Title 49

SECTION 5.35

5.35 Approved procedures for guidance documents identified as “significant” or “otherwise of importance to the Department's interests.”

§ 5.35 Approved procedures for guidance documents identified as “significant” or “otherwise of importance to the Department's interests.”

(a) For guidance proposed to be issued by an OA, if there is a reasonable possibility the guidance may be considered “significant” or “otherwise of importance to the Department's interests” within the meaning of § 5.37 or if the OA is uncertain whether the guidance may qualify as such, the OA should email a copy of the proposed guidance document (or a summary of it) to the Office of Regulation for review and further direction before issuance. Unless exempt under appendix A to the Memorandum on the Review and Clearance of Guidance Documents, 3 each proposed DOT guidance document determined to be significant or otherwise of importance to the Department's interests must be approved by the Secretary before issuance. In such instances, the Office of Regulation will request that the proposing OA or component of OST obtain a Z-RIN for departmental review and clearance through the Regulatory Management System (RMS), or a successor data management system, and OGC will coordinate submission of the proposed guidance document to the Secretary for approval.

3 See Appendix A to “Memorandum on the Review and Clearance of Guidance Documents,” available at https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/regulations/328566/gen-counsel-mem-guidance-documents-signed-122018.pdf.

(b) As with significant regulations, OGC will submit significant DOT guidance documents to OMB for coordinated review. In addition, OGC may determine that it is appropriate to coordinate with OMB in the review of guidance documents that are otherwise of importance to the Department's interests.

(c) If the guidance document is determined not to be either significant or otherwise of importance to the Department's interests within the meaning of § 5.37, the Office of Regulation will advise the proposing OA or component of OST to proceed with issuance of the guidance either through the Office of the Executive Secretariat (for Federal Register notices) or through its standard clearance process. For each guidance document coordinated through the Office of the Executive Secretariat, the issuing OA or component of OST should include a statement in the action memorandum indicating that the guidance document has been reviewed and cleared in accordance with this process.

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