1.1 Purpose. This chapter establishes the Directives Management Program, prescribes policy, outlines procedures, and assigns responsibilities for developing and maintaining effective and efficient directives within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
1.2 Policy. The Service and its constituent elements will establish and maintain an effective program for the management of its directive system to provide adequate and proper documentation of organizations, functions, delegations, policies and procedures which are central to the orderly management of the Service's activities.
1.3 Objectives. The objectives of directives management are to provide management officials a system of formal communication; provide employees with well-written instructions at the lowest possible cost; insure the directives fit the needs of the Service; assure that directives are distributed to activities to which they apply in a timely manner; and that there is an effective network of directives control in all headquarters and field activities of the Service.
1.4 Authority. These policies and procedures implement the requirements set forth in the Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR), 41 CFR 101-11.209, and the Departmental Manual, 381 DM 1.
1.5 Scope. The policies and guidelines contained in this chapter apply to all Service elements in establishing and maintaining a directives system.
1.6 Definitions.
A. Directive. A directive means a written communication that states policies, and initiates or governs action, conduct, or procedures. Directives are often issued as manuals, circulars, notices, regulations, orders, and handbooks, and include numbered material usually issued to multiple addressees in multiple copies for insertion in policy, administrative and operations manuals.
B. Directives Management. Directives management means the effective and efficient development of controlled directives and their distribution, use, maintenance and disposition.
1.7 Responsibilities.
A. Assistant Director - Policy, Budget and Administration. The Assistant Director - Policy, Budget and Administration has oversight responsibility for assuring compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
B. Division of Policy and Directives Management. The Division of Policy and Directives Management is responsible for:
(1) Developing and managing the program for the Assistant Director - Policy, Budget and Administration; and
(2) Planning, organizing, controlling, and monitoring the directives management program of the Service.
C. Regional Directors. Each Regional Director is responsible for:
(1) Appointing a Directives Officer and
(2) Assuring that any regional directives are consistent with the requirements of this chapter and not inconsistent with Service directives published pursuant to 010 FW 1.
1.8 Mandatory Requirements. The following requirements apply to the Service's directives system:
A. Directives will be prepared and maintained to carry out Service assigned responsibilities;
B. A directive will be issued that states the purpose, responsibility and procedures of the Service's directives system (010 FW 1);
C. Directives will be organized systematically so that they are readily available to users by:
(1) Developing an integrated directives system that includes all Service policies and procedures.
(2) Annually updating indexes of directives and other finding aids;
(3) Establishing distinctive formats for directives so recipients can recognize them as authoritative instructions;
(4) Differentiating between permanent and temporary directives and ensuring that temporary directives carry an expiration date; and
(5) Maintaining directives in a form such as looseleaf binders or microfiche, where obsolete or revised material may be easily removed and inserted.
D. Ensuring that directives are useful by:
(1) Providing users with only necessary information;
(2) Writing directives in a clear, concise manner and in the simplest and most easily understood language for the intended audience.
(3) Keeping directives current by issuing changes as needed; and
(4) Providing for the issuance of supplemental directives, when necessary, for adoption to local conditions by regional and other organizational components.
E. Establishing review procedures for proposed directives to ensure that they are necessary, accurate, complete, and do not contain excessive detail.
F. Establishing procedures to ensure that proposed directives will be coordinated and cleared to avoid issuing conflicting policies and procedures.
G. Requiring originators to review, biennially, each directive for need and correctness.
H. Reviewing and updating directives distribution lists at least annually.
I. Distributing checklists of current directives, at least annually, so users can determine whether they have received relevant directives.
J. Providing training opportunities or written guidance on:
(1) The importance of a directive system to provide written instructions for accomplishing program objectives; and
(2) The use of appropriate directives format.
K. Establishing procedures for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the directives system; and
L. Maintaining an archival collection of directives that document Service organization, functions, program, policies, decisions and procedures.
Note that Director's Order 162 amended this chapter.