[Payment of Fees to National Archives and Records Administration for Reproduction of Documents]

The Bureau of Land and Management (BLM) requested a decision on whether it may certify and pay fees assessed by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), formerly the National Archives and Records Service (NARS), to cover the cost of reproducing BLM documents and land records which were in NARA custody. GAO found that since April 1, 1985, NARA was authorized to access and collect fees from other agencies for reproductions of documents in its custody when appropriations available to the archivist were insufficient. Accordingly, since that was the most equitable way of allocating cost in performing that kind of activity, BLM was authorized to certify payments for the fees accessed by NARS or NARA to cover the cost of reproducing documents.