ATF – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

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Plain Language

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires agencies to write "clear Government communication that the public can understand and use." President Obama also emphasized the importance of establishing "a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration" in his January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government.

We at ATF are committed to writing new documents in plain language by October 2011, using the Federal Plain Language Guidelines.

We need your help to comply with this Act! Let us know if you have trouble understanding our documents or the pages on our website by emailing us at: ATFExecSec@atf.gov.

We must use plain language in any document that:

• is necessary for obtaining any federal government benefit or service or filing taxes;
• provides information about any federal government benefit or service; or
• explains to the public how to comply with a requirement that the federal government administers or enforces.

We have informed our employees about the new requirement and are strengthening our oversight process. Please let us know if we haven't written a document in plain language by emailing us at: ATFExecSec@atf.gov.

We are a component agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and are reporting our progress and compliance with the Act through DOJ. http://www.justice.gov/open/plainlanguage.html

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