Code of Federal Regulations
29 CFR 1695
Guidance Procedures
29 CFR §1695.0 | APPLICABILITY
29 CFR §1695.1 | DEFINITIONS
(2) Rules exempt from rulemaking requirements under 5 U.S.C. 553(a);
(3) Rules of Commission organization, procedure, or practice;
(4) Decisions of Commission adjudications under 5 U.S.C. 554 or similar statutory provisions;
(5) Internal executive branch legal advice or legal advisory opinions addressed to executive branch officials;
(6) Commission statements of specific applicability, including advisory or legal opinions directed to particular parties about circumstance-specific questions, notices regarding particular locations or facilities, and correspondence with individual persons or entities;
(7) Legal briefs, other court filings, or positions taken in litigation or enforcement actions;
(8) Commission statements that do not set forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statute or regulation, including speeches and individual presentations, PowerPoint slides, editorials, media interviews, press materials, or congressional testimony that do not set forth for the first time a new regulatory policy;
(9) Guidance pertaining to military or foreign affairs functions;
(10) Grant solicitations and awards;
(11) Contract solicitations and awards; or
(12) Purely internal Commission policies or guidance directed solely to EEOC employees or contractors or to other Federal agencies that are not anticipated to have substantial future effect on the behavior of regulated parties outside of the government; for example, Volume I of the Commission's Compliance Manual, which is only for internal use.
(ii) To create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another Federal agency;
(iii) To alter materially the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or
(iv) To raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in E.O. 12866, as further amended.
29 CFR §1695.2 | GUIDANCE REQUIREMENTS
(b) It shall be written in plain and understandable English and avoid using mandatory language, such as “shall,” “must,” “required,” or “requirement,” unless the language describes an established statutory or regulatory requirement or is addressed to EEOC staff and will not foreclose the Commission's consideration of positions advanced by affected private parties;
(c) It shall identify or include:
(2) A unique identifier that provides information on whether the document was subject to a vote (CV) or not (NVTA), the year of issuance, and unique number of its issuance and, if applicable, a Z-RIN;
(3) The activity or entities to which the guidance applies;
(4) A short summary of the subject matter covered in the guidance document at the top of the document.
(5) A statement noting whether the guidance is intended to revise or replace any previously issued guidance and, if so, sufficient information to identify the previously issued guidance; and
(6) Citations to applicable statutes and regulations;
(7)
(ii) When binding guidance is authorized by law or is incorporated into contract, the language in paragraph (c)(7)(i) of this section may be modified to reflect either of those facts.
29 CFR §1695.3 | GOOD FAITH COST ESTIMATES
(b) When determining the likely economic cost impact, the same level of analysis should be given as that required for a major determination under the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) and the economic impact on small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
29 CFR §1695.4 | SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION
(b) If the guidance document is determined not to be significant, the Commission shall proceed with issuance of the guidance without going through the procedures described in §1695.5.
(c) In emergency situations, or when required by statutory deadline or court order to act more quickly than normal review procedures allow, the Chair shall notify OIRA and all Commissioners as soon as possible and, to the extent practicable, comply with the requirements of this part at the earliest opportunity.
29 CFR §1695.5 | SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE REQUIREMENTS
(2) Comply with the applicable requirements for regulations, including significant regulatory actions, in E.O. 12866, E.O. 13563, E.O. 13609, E.O. 13771, and E.O. 13777.
(3) Submitted to OMB for coordinated review. Proposed guidance documents that are otherwise important to the Commission's interests may also be submitted for review.
(4) Reviewed by OIRA under E.O. 12866 before issuance.
29 CFR §1695.6 | NOTICE AND PUBLIC COMMENT
(b) Notice shall be published in the Federal Register announcing that a draft of the proposed guidance document is publicly available on the Federal e-regulation website, and the proposed significant guidance document also shall be posted on the Commission website.
(c) The Commission shall prepare and post a public response to major concerns raised in the comments, as appropriate, either before or when the significant guidance document is finalized and issued.
(d) When appropriate, the Chair may determine that a guidance document that is not otherwise required to go through notice and public comment shall also be subject to a period of public comment following the document's approval by the Commission before the document becomes effective.
(e) Unless otherwise determined in writing by the Chair, upon issuing a significant guidance document, a report shall be submitted to Congress and GAO in accordance with the procedures described in 5 U.S.C. 801 (the “Congressional Review Act”).
29 CFR §1695.7 | PETITIONS
(b) Petitions may be filed with the EEOC, Office of Executive Secretariat, either electronically at the EEOC guidance portal, http://www.eeoc.gov/guidance", or in hard copy to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Executive Secretariat, 131 M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507.
(c) Upon the filing of such petition, the Commission shall consider the same and may thereupon either grant or deny the petition in whole or in part, conduct an appropriate proceeding thereon, or make other disposition of the petition.
(d) The Commission should respond to all petitions in a timely manner, but no later than 90 days after receipt of the petition, as to how it intends to proceed. Should the petition be denied in whole or in part, prompt notice shall be given of the denial, accompanied by a simple statement of the grounds unless the denial be self-explanatory.
(e) The issuance, amendment, or repeal of a guidance in response to a petition shall be considered by the Commission pursuant to its regular procedures.
29 CFR §1695.8 | PUBLIC ACCESS TO CURRENT GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS
(b) All current guidance documents shall made available through a single “guidance portal” on the Commission website, together with a single, searchable, indexed database available to the public;
(c) The guidance portal shall include a statement that guidance documents lack the force and effect of law, except as authorized by law or as incorporated into a contract;
(d) The Commission shall maintain and advertise on its website a means for the public to comment electronically on any guidance documents that are subject to the notice and comment procedures described in §1695.6 and to submit requests electronically for issuance, reconsideration, modification, or rescission of guidance documents in accordance with §1695.7; and
(e) Designate an office to receive and address complaints from the public that the Commission is not following the relevant requirements for issuing guidance or is improperly treating a guidance document as a binding requirement.
29 CFR §1695.9 | RESCINDED GUIDANCE
29 CFR §1695.10 | NO JUDICIAL REVIEW OR ENFORCEABLE RIGHTS
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