Federal Register Document Drafting Handbook October 1998 Revision Appendix D: What's New in This October 1998 Revision? This revision of the Document Drafting Handbook is the result of feedback from Liaison Officers and other agency employees, as well as our own experience using the April 1997 revision. We expanded and clarified many sections, added new examples, and added some entirely new topics. This revision does not announce major new procedures or impose new requirements. The most significant changes include: A detailed discussion of effective and compliance dates, a well as Stays and Delays, in the DATES caption in section 2.5. New sections 2.20, Interim rule, and 2.21, Direct final rule. An expanded and rearranged Chapter 4, corrections, including, in new section 4.6, Corrections to a rule, a discussion, with examples, of Technical CFR Amendment versus Federal Register correction, according to the CFR revision date. Revised Chapter 5, Disk submissions. We have edited many sections to employ plain language techniques, such as using personal pronouns and active voice, and phrasing headings as questions. For example, many former references to "The OFR" now read "we" or "our." We have codified undesignated material in shorter chapters as numbered sections, and divided long sections into shorter ones. In the chapter-by-chapter list of changes that follows, section numbers are old numbers from the April 1997 revision, unless we use "new section." Chapter 1 : How do I write a document for the proposed rules category? 1.4 Headings. We rewrote this section to clarify different requirements for cabinet departments and non-cabinet agencies, and added an example to illustrate follow-up headings. 1.5 Preamble requirements. We now include the E-mail address for electronic filing under the ADDRESSES caption, and continue to suggest that you keep detailed information under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 1.6 List of subjects. We deleted reference to the FREND Bulletin board. 1.8 Regulatory text. We divided former section 1.8 into new sections 1.8 through 1.15. Authority citation. In new section 1.11, we rewrote the section on "statutory authority," and added new headings and titles. Numbering of rules. We added a new item about "Notes" at the end of new section 1.12. Amendatory language. In new section 1.13, we now treat the term "Amend" separately from the list of specific amendatory terms. We deleted "correct," "nomenclature change," "stay," and "suspend" from chapter 1, because these terms do not appear in proposed rules. Asterisks. In new section 1.14, we expanded and reorganized our explanations of how asterisks represent unchanged regulatory text. Cross references. In new section 1.15 we rewrote much of our explanation of how and when to use cross-references. 1.13 Checklist for proposed rule documents. To this checklist, redesignated as new section 1.20, we added new items for "words of issuance" and "asterisks," and revised the item for "disks." Chapter 2 : How do I write a document for the rules category. 2.1 What types of documents go in the rules category? We amended this section to include references to direct final rules. 2.4 Headings. We rewrote this section to clarify different requirements for cabinet departments and non-cabinet agencies, and added an example to illustrate follow-up headings. 2.5 Preamble requirements. We amended the ACTION caption to include direct final rules. We now include the E-mail address for electronic filing under the ADDRESSES caption, and continue to suggest that you keep detailed information under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We rewrote and expanded the DATES caption to distinguish more clearly between Effective Dates and Compliance Dates, and to discuss in some detail the difference between Delays and Stays. 2.6 List of subjects. We deleted reference to the FREND Bulletin board. 2.8 Regulatory text. We divided former section 2.8 into new sections 2.8 through 2.15. Authority citation. In new section 2.11, we rewrote the section on "statutory authority," and added new headings and titles. Numbering of rules. We added a new item about "Notes" at the end of new section 2.12. Amendatory language. In new section 2.13, we now treat the term "Amend" separately from the list of specific amendatory terms. We combined "stay," and "suspend" because they have the same meaning, and included under "Delay" a cross reference to the DATES caption in section 2.5. Asterisks. In new section 2.14, we expanded and reorganized our explanations of how asterisks represent unchanged regulatory text. Cross references. In new section 2.15 we rewrote much of our explanation of how and when to use cross-references. Interim Rule and Direct Final Rule. We added this new undesignated heading, and new sections 2.20 and 2.21. 2.13 Checklist for proposed rule documents. To this checklist, redesignated as new section 2.22, we added items for "words of issuance" and "asterisks," and revised the item for "disks." Chapter 3 : How do I write a document for the notices category? 3.4 Headings. We rewrote this section to clarify different requirements for cabinet departments and non-cabinet agencies, and added an example to illustrate follow-up headings. 3.5 Authority citation. We rewrote this section to clarify our requirements. 3.6 and 3.7 Preamble. We combined these two sections into new 3.6, and renumbered all remaining sections. 3.11 Examples of Notice Documents. We divided material from old section 3.11 into new sections 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12. The "Typical Notice Document" from old section 3.11 appears as new section 3.10. Sunshine Act Meetings. We designated this material, part of old section 3.11, as new section 3.11. Privacy Act Documents. We designated this material, part of old section 3.11, as new 3.12. 3.12 Checklist for notice documents. We revised the item for "disks." Chapter 4 : How do I correct my document? We designated bulleted topics as numbered sections, added italic headings, and rewrote and reorganized the entire chapter. New section 4.3, withdrawing a document before publication, is based on old section 8.12. We expanded our descriptions of agency corrections in new sections 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, and 4.8, especially in section 4.6 regarding correcting codified text before and after CFR revision date has passed. Chapter 5 : Disk documents We completely rewrote and reorganized chapter 5, to clarify the difference between uncoded and fully coded documents, and to provide more detail about how to label and prepare disk submissions. We no longer state that we will accept MS Word documents, and we provide detailed instructions about how to save these as ASCII files. Chapter 6 : What is Incorporation by Reference, and how do I do it? Although we codified the old bulleted entries as numbered sections, and did some minor editing, we made no major changes or additions to Chapter 6. Chapter 7 : Illustrations, Forms, Footnotes, Appendices, and Tables We codified the old bulleted entries as numbered sections, and divided the old item, tables, into 7.4 Redesignation tables, 7.5 Distribution and derivation tables, and 7.6 If/Then tables. Other than minor editorial changes, we made no major additions or revisions to this chapter. Chapter 8 : Frequently Asked Questions We rewrote many of the question titles, and made editorial changes throughout this chapter. We rearranged the material in old 8.3 through 8.12, receipt, filing, and publication schedules, to follow the path of a document through our production process. We deleted old 8.3, fax-on-demand, and replaced it with new 8.9, online public inspection list. We rewrote and moved the material on withdrawing a document in old 8.12 to new 4.3. Appendix A: Model letters We added introductory material to Appendix A, and revised the address in all letters to comply with U.S. Postal Service and National Archives and Records Administration guidelines. Appendix B: What Services Does the Office of the Federal Register Provide? We rewrote and rearranged this section to include information about resources available on the World Wide Web, and to emphasize the role of the Federal Register Liaison Officer as the main point of contact to arrange many or our services. Appendix C: Laws That Affect Federal Register Publication We made no changes to Appendix C. Making Regulations Readable. We changed the World Wide Web address at the end of this section.