records, NARA offers limited provisions to obtain copies of records by mail and requires requests to be made on prescribed forms for certain bodies of records (36 CFR 1254.2).

National Archives Trust Fund (NATF) Forms 90, 91, 92 and 93 are used by researchers of all kinds to obtain reproductions of pages of Bankruptcy, Civil, Criminal, and Court of Appeals Cases.

Submission of requests on a form is necessary to handle the volume of requests received (approximately 69,447 per year for the NATF 90, approximately 1,600 per year for the NATF 91, approximately 3,247 per year for the NATF 92, and approximately 219 per year for the NATF 93) and the need to obtain specific information from the requester in order to search for the records sought.

NARA submitted a change to these four (4) forms to OMB in October 2007 because the fees have increased on all of the forms. There were no changes in number of respondents or burden hours.

NARA submitted a change to these four (4) forms to OMB in November 2010 because the fees have increased on all of the forms. There were no changes in number of respondents or burden hours.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information. Each NATF Form 90, 91, 92, or 93 is used for a unique request as part of a two-step process: (1) to search for the requested file and, if found, make copies; and (2) to bill the requesting researcher for the copies of the records when the search is successful. Copies are mailed when payment is received; respondents who provide credit card information (approximately 95% of requests for all NATF forms 90, 91, 92, and 93) are sent their copies immediately. Approximately 99% of the requests result in a successful search for the NATF 90, approximately 99% of the requests result in a successful search for the NATF 91; and approximately 99% of the requests result in a successful search for the NATF 92. Approximately 99% of the requests result in a successful search for the NATF 93. The information collected by the NATF Forms 90, 91, 92 and 93 is the minimum necessary to service the request. Additional helpful information is collected if known by the researcher. Were this information collection not conducted, NARA would be unable to fulfill this part of its mandate in a timely, equitable, and efficient manner.

3. Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction. These forms are available through NARA’s online ordering system (https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline) where individuals can complete the forms and order the copies.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information. NARA is unaware of any duplication. This information is collected only by the NATF Forms 90, 91, 92 or 93, when the respondent wants NARA to make copies of Bankruptcy, Civil, Criminal, and Court of Appeals Cases. The information that must be furnished cannot be obtained through similar information already available as each request is unique.

5. Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities. The collection of the information does not involve small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently. The information collection cannot be conducted less frequently since it occurs only when copies of Bankruptcy, Civil, Criminal, and Court of Appeals Cases are requested from NARA. NARA never initiates this information collection; it only responds to customer demand.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5. The information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency. We have consulted in the past with members of the Courts and have complied with their need to obtain sufficient blank forms. Additionally, a Federal Register notice was published to solicit public comment on September 17, 2008 (73 FR 53904). No comments were received.

9 Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents. No payment or gift is provided to respondents for this information.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents. The records series formed by this information collection is a Privacy Act system (NARA-2) and is also protected under b(4) and b(6) exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions. No questions of a sensitive or private nature are asked. The form does allow the respondent to provide credit card information, which is considered financially sensitive information. Only the original copy of the form contains this information, which is either returned to the respondent if the reply is negative, or filed in secure file cabinets in the Cashier's office if the respondent is billed.

12. Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs. The hour burden for all individual respondents is as follows:

Form of Request from Respondents	Number of Respondents	Responses per Respondent	Minutes per Response	Annual Hour Burden
NATF 90	69,447	1	10	11,575
NATF 91	1,600	1	10	267
NATF 92	3,247	1	10	541
NATF 93	219	1	10	37
TOTAL	74,513			12,419

13. Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers. The estimated cost to each respondent to complete the information collection is between $1.17 and $1.51, averaging $1.32. This cost is based on our estimate that a respondent who submits an NATF Form 90, 91, 92 or 93 will take 10 minutes to read the instructions, if necessary, and to complete the form. Respondents may submit multiple forms for different files, but NARA does not keep records on the number of requests submitted by an individual. Because the request is normally made for the personal benefit of the requester, the cost of the respondent's time was valued at $5.00 per hour, or $0.83 for ten minutes. Postage is an additional $0.37 to $7.50 depending on whether records were located for which the customer must mail payment. For the NATF 90, we estimate that approximately 30% respondents per year must mail in a payment. For the NATF 91, we estimate that approximately 2% respondents per year must mail in a payment. For the NATF 92, we estimate that approximately 2% respondents per year must mail in a payment. For the NATF 93 we estimate that approximately 1% respondents per year must mail in a payment. (Respondents who authorize credit card billing do not mail in payment.)

Form of Request from Respondents	Number of Respondents	Minutes per Response	Respondent Cost	Annualized Cost for Hour Burden
NATF 90	69,447	10	$1.32	$91,670
NATF 91	1,600	10	$1.32	$2,112
NATF 92	3,247	10	$1.32	$4,286
NATF 93	219	10	$1.32	$289
TOTAL	74,513			$98,357

14. Annualized Cost to the Federal Government. The estimated annualized cost to the Government for NATF 90 is $36,667. This includes $5,867 for customization and sending blank forms to the public when the requester specifically asks for them in anticipation of future needs. The estimated annualized cost to the Government for NATF 91 is $713.00. This includes $114 for sending blank forms to the public when the requester specifically asks for them in anticipation of future needs. The estimated annualized cost to the Government for NATF 92 is $656. This includes $105 for sending blank forms to the public when the requester specifically asks for them in anticipation of future needs. For the NATF 93, the estimated annualized cost to the Government is $75. This includes $12 for sending blank forms to the public when the requester specifically asks for them in anticipation of future needs. Forms will be accessible for printing by the respondents via the NARA website.

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments. There is a decrease in the number of respondents and annual burden hours because the fees increased.

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule. The information collection may be used to facilitate preparation of annual internal statistical studies but not publications.

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate. The expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection will be displayed on the forms.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions. There are no exceptions to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions.”

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