Significant Guidance Documents

This Department of Defense website provides the public with a list of significant guidance documents currently in effect, a link to the individual document, and identifies the DOD Component that issued the guidance.

Background

• On January 18, 2007, the President issued Executive Order 13422, “Further Amendment to Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review,” which was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 14, on Tuesday, January 23, 2007, Presidential Documents.

• The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a final bulletin on January 18, 2007, “Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices” (GGP Bulletin), which was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 16, on Thursday, January 25, 2007, Notices.

Guidance documents assist the public in their compliance with agency regulations. The Executive Order and GGP Bulletin define a guidance document as “an agency statement of general applicability and future effect, other than a regulatory action, that set forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue.” The Executive Order and the GGP Bulletin set forth requirements for the issuance of “significant” and “economically significant” guidance documents to ensure that agencies issue guidance that is of high quality, developed with appropriate agency review, and with public participation. The Department’s Regulatory Policy Officer will ensure that the Office of Management and Budget receives advance notification of any significant guidance documents.

Public Comment or Feedback

Members of the public who have comments or feedback on a significant guidance document, that is in effect, should contact the DOD Component that issued the guidance. If the issue is not resolved, please contact the Chief, Information Management Division, Executive Services Directorate (WHS) at GuidanceDoc@whs.mil. Please use the words "SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE: [Insert the title of the significant guidance document from the list below]" in the subject line of the e-mail message. Public comments submitted by this manner will be used for the benefit of the Department and do not require formal response.

When the Department of Defense is developing a significant guidance document, the public will be afforded the opportunity to provide comments on the draft document. The Department of Defense will post draft guidance documents on the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at www.regulations.gov. To submit comments on a significant guidance document, please follow the instructions on the FDMS website using the docket number assigned to the document. Alternatively, comments may be mailed to: Federal Docket Management System Office, 1160 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1160. Submissions received must include the docket number. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing at www.regulations.gov, as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

Significant Guidance Documents

Currently there are no significant guidance documents listed for the Department of Defense. The Department continues to identify any significant guidance documents that were developed prior to the Executive Order and the GGP Bulletin and will, in the future, list any identified on this website.