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NPS Policy
Policy - General
Laws
Executive Orders & Presidential Proclamations
Regulations
NPS Policy
The NPS has adopted a 3-tiered Directives System to express policy and provide instructions for its implementation.
Level 1: NPS Management Policies
- This is the only level 1 policy statement which provides a framework for making management decisions.
- Approved by the NPS Director after review by Washington Support Office (WASO), NPS Office of Policy, and National Leadership Council (NLC).
- Adherence is mandatory (unless waived by the Secretary of the Interior (SOI), Assistant SOI, or NPS Director).
NPS Management Policies 2006
Level 2: Director's Orders (DOs)
- NPS Director's instructions for implementing management policy.
- May articulate new or revised policy.
- May provide specific instructions.
- May outline requirements or standards for NPS functions, programs, and activities.
- Approved by the NPS Director after review by WASO, NPS Office of Policy, and NLC.
- Adherence is mandatory (unless waived by the SOI, Assistant SOI, or the NPS Director).
Director's Orders & Related Guidance
Level 3: Handbooks, Reference Manuals (RMs), and other Professional Materials
Director's Orders & Related Guidance
Policy - General
- Guiding principles or procedures setting framework and providing direction for management decisions.
- May prescribe process by which decisions are made, an action is to be accomplished, or results to be achieved.
Department of the Interior (DOI) > Electronic Library of Interior Policies
- DOI policy is contained in the Departmental Manual.
Federal Register (FR)
- Policies for most agencies are usually first published in the register, as well as published separately.
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Task Force > Modernizing NEPA Implementation
General Services Administration (GSA) > Office of Government-wide Policy
Laws
- Passed by the United States (U.S.) Congress and approved by the President.
- Must be consistent with the U.S. Constitution.
- Federal laws have supremacy over state and local laws.
- Legislative history (i.e., committee reports, transcripts of congressional debates) often helps to clarify the congressional intent in enacting a law.
Congressional Record (CR)
U.S. Code (U.S.C.)
U.S. Statutes at Large
- Contains record of laws, amendments, concurrent resolutions enacted by each session of Congress.
- Organized chronologically.
- Published annually.
U.S. Congress | Library of Congress
U.S. Department of the Interior > Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs
Executive Orders (EO) & Presidential Proclamations
- Executive Orders are directives from the President to departments and agencies of the executive branch.
- Presidential Proclamations are decrees by the President under the Constitution and other authorities (e.g., Antiquities Act).
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- Since 1976 Title 3 of CFR contains an annual compilation of executive orders and proclamations.
Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders
Federal Register (FR)
- Contains executive orders, presidential proclamations, agency regulations and notices, and other public documents
- Published daily and indexed monthly.
Regulations
- Rules for complying with a federal law developed by the authorized department or agency.
- Include codification of agency policy.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- Consolidation and codification of general and permanent rules and regulations of federal agencies and presidential documents.
- There are 50 titles.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
- The principal set of rules in the FAR System.
- Regulations issued by agencies of the United States Federal government to govern the acquisition process.
- The acquisition process, through which the government purchases (acquires) goods and services, consists of three phases:
- need recognition and acquisition planning
- contract formation
- contract administration
- The FAR System regulates the activities of government personnel in carrying out the acquisition process.
Federal Register (FR)
- Regulations are first published and revised in the register.