Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/29/2020-11551/dod-guidance-documents
Timestamp: 2020-08-04 12:03:21
Document Index: 545164785

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 339', '§\u2009339', 'art 339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339', '§\u2009339']

Federal Register :: DoD Guidance Documents
A Rule by the Defense Department on 05/29/2020
Effective Date: This final rule is effective May 29, 2020.
32296-32300 (5 pages)
Docket ID: DoD-2020-OS-0019
0790-AK97
DOD-2020-OS-0019
List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 339
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-11551
This final rule sets forth the Department of Defense's (DoD) policies and processes governing the issuance and use of guidance documents. By issuing this final rule, DoD also responds to the Executive Order titled: “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents,” which requires federal agencies to finalize regulations, or amend existing regulations as necessary, to set forth processes and procedures for issuing guidance documents.
This final rule codifies the Department's policies and procedures regarding guidance documents. The policies and procedures in this final rule apply to all non-exempt DoD guidance documents, which DoD defines in § 339.1. These procedures require all DoD guidance documents to receive appropriate coordination and review. Before guidance documents are issued, they must be reviewed to ensure they are written in plain language and do not impose any substantive legal requirements on the public above and beyond statute or regulation. All guidance documents must include a clear and prominent statement effectively stating that the contents of the guidance document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way, and the guidance document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency regulations. Recognizing the fact that, even though guidance documents are not legally binding, they could nevertheless have a substantial economic impact on regulated entities that alter their conduct to conform to the guidance, this final rule requires a good faith assessment of the cost impact on the public of the guidance document.
This final rule also incorporates other policies and procedures, such as Start Printed Page 32297describing when guidance documents are subject to notice and an opportunity for public comment and how they will be made available to the public after issuance. These procedures are intended to ensure that the public has a fair and sufficient opportunity to comment on guidance documents when appropriate and practicable and has access to guidance documents issued by the Department. The final rule also provides a process for interested parties to petition the Department for the withdrawal or modification of guidance documents.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency may waive the normal notice and comment procedures if the action is a rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). Since this final rule merely incorporates procedures applicable to the Department's administrative procedures into the Code of Federal Regulations, notice and comment are not necessary.
This rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. The Department does not anticipate that this rulemaking will have an economic impact on regulated entities. This is a rule of agency procedure and practice. The final rule describes the Department's internal policies and procedures for its guidance documents. The Department has adopted these internal policies and procedures as part of its regulatory reform initiative, and has not incurred any additional resource costs in doing so. Regulated entities and the public will benefit from these policies and procedures through increased agency deliberations and more opportunities to comment on guidance documents.
Since notice and comment rulemaking is not necessary for this rule, the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-354, 5 U.S.C. 601-612) do not apply.
Executive Order 13132 requires agencies to ensure meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that may have a substantial, direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13132, and it has been determined that this action will not have a substantial direct effect or federalism implications on the States and would not preempt any State law or regulation or affect the States' ability to discharge traditional State governmental functions. Therefore, consultation with the States is not necessary.
This final rule has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13175. Because this rulemaking does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities of the Indian tribal governments or impose substantial direct compliance costs on them, the funding and consultation requirements of Executive Order 13175 do not apply.
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) requires that DoD consider the impact of paperwork and other information collection burdens imposed on the public and, under the provisions of PRA section 3507(d), obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget for each collection of information it conducts, sponsors, or requires through regulations. It has been determined there are no new information collection requirements associated with this final rule.
It has been determined that this final rule does not contain a Federal mandate that may result in expenditure by State, local and tribal governments, in aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year.
In consideration of the foregoing, the Office of the Secretary of Defense adds 32 CFR part 339 to read as follows:
Good faith cost estimates.
Departmental review and submission to OIRA.
Non-significant guidance documents.
Significant guidance document.
Notice-and-comment procedures.
Public access to effective guidance documents.
Petitions for guidance.
Rescinded guidance.
Reports to Congress and GAO.
Use of guidance documents.
§ 339.1
(c) For purposes of this part, the term guidance document includes any statement of agency policy or interpretation concerning a statute, regulation, or technical matter within the jurisdiction of the Department that is intended to have general applicability and future effect on the behavior of regulated parties, but which is not intended to have the force or effect of law in its own right and is not otherwise required by statute to satisfy the rulemaking procedures specified in 5 U.S.C. 553 or 5 U.S.C. 556. The term is not confined to formal written documents; guidance may come in a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, letters, memoranda, circulars, bulletins, advisories, and may include video, audio, and Web-based formats. See OMB Memorandum M-20-02, “Guidance Implementing Executive Order 13891, Titled “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents,” ” dated October 31, 2019.
(1) Agency statements of specific applicability, including advisory or legal opinions directed to particular parties about circumstance-specific questions (e.g., case or investigatory Start Printed Page 32298letters responding to complaints, warning letters), notices regarding particular locations or facilities (e.g., guidance pertaining to the use, operation, or control of a government facility or property), and correspondence with individual persons or entities (e.g., congressional correspondence), except documents ostensibly directed to a particular party but designed to guide the conduct of the broader regulated public;
§ 339.2
(a) Prior to submitting guidance documents for departmental review, Components seeking to issue, modify, or rescind a guidance document should submit a draft copy of that document, along with the component's designation request (see § 339.5 of this part) and good faith cost estimate (see § 339.3 of this part), to their Federal Register Liaison Officer.
(1) For significant guidance (see § 339.7 of this part), Federal Register required formatting.
§ 339.3
Even though not legally binding, some agency guidance may result in a substantial economic impact. For example, the issuance of departmental guidance may induce private parties to alter their conduct to conform to recommended standards or practices, thereby incurring costs beyond the costs of complying with existing statutes and regulations. While it may be difficult to predict with precision the economic impact of voluntary guidance, the proposing component of the Department must, to the extent practicable, make a good faith effort to estimate the likely economic cost impact of the guidance document to determine whether the document might be significant. When the component is assessing or explaining whether it believes a guidance document is significant, it will, at a minimum, provide the same level of analysis that would be required for a major determination under the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 8). When it is determined that a guidance document will be economically significant (see § 339.7(a)(1) of this part), the component must conduct and publish a Regulatory Impact Analysis of the sort that would accompany an economically significant rulemaking (see requirements in E.O. 12866, E.O. 13563, and OMB Circular A-4), to the extent reasonably possible.
(c) Guidance documents deemed by OIRA to be “significant” (see § 339.7 of this part) must be reviewed and approved by the Department's Regulatory Policy Officer before OIRA formally reviews them.
(2) The component's recommended designation of “not significant,” Start Printed Page 32299“significant,” or “economically significant,” as well as a justification for that designation.
(d) Significant guidance documents (see § 339.7 of this part) must be reviewed and approved by the Department's Regulatory Policy Officer before OIRA formally reviews them.
(a) If the guidance document is determined to be non-significant within the meaning of § 339.7 of this part, the appropriate DoD or OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer will advise the proposing component to proceed with issuance of the guidance.
(c) After the approving authority signs the non-significant guidance document, it should be forwarded to the DoD Regulatory Program staff for publication on the department's guidance document website located at https://open.defense.gov/​Regulatory-Program/​Guidance-Documents/​.
§ 339.7
Significant guidance documents.
(b) The term “significant guidance document” does not include the categories of documents excluded by § 339.1(d) or any other category of guidance documents exempted in writing in consultation with OIRA.
(e) Significant guidance documents have to be published for notice and comment in accordance with § 339.8 of this part before they can be issued.
§ 339.8
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, all proposed DoD guidance documents determined to be a “significant guidance document” within the meaning of § 339.7 shall be subject to the following notice and comment procedures. After receiving clearance from OIRA to publish a proposed significant guidance document, the proposing component shall publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that a draft of the proposed guidance document is publicly available on Regulations.gov, shall invite public comment on the draft document for a minimum of 30 days. After the comment period ends, the proposing component shall prepare and post a public response to major concerns raised in the comments, as appropriate, in the docket on Regulations.gov. Then the component will prepare a final notice that will be coordinated within the department and submitted to OIRA for review, interagency coordination, and clearance for publishing in the Federal Register. Both the proposed and final notices shall be approved by the DoD RPO before OIRA review, and by an OSD Principal Staff Assistant or equivalent appointed by the President after OIRA clearance and DOPSR approval.
§ 339.9
(1) Ensure all final guidance documents in effect are identified by a unique identifier which includes, at a minimum, the document's title and date of issuance or revision and its Z-RIN, if applicable, are published and maintained on a central website located at https://open.defense.gov/​Regulatory-Program/​Guidance-Documents/​ in a single, searchable, indexed database, and available to the public;
(4) Receive complaints from the public that a component of the Department is not following the requirements of OMB's Memorandum Start Printed Page 32300M-20-02, “Guidance Implementing Executive Order 13891, Titled “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents”,” dated October 31, 2019, or is improperly treating a guidance document as a binding requirement.
(1) Submit final guidance documents to the DoD Regulatory Policy Team at the email address osd.mc-alex.ocmo.mbx.guidance-documents@mail.mil for posting to the Department's central website.
§ 339.10
(a) Any person may petition the Department to withdraw or modify a particular guidance document by sending a written request to the DoD Regulatory Program staff at email address osd.mc-alex.ocmo.mbx.guidance-documents@mail.mil. Please use the words “GUIDANCE: [Insert the title of the guidance document]” in the subject line of the email message. The DoD Regulatory Program staff will provide the request to the issuing component of the guidance document for response.
(b) The issuing component should respond to all requests within 90 days after receipt of the request, or as timely as possible given any constraints of the request. For recordkeeping purposes, the issuing component will provide a copy of their response to the DoD Regulatory Program staff at email address osd.mc-alex.ocmo.mbx.guidance-documents@mail.mil.
§ 339.11
§ 339.12
§ 339.13
§ 339.14
[FR Doc. 2020-11551 Filed 5-28-20; 8:45 am]