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Definitions of Guidance Documents
This page provides definitions for various categories of guidance documents as desribed in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices (23 pp, 158K, About PDF):
Guidance document - an agency statement of general applicability and future effect, other than a regulatory action (U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Section I(3), Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices. January 18, 2007), that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue. (U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Section I(3), Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices. January 18, 2007.)
Significant guidance document - as defined in OMB’s Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices (Section I(4)(a)), a guidance document disseminated to regulated entities or the general public that may reasonably be anticipated to:
- Lead to an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities;
- Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency;
- Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or
- Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President’s priorities, or the principles set forth in Executive Order 12866, as further amended.
Section I(3)(b) of the Bulletin further explains what the definition of “significant guidance documents” excludes.
Economically significant guidance document - a significant guidance document that may reasonably be anticipated to lead to an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy or a sector of the economy, except that economically significant guidance documents do not include guidance documents on Federal expenditures and receipts. (U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Section I(5), Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices. January 18, 2007.)
