U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250

DEPARTMENTAL REGULATION

Number:

3300-001

DATE:

March 18, 2016

SUBJECT: Telecommunications & Internet Services and

Use

OPI:

Office of the Chief Information

Officer, Enterprise Network

Services

Section Page 

1. Purpose 1

2. Special Instructions/Cancellations 1

3. Scope 2

4. Authority 2

5. Policy 2

6. Planning 4

7. Roles and Responsibilities 5

8. Penalties and Disciplinary Actions for Non-Compliance 9

9. Policy Exceptions 9

10. Inquiries 10

APPENDIX A Definitions A-1 

APPENDIX B Acronyms and Abbreviations B-1

APPENDIX C Authorities and References C-1 

1. PURPOSE

This Departmental Regulation (DR) establishes policies and assigns responsibilities for the 

management and use of telecommunications services, equipment, and resources within the 

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It serves as the overarching policy that

addresses major topics applicable to the entire 3300 Telecommunications Management 

Directives series.

2. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS/CANCELLATIONS

a. This regulation supersedes DR 3300-001, Telecommunications & Internet Services

and Use, dated March 23, 1999.
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b. The use of telecommunications equipment (e.g., mobile devices, computers, local area 

networks, telephones, facsimile machines) and telecommunications services (e.g., 

Internet, electronic messaging) by all USDA employees shall be in accordance with 

the requirements of Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 

Branch, 5 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 2635 and the Federal Chief Information 

Officer (CIO) Council’s Recommended Executive Branch Model Policy/Guidance on 

"Limited Personal Use" of Government Office Equipment Including Information 

Technology.

c. Agencies and staff offices may supplement this DR when developing their internal 

operating procedures. Modifications to the intent or purpose of this DR are not 

allowed. If agencies and staff offices publish a supplement to this DR, one copy of

each supplement shall be forwarded to the Office of the Chief Information Officer 

(OCIO), Enterprise Network Services (ENS) at ens.policy@ocio.usda.gov. 

d. Cyber security policies are issued by Agriculture Security Operations Center (ASOC) 

and may be found in the 3500 series DRs posted on the Departmental Directives Web 

site. 

3. SCOPE 

a. This DR applies to all USDA agencies and staff offices, contractors, data centers, cloud 

service providers, cooperative partners, employees, and others working for or on behalf 

of the USDA. 

b. This policy does not address classified communications. 

4. AUTHORITY 

This regulation is published pursuant to the authority: 

a. Vested in the Secretary of Agriculture in General Authorization to Delegate Functions; 

Publication of Delegations, 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 301 and Establishment of 

Department, 7 U.S.C. 2201; and 

b. Delegated to the USDA CIO in Delegations of Authority by the Secretary of Agriculture 

and General Officers of the Department, Delegations of Authority to the Deputy 

Secretary, the Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries, 7 CFR 2.25 (a) (12).

5. POLICY 

a. The USDA shall: 

(1) Improve USDA program delivery by implementing procedures and practices 
3

identified in the United States (U.S.) CIO’s 25 Point Implementation Plan to 

Reform Federal Information Technology Management (the 25 Point Plan) and

migrating to a coordinated, interoperable, secure, and shared USDA enterprise 

network; 

(2) Use Governmentwide contracts and blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) in

accordance with established regulations and interagency agreements, and transition 

to new contracts based on enterprisewide decision making processes; 

(3) Ensure that new or existing telecommunications systems and services are aligned in

accordance with the USDA Enterprise Information Technology Governance (EITG) 

process and framework; 

(4) Maintain a comprehensive inventory of telecommunications equipment and 

services, which is reviewed and revalidated at least every six months. When 

equipment and services are determined to no longer be needed in current 

configurations, agencies and staff offices shall reallocate them for other approved 

uses, discontinue services, or dispose of equipment through established procedures; 

(5) Use technical industry standards that are developed by voluntary consensus 

standards bodies, as directed by National Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995; 

(6) Ensure that telecommunications systems, services, and facilities are fully compliant 

with DR 4030-001, Section 508 Program, and accessible to hearing, speech, and

physically impaired individuals; 

(7) Encourage the use of electronic exchange of information where practical and 

beneficial; 

(8) Procure or use telecommunications services and equipment in a manner that 

promotes information sharing among agencies and staff offices; and 

(9) Integrate digital strategy and open data requirements and guidance with existing 

processes and workflows. 

b. When employees use Government and non-Government furnished equipment and

resources, they shall comply with the requirements of this DR; DR 4080-811-02,

Telework Program; DR 4070-735-001, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct; DR 

3505-003, Access Control for Information and Information Systems; and other USDA 

and Federal guidance. 

c. Employees may use telecommunications and Internet resources for personal matters 

on an occasional basis provided that the use involves minimal expense to the 

Government and does not interfere with official business or violate Federal law. 

Limited personal use of telecommunications and Internet resources shall normally 

take place during an employee’s personal time. This policy follows the Federal CIO 
4

Council’s Recommended Executive Branch Model Policy/Guidance on "Limited 

Personal Use" of Government Office Equipment Including Information Technology. 

d. Employees may not use USDA telecommunications and Internet resources to earn 

outside income. 

e. Employees may not use telecommunications and Internet resources for activities that 

are inappropriate or offensive to fellow employees or the public (e.g., accessing 

sexually explicit materials, hate speech, remarks ridiculing others based on race, 

creed, religion, color, gender, handicap, national origin, sexual orientation). 

f. Pursuant to the authority vested in the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. 

Appendix 3, Sections 1-12, the Office of Inspector General is exempt from the 

provisions in this directive for mission-related activities only.

6. PLANNING 

a. Telecommunications Plans 

Agencies and staff offices shall develop a centralized telecommunications management 

plan (CTMP) that specifies how an agency or staff office will centrally manage 

telecommunications services. When developing a CTMP, the agency or staff office 

shall use the 25 Point Plan and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. 

b. Budget Estimates for Information Technology (IT) 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-11, Preparation, 

Submission, and Execution of the Budget, requires Federal agencies to submit annual 

budget estimates for IT. 

c. Life Cycle Management (LCM) 

The USDA CIO advocates a LCM approach to information resources management, 

which includes the planning and development of an agency's telecommunications 

infrastructure. New and existing major IT investments shall be viewed within the 

context of the EITG process presented in DR 3130-008, Definition of Major 

Information Technology Investments and the Agriculture System Development Life 

Cycle (AgSDLC) methodology, as described in the Integrated IT Governance 

Framework: Guidebook. The agency or staff office must complete and approve 

strategic activities, such as planning and budgeting, before acquiring 

telecommunications resources. 

d. Departmental Approvals 

Agency and staff office requests to acquire telecommunications resources shall be 

submitted for approval in accordance with the USDA Acquisition Approval Request
5

Instructions. Employees with this responsibility must contact the OCIO Capital 

Planning and IT Governance Division at Capitalplanningdivision@ocio.usda.gov to gain

access to the USDA collaboration tool in which this document is stored. 

7. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

a. The USDA CIO shall: 

(1) In accordance with the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act 

(FITARA): 

(a) Establish processes to regularly engage with program managers to evaluate IT

resources supporting the strategic objectives of agency and staff offices; 

(b) Define the Departmentwide policy for the level of detail of planned 

expenditure reporting for all transactions that include IT resources; 

(c) Define the development processes, milestones, review gates, and the overall 

polices for all capital planning, enterprise architecture, and project 

management and reporting for IT resources; 

(d) Approve any movement of funds for IT resources that require Congressional 

notification; and

(e) Conduct TechStat reviews, or use other applicable performance measurements 

to evaluate the use of IT resources. 

(2) Develop a Departmental telecommunications program LCM process to include: 

(a) Establish and maintain a USDA telecommunications architecture to serve as

the framework for all telecommunications investment planning, acquisition,

and deployment to ensure: 

1 Cost-effective telecommunications system solutions based on a common

telecommunications architecture; and 

2 Establishment of mission-based performance measures for these 

telecommunications systems aligned with Departmental performance 

plans. 

(b) Establish policies and procedures for the management of telecommunications 

resources, and provide leadership for the General Services Administration 

(GSA) and USDA cooperative contract transition process; 

(c) Review agency and staff office strategic and tactical telecommunications plans, 
6

policies, and procedures; 

(d) Update the USDA Information Technology Strategic Plan 2014-2018 in

accordance with new requirements included in OMB Memorandum M-13-13,

Open Data Policy--Managing Information as an Asset; 

(e) Modernize existing systems to leverage application programming interfaces 

(APIs), which will enable USDA to integrate digital strategy and open data 

requirements and guidance with existing processes and workflows; and 

(f) Monitor and review telecommunications activities to ensure: 

1 Continuous and effective communications with agencies and staff offices, 

sound understanding of agency and staff office needs, and proper balance 

between cost and customer satisfaction requirements; 

2 Compliance with regulatory requirements and standards; 

3 Cost savings and/or cost avoidance are realized; and 

4 Maximum benefits are gained from USDA's telecommunications 

investments in supporting USDA program delivery. 

(3) Provide advice and assistance to agencies and staff offices regarding 

telecommunications services and facilities to ensure that the Department's 

telecommunications resources are shared and used effectively and prudently; 

(4) Serve as a liaison for telecommunications activities and interchange between USDA 

and other Government agencies; 

(5) Provide leadership and direction for Departmentwide initiatives and the 

optimization and consolidation of telecommunications resources; 

(6) Periodically conduct market surveys to ensure that equipment and services are 

being acquired at the most economical cost available, determine the need for 

Departmentwide mandatory-for-use telecommunications resources, and terminate 

uneconomical contracts; 

(7) Establish a risk assessment program to identify risks to and conduct reviews of 

metropolitan area networks that connect to the USDA enterprise network; 

(8) Conduct independent assessments of major telecommunications projects to ensure 

strategies and decisions are sound throughout the various stages of the project; 

(9) Share independent validation and verification (IV&V) results with managers so

risks are well understood and risk management approaches are developed before 
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projects can be authorized to proceed to the next phase of the acquisition process; 

(10) Provide leadership, guidance, and oversight in the establishment and maintenance 

of inventories of telecommunications resources; and

(11) Ensure that telecommunications systems are continuously updated to provide 

reliable voice, data, facsimile, and video conferencing capability between the 

Secretary of Agriculture, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries. 

b. The ENS Director shall: 

(1) Establish policies and procedures for the management of telecommunications 

throughout USDA; 

(2) Establish procedures for monitoring, measuring, reporting, and enforcing 

compliance with this DR and other applicable guidance; 

(3) Manage USDA telecommunications services, equipment, and facilities in

accordance with prescribed laws, regulations, standards, and related 3300 series 

DRs; 

(4) Oversee agency and staff office compliance with USDA telecommunications 

policies and procedures; 

(5) Review and render decisions on agency and staff office telecommunications policy 

waiver requests; 

(6) Maintain an electronic file of approved waivers; 

(7) Identify agency and staff office business and program requirements and work with

the USDA CIO to develop standardized, cost-effective solutions based on a 

common telecommunications architecture; 

(8) Work with agencies and staff offices to eliminate redundant or unused services and

equipment; 

(9) Include telecommunications requirements and initiatives as part of the 

telecommunications planning process; 

(10) Use GSA and USDA mandated programs when organizational requirements can be 

met cost-effectively through the programs; and 

(11) Maintain inventories of USDA telecommunications resources to the extent 

necessary to: 

(a) Ensure adequate and appropriate telecommunications resources to support the 

agency and staff office mission; 
8

(b) Ensure accountability for USDA telecommunications property; and

(c) Meet Departmental and Federal requests for periodic or special inventory 

reports.

c. Agency and Staff Office CIOs and Directors shall: 

(1) Ensure agency and staff office personnel comply with this directive; 

(2) Ensure agency and staff office internal directives conform to this DR’s stated 

requirements; 

(3) Identify business and program requirements and work with the USDA CIO to

develop standardized cost-effective solutions based on a common 

telecommunications architecture; 

(4) Establish a telecommunications management program to support project-level 

management structures and processes for managing, selecting, controlling, and 

evaluating investments in telecommunications systems; 

(5) Establish mission-based performance measures for telecommunications systems 

that align with agency and staff office performance plans prepared pursuant to the 

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010, the 

Digital Strategy at USDA, and OMB M-13-13, Open Data Policy--Managing 

Information as an Asset; 

(6) Modernize existing systems to leverage APIs; 

(7) Eliminate redundant, uneconomical, or unused services and equipment; 

(8) Determine the agency or staff office’s telecommunications and Internet 

services needs and requirements; 

(9) Include telecommunications requirements and initiatives as part of the 

telecommunications planning process; 

(10) Use GSA's and USDA's mandated programs when agency and staff office 

requirements can be met cost-effectively through use of the programs; 

(11) Obtain waivers and approvals from the ENS Director when agency and staff 

office requirements cannot be met through mandated programs; 

(12) Share telecommunications resources with other agencies and staff offices; 

and

(13) Maintain agency and staff office inventories of telecommunications 
9

resources to the extent necessary to: 

(a) Ensure adequate and appropriate telecommunications resources to support the 

agency or staff office mission; 

(b) Ensure accountability for USDA property; and

(c) Meet Departmental and Federal requests for periodic or quarterly inventory 

reports.

(14) Forward one copy of agency or staff office published supplements to this DR

to OCIO-ENS at ens.policy@ocio.usda.gov.

d. Employees shall comply with the requirements of this DR. 

8. PENALTIES AND DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE 

a. DR 4070-735-001, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct, Section 16 sets forth 

USDA’s policies, procedures, and standards on employee responsibilities and conduct 

relative to the use of computers and telecommunications equipment. DR 4070-735-001,

Section 21, states: 

(1) A violation of any of the responsibilities and conduct standards contained in this 

directive may be cause for disciplinary or adverse action; and 

(2) Disciplinary or adverse action shall be effected in accordance with applicable law 

and regulations. 

b. Such disciplinary or adverse action shall be effected in accordance with applicable law 

and regulations such as the Code of Ethics for Government Employees, Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) regulations, OMB regulations, and Standards of Conduct 

for Federal employees. 

9. POLICY EXCEPTIONS 

a. All USDA agencies and staff offices are required to conform to this policy. In the event 

that a specific policy requirement cannot be met as explicitly stated, agencies and staff 

offices may submit a waiver request. The waiver request shall explain the reason for the 

request, identify compensating controls/actions that meet the intent of the policy, and

identify how the compensating controls/actions provide a similar or greater level of 

defense or compliance than the policy requirement. 
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b. Agency and staff office system owners and CIOs shall address all policy waiver request 

memoranda to the ENS Director and submit the waiver request to

ens.policy@ocio.usda.gov for review and determination. 

c. Waivers to stipulations of this directive that have been granted approval by the ENS 

Director and that are associated with a control identified in National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 Revision 4, Security 

and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, shall be 

recorded and tracked as a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) item in the USDA 

Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) data management and 

reporting tool. 

d. Waivers will expire at the end of the fiscal year or six months from the date of approval, 

whichever is longer. Unless otherwise specified, agencies and staff offices shall review 

and renew approved policy waivers every fiscal year. 

10. INQUIRIES 

Questions and comments concerning the requirements of this regulation should be 

directed to OCIO-ENS, Telecommunications Management and Governance (TMG) at 

ens.policy@ocio.usda.gov. 

-END- 
A-1

APPENDIX A 

DEFINITIONS 

a. Agriculture System Development Life Cycle (AgSDLC). The system’s development 

life cycle process outlined by the OCIO-Information Resources Management (IRM) 

for building information systems in a very deliberate, structured, and methodical way,

reiterating each stage of the product’s life. For USDA, these stages consist of 

selection and requirements analysis, development, implementation, operations, 

maintenance, and disposition. 

b. Life Cycle. A set of processes and their temporal relationships that describe a 

continuous flow of actions and states associated with the existence of system. The 

linear sequence of phases of a system’s existence that span an initiating action to a 

closing action, with an implied future re-execution of the sequence. 

c. Telecommunications. Includes the transmission, emission, or reception of signals, 

writing, images, sounds, or intelligence of any nature, by wire, cable, satellite, fiber 

optics, laser, radio, or any other electronic, electric, electromagnetic, or acoustically 

coupled means. The term includes the telecommunications facilities and equipment 

necessary to provide telecommunications services. Telecommunications is a 

component of the information resources management system. (DR 3300-020, 

Telecommunications Mission Area Control Officer (TMACO) – Roles and

Responsibilities, 08/30/10) 

d. Telecommunications Infrastructure. The underlying foundation or framework which 

supports the delivery of information comprised of telecommunications equipment, 

services, networks, and related resources. 
B-1

APPENDIX B 

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 

AgSDLC Agriculture System Development Life Cycle 

API Application Programming Interface 

ASOC Agriculture Security Operations Center 

BPA Blanket Purchase Agreement 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CIO Chief Information Officer 

CTMP Centralized Telecommunications Management Plan 

DR Departmental Regulation 

EITG Enterprise Information Technology Governance 

ENS Enterprise Network Services 

FISMA Federal Information Security Modernization Act 

FITARA Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act 

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act 

GSA General Services Administration 

IRM Information Resources Management 

IT Information Technology 

IV&V Independent Validation and Verification 

LCM Life Cycle Management 

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology 

OCIO Office of the Chief Information Officer 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

OPM Office of Personnel Management 

POA&M Plan of Action and Milestones 

SP Special Publication 

TMACO Telecommunications Mission Area Control Officer 

TMG Telecommunications Management and Governance 

U.S. United States 

U.S.C. United States Code 

USDA United States Department of Agriculture 
C-1

APPENDIX C 

AUTHORITIES AND REFERENCES 

Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, 40 U.S.C. 1401, et seq. 

Delegations of Authority by the Secretary of Agriculture and General Officers of the 

Department, Delegations of Authority to the Deputy Secretary, the Under Secretaries and

Assistant Secretaries, 7 CFR 2.25 (a) (12), et seq. 

Digital Strategy at USDA

DR 3130-008, Definition of Major Information Technology Investments, February 27, 2015 

DR 3300-020, Telecommunications Mission Area Control Officer (TMACO) - Roles and

Responsibilities, August 30, 2010

DR 3505-003, Access Control for Information and Information Systems, February 10, 2015 

DR 4030-001, Section 508 Program, September 8, 2014 

DR 4070-735-001, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct, October 4, 2007

DR 4080-811-02, Telework Program, January 30, 2014 

Establishment of Department, 7 U.S.C. 2201, et seq. 

Federal CIO Council, Recommended Executive Branch Model Policy/Guidance on 

"Limited Personal Use" of Government Office Equipment Including Information 

Technology, May 19, 1999 

FITARA, December 19, 2014

General Authorization to Delegate Functions; Publication of Delegations, 5 U.S.C. 301, et

seq. 

GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Public Law 111-352, January 4, 2011 

Inspector General Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C., Appendix 3, Sections 1-12, et seq. 

National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Public Law 104-113, March

7, 1996 

NIST SP 800-53 Revision 4, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems 

and Organizations, April 2013
C-1

OMB Circular No. A-11, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget, July 

2013 

OMB M-13-13, Open Data Policy--Managing Information as an Asset, May 9, 2013 

Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 CFR 2635, et seq. 

The White House, U.S. CIO, 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information 

Technology Management, December 9, 2010 

USDA, OCIO, Acquisition Approval Request Instructions, January 15, 2015 

USDA, OCIO, Integrated IT Governance Framework: Guidebook, Version 3.2, April 1,

2014 

USDA, OCIO, USDA Information Technology Strategic Plan 2014-2018, April 1, 2014 

USDA, OCIO, 3300 Telecommunications Management Directive Series