When I talk about government documents, I'm usually talking about libraries collecting government documents. This is a current issue involving the opposite.

The Dept. of the Interior is currently looking to create a rule that will allow them to dispose of documents without getting permission to do so from NARA (the National Archives) first.

Russ Kick has written about this much better than I can. I'll share portions of his blog post now, eliminating some of the stuff that is too complex for me.

Dept of the Interior: Records Destruction Request

by Russ Kick · Published October 16, 2018 · Updated October 25, 2018

"Federal agencies don’t keep most of their records forever. At some point, they’re legally allowed to destroy the majority of them.

"But when? And which records? That’s up to the agency and the National Archives (with some input from the public, at least in theory).

"In an overlooked process that’s been going on for decades, agencies create a “Request for Records Disposition Authority” that gives details about the documents, then proposes when they can be destroyed (e.g., three years after the end of the fiscal year, 50 years after they’re no longer needed, etc.). Occasionally, agencies propose keeping some documents permanently, which means eventually transferring them to the National Archives.

"The National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) then “appraises” the agency’s Request for Records Disposition Authority, almost always giving the greenlight.

"Around this point, the agency’s request and NARA’s appraisal are announced in the Federal Register. They are not published in the Register, nor are they posted to the Register website (including Regulations.gov). Their existence is simply noted.

"It’s then up to you to write NARA and ask for copies of the request and appraisal. Once you get them, you have 30 days to make a public comment to NARA. Then the process continues, usually resulting in NARA giving final approval to the agency’s wishes.

"This is an extremely important process. It affects transparency, accountability, research, the historical record, and the Freedom of Information Act (you can’t successfully request documents that have been destroyed). Yet it’s been happening in the shadows for decades."

...

"The Department of the Interior has sent NARA a massive Request for Records Disposition Authority.

"Interior’s request involves documents about oil and gas leases, mining, dams, wells, timber sales, marine conservation, fishing, endangered species, non-endangered species, critical habitats, land acquisition, and lots more.

"The request covers these categories of documents from every agency within the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others.
"
The request covers already-existing documents going back more than 50 years. Thousands of cubic feet of paper documents. Gigabytes of digital documents. Besides existing documents, as usual the proposed schedule will also apply to all future documents created in these categories (whether on paper or born digital)..."

There's more details to the post you can read here, but what I shared so far should seem pretty alarming.