OMB Releases Good Guidance Practices

OMB Releases Good Guidance Practices

The Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) last week issued a proposed bulletin on good guidance practices (GGP). The proposed guidelines seek to improve the manner in which Federal agencies develop, issue and use guidance documents.

Guidance documents provide helpful information to the public for understanding agency regulations. These good guidance practices should improve the transparency, quality and consistency of important agency guidance documents, said Dr. John D. Graham, OIRA Administrator.

The proposed procedures would require:

approval of significant guidance documents by senior agency officials;

standard elements for significant guidance documents, such as identifying the issuing office and who is affected, as well as avoiding unwarranted binding language;

transparency, including disclosure to the public of significant guidance documents and a comprehensive list of agencies significant guidance documents;

procedures allowing the public to request the creation or modification of significant guidance documents; and

a presumption for notice and comment for economically significant guidance documents that could lead to a $100 million impact on the economy.

The OIRA proposal comes in the form of a draft Bulletin that was released last week. The Bulletin will be modified, as appropriate, based on comments received during the public comment period, which ends December 23, 2005, and our further consideration of this issue.

For more information, visit http://www.omb.gov

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