Exhibit 1, 011 FW 2, Template for Writing Service Manual Chapters, Fish and Wildlife Service Manual

Exhibit 1, 011 FW 2
Template for Writing Service Manual Chapters

Supersedes Exhibit 1, 011 FW 2, 01/05/09

Date: February 22, 2010

Series: Service Directives

Part 011: The Fish and Wildlife Service Manual

Originating Office: Division of Policy and Directives Management

Use this template to format and write Service Manual chapters. The Division of Policy and Directives Management (PDM) will format the headers and footers of your document before it goes to the Director’s office for signature.

Series: Series Title

Part No.: Part Title

Chapter No.: Chapter Title

New or Supersedes: If the chapter is new, type “New.” If it replaces an existing chapter, part of a chapter, a memorandum, or a Director’s Order, indicate what it supersedes and the date of the old document.

Include a table of contents only if you are writing a long chapter you can’t break up

(e.g., a chapter 6 pages or longer)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
General Topics	Abbreviated Sections/Questions
Purpose, Authorities, and Background	1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? 1.2 What is the policy? 1.3 What is the scope of this chapter? 1.4 What are the authorities for this chapter?
Topic area
Topic area
Topic area

1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? Explain why you are writing the chapter. The first “1” in “1.1” is the chapter number, and the second “1” is the section number. You type the text in 10 point Arial font. Do not use indents or tabs for any of the sections or subsections.

1.2 What is the policy? OR What are the objectives of this chapter? Include this question if you think it will clarify the Service’s overall policy. Write a short overview of the policy or the objectives of the policy. If you have a list of objectives, it will make it easier to read if you list them vertically. Write your:

A. First objective here,

B. Second objective here, and

C. Third objective here, etc.

1.3 What is the scope of this chapter? You only need to include this section if there is some question about who the policy applies to or what it covers. For example, if the policy only applies to employees who perform construction work in Alaska, then you should include this section.

1.4 What are the authorities for this chapter? Do not list all laws, regulations, and policies related to the subject—only list those that authorize us to make the requirements (it may be one authority). Do not interpret the authorities—just list them with citations in parentheses:

A. Archeological and Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 469–469c).

B. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347).

C. Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Requirements of NEPA (40 CFR 1500–1508).

1.5 What terms do you need to know to understand this chapter? This section is only necessary if you must define technical terms that people wouldn’t understand otherwise, or you use common terms in an unusual way. Do not define terms that you don’t use elsewhere in the chapter, and do not state policy in a definition; policy statements (requirements) should be in the other sections.

A. Term 1 means…

B. Term 2 means…

1.6 Who is responsible for (insert policy name)? If different offices, divisions, or positions have different responsibilities under the policy, this is where you describe them. You can list them using the standard format (A, B, C, etc.) or you can use a table. If you have a lot of responsibilities, we prefer you use a table because they are easier to read (see Table 1-1 below).

Table 1-1: Responsibilities for Developing Service Manual Chapters
These employees…	Are responsible for…
A. The Director	Approving or declining to approve proposed Service policy.
B. The Assistant Director – Budget, Planning and Human Capital	Overseeing Service directives.
C. Regional Directors	Reviewing draft chapters and providing program offices with comments.
D. The Chief, Division of Policy and Directives Management (PDM)	(1) Ensuring that Service Manual chapters are easy to read, (2) Working with program offices to develop and manage chapters, and (3) Publishing Service Manual chapters online after the Director approves them.
E. The Chief, Division of the Program Writing the Chapter	(1) Working with PDM to develop the chapter, (2) Sending the draft chapter through the Director to the Directorate for review and comment (see 011 FW 3), (3) Incorporating comments from the Directorate and preparing a final chapter for surname, and (4) Keeping the chapter up-to-date.

1.7 What questions will people ask who need to understand the policy? This is where you begin to write the meat of the chapter. Ask yourself what questions people will ask who need to understand it. Put these questions in a logical order. The following letters and numbers show how we break down subsections below the initial section of a chapter:

(1)

(2)

(a)

REMEMBER: You can’t have an “A” without a “B,” a “1” without a “2,” an (a) without a (b), etc…

(b)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(1)

(2)

1.8 Next question?

1.9 Next question?

For information on the content of this exhibit, contact Krista Holloway in the Division of Policy and Directives Management, at Krista_Holloway@fws.gov.

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