The FDA is developing and maintaining an "action plan" for every version of every file format that the FCLA will attempt to preserve in its digital archive. Each action plan concerns a particular version of a file format, e.g. TIFF 6.0, and includes a date on which the plan will be reviewed and possibly revised.

The action plan describes any short-term and long-term actions that the FCLA will take to ensure that the file, or at least the "intellectual content" contained in the file, will still be accessible on future technologies. These actions might include "forward migration" - converting the format to a newer version of the same format, e.g. PDF 1.2 to PDF 1.4. Or they might include "normalization" - converting the format to a different format that may be easier to preserve, e.g. EXCEL to XML. In all cases, the file in its original format and version, will be archived in addition to any migrated and/or normalized formats.

The preservation decisions made in the action plans are based on FCLA action plan background reports. These reports are careful analyses of characteristics of each file format in an attempt to predict the length of time before the format becomes obsolete.