Authorities and Responsibilities

1. Who approves directives?
   
   
   1. The Administrator, Deputy Administrator, or Executive Director must approve or issue directives that:

      (1) create or significantly change FHWA missions, objectives, basic organization, or policies, or

      (2) add new delegations of authority, delegate, or change existing delegations of the Administrator's authority.

   2. Core Business Unit (CBU) Program Managers and Service Business Unit (SBU) Directors may approve and issue directives that establish procedures, but do not change policy, and are within the authority specifically delegated to them by the Administrator.
      
      
   3. Office Directors may approve and issue directives consistent with the authority delegated to them by their respective CBU Program Manager or SBU Director.
      
      
   4. The Director of Administration may issue FAPG transmittals, provided that: (1) the Office of the Administrator has approved any regulatory materials in the transmittal, and (2) any nonregulatory provisions have been approved at the Washington Headquarters office director level or above.
      
      
2. What are the directives responsibilities of FHWA officials?
   
   
   1. CBU Program Managers, SBU Directors, and Office Directors are responsible for ensuring that:

      (1) directives governing their assigned functions and program responsibilities are planned, developed, issued, periodically reviewed, and revised or canceled, as appropriate,

      (2) all directives developed in their organizations meet standards and requirements of the directives system, including plain language.

      Note: All final levels of signature authority must ensure that any proposed directive has been reviewed and cleared by the DCP before signing.

   2. Originating offices are responsible for:

      (1) determining the need for issuing a new directive and revising or canceling an existing directive,

      (2) preparing the proposed or final directive using plain language that is clearly understood by all readers and providing for appropriate clearance/coordination, as well as all related background information,

      (3) avoiding gender-specific language and provisions that have a disproportionate impact on a gender or make distinctions based on gender,

      (4) initiating the development and clearance of required forms, information collections, and recordkeeping requirements, and

      (5) conducting a formal review of each permanent directive following an appropriate period after issuance to determine its effectiveness, and allow no more than 3 years after issuance to judge its current applicability and necessity.

   3. Directives Control Point. The DCP, which is in the Management Programs and Analysis Division of the Office of Information and Management Services, manages the directives system by:

      (1) providing technical assistance in all directives activities, including directives system training as requested or required,

      (2) implementing approved system requirements and standards governing all FHWA directives activities,

      (3) providing both a preliminary and final review of each directive proposed for issuance for: necessity, information collections that require Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance, duplication or conflict in policy and procedure, plain language, clarity, format, internal and external clearances, accuracy of references, grammar, style, and syntax,

      (4) arranging for approvals and postings on the FHWA Directives and Policy Memorandums website,

      (5) maintaining the master file for all directives files containing the original of the directive and transmittals, Records of Coordination and Approval form, concurrences, the FHWA internal comments, and the official file copy; arranging the transfer of historical directives files to the Federal Records Center and the National Archives and Records Administration, according to the Records Disposition Schedule,

      (6) maintaining the FHWA Directives Data Base,

      (7) conducting the Annual Directives Review, and

      (8) responding to requests and inquiries from FHWA staff and the public concerning FHWA directives matters.

      
      
      

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