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on the type of contract and whether or not the bid was This section discusses actual transportation agency
successful.463 For example, Connecticut requires that practices concerning protection of security information.
local government agency bid documents for public The discussion is based on both agency responses to
works construction projects (whether accepted or not) questions posed by the author and secondary research.
be retained for 6 years after project completion or 6 The intent of this section is to allow transit agencies to
years after filing if the project is not built, and then consider approaches adopted by other agencies as they
destroyed; bid documents for public works ser- formulate their own policies. Given the sensitivity of
vice/supply projects (whether accepted or not) be re- the topic, this section uses anonymous titles for transit
tained for 3 years after the audit and then destroyed; agencies that provided responses directly to the author.
and construction documents be retained for the life of
the structure.464 State statutes may specifically cover A. Transit Agency A468
retention of state DOT records.465 Record retention guid- Agency A is a bus-only transit system located in
ance may specify how documents are to be disposed of Northern California. The agency operates 15 weekday
after the required retention period. Montana, for ex- local bus routes and 3 weekend/holiday local bus routes,
ample, specifies that contract protest records are to be as well as commuter routes, serving a population of
shredded 4 years after the protests are resolved.466 Fed- almost 250,000. Agency A addresses SSI under the
eral requirements for disposal of SSI should be followed agency's safety and security plan. The agency has es-
if they are more stringent than state record disposal tablished an internal audit system of its SSI control
requirements. procedures.
The increasing use of electronic storage of informa- The safety and security plan treats SSI consistent
tion presents special challenges, as it is not always as with the guidance in FTA's Sensitive Security Informa-
clear what electronically stored information constitutes tion (SSI) Designation, Markings, and Control docu-
public records as it is for information on paper. ment. Previously the agency relied on the Recom-
mended Practices from the American Public
IV. TRANSIT AGENCY PRACTICES Transportation Association's Emergency Management
Program Standards. The agency does not protect infor-
A thorough understanding of requirements for han-
mation other than SSI from disclosure based on secu-
dling security information is needed both to ensure that
rity grounds.
procurement personnel treat such information appro-
The agency's SSI practices were formulated by the
priately and that they include appropriate safeguards
chief executive officer, chief operating officer, and direc-
in bidding and contract requirements. Developing effec-
tor of administrative services. The SSI practices do not
tive procedures is a critical element; ensuring appropri-
directly address procurement. However, the chief oper-
ate implementation is perhaps both more critical and
ating officer and the agency's procurement officer dis-
more difficult.467
cuss SSI requirements, if applicable, when they develop
procurement documents. This analysis is limited to se-
463
See, e.g., N.M. CODE, 1.19.8.109, Capital Project Files curity-related bid and contract documents. The practice
[Fiscal or contractual documents (bids, quotes, agreements, is to exclude SSI from procurement documents to the
contracts, etc.): 10 years after completion of project; Technical extent feasible, limiting inclusion of SSI in contract
documents (e.g. blueprints, architectural drawings, soil tests or specifications to the bare essentials required to allow a
analyses, engineering specifications, etc.): permanent; All other meaningful response to the solicitation.
documents: 2 years after close of fiscal year in which project
Agency A has had a very low volume of security pro-
completed],
jects and thus has had limited experience in deploying
www.nmcpr.state.nm.us/nmac/parts/title01/01.019.0008.htm;
Washington State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, its SSI practices. To the extent necessary, the agency
Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule would deploy one or more of the following methods for
(CORE) Version 1.0 (December 2008), 1.4 con- controlling contractor access to SSI in the procurement
tracts/agreements, process, depending on how detrimental to transporta-
www.secstate.wa.gov/_assets/archives/RecordsManagement/CO tion safety it would be to allow the information in ques-
RE10.pdf. tion to be made public:
464
Office of the Public Records Administrator (Connecticut
State Library), Municipal Records Retention Schedule M9, · Performing background checks.
Public Works, www.cslib.org/publicrecords/retpbworks.pdf. · Charging a fee to receive the documents.
465
E.g., Nevada, NEV. REV. STAT. 239.085 State records: · Restricting review of contract documents to the re-
Disposition by Department of Transportation, questor.
www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-239.html#NRS239Sec073. · Requiring the requestor to sign a nondisclosure
466
Montana record retention schedule for purchasing pro- form.
curements:
http://sos.mt.gov/Records/forms/state/State_Schedule4.pdf.
467
See Office of the New York State Comptroller, Metropoli- www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093006/06s6.pdf.
468
tan Transportation Authority: Controls Over Security- The description of Agency A's security/procurement prac-
Sensitive Information for the Capital Projects Program, Report tices is based on responses from the agency to questions posed
2006-S-6, by the author. Responses are maintained in the author's files.
