TREASURY DIRECTIVE 25-03

DATE: September 18, 2020

SUBJECT: Filing Documents for Publication with the Office of the Federal Register

  1. PURPOSE. This Directive states the responsibilities and procedures for submitting Department of the Treasury documents to the Office of the Federal Register in accordance with Title 1 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Chapter 1.
  2. SCOPE. This Directive applies to all bureaus, offices, and organizations in the Department of the Treasury, including the Offices of Inspectors General within the Department. The provisions of this Directive shall not be construed to interfere with or impede the authorities or independence of the Offices of Inspectors General.
  3. DEFINITIONS.
    1. Document. Any rule, regulation, order, certificate, code of fair competition, license, notice, or similar instrument, proposed, issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the Department of the Treasury.
    2. Documents Having General Applicability and Legal Effect. Any document prescribing a penalty or course of conduct; conferring a right, privilege, authority, or immunity; imposing an obligation; prescribing, implementing or interpreting law or policy; and relevant or applicable to the general public, members of a class, or persons in a locality, as distinguished from named individuals or organizations.
    3. Filing. Making a document available for public inspection at the Office of the Federal Register. A document is filed only after it has been received, processed and assigned a publication date according to the schedule in 1 CFR 17.2.
    4. Bureau. In addition to its designated bureaus, the term bureau includes Treasury Departmental Offices and the Offices of Inspector General. For purposes of this Directive, the “head” of the bureau for Departmental Offices is the Executive Secretariat.
  4. RESPONSIBILITIES.
    1. The Heads of Bureaus are authorized to file documents directly with the Office of the Federal Register and shall:
      1. 1) ensure that any document that is to appear in the Notice section of the Federal Register and is not considered a regulation (as defined in Treasury Directive (TD) 28-03) shall be approved by the appropriate Assistant General Counsel, Chief Counsel, or Legal Counsel before approval by the bureau head and filing with the Office of the Federal Register;
      2. 2) ensure that any document that is a regulation (as defined in TD 28-03) complies with and is reviewed in accordance with TD 28-03 prior to filing;
      3. 3) designate a liaison officer, a certifying officer, and an authorizing officer in accordance with 1 CFR 16.1 to perform the duties described in 1 CFR 16.2, 16.3, and 16.4. The same person may be designated to serve in more than one of these positions; and
      4. 4) notify the Director of the Federal Register of the name, title, address, and telephone number of each person designated under 1 CFR 16.1 and promptly notify the Director of any changes.
    2. The Office of the Assistant General Counsel for General Law, Ethics, and Regulation (GLER) is the designated representative for the Departmental Offices and shall be responsible for liaison, certifying and authorizing duties described in 1 CFR 16.2, 16.3, and 16.4. GLER also shall serve as the liaison for the entire Department and when appropriate, can serve as the liaison for the bureaus.
  5. IMPLEMENTATION.
    1. All documents filed with the Office of the Federal Register must be prepared in accordance with 1 CFR Chapter 1, Part 18, Preparation and Transmittal of Documents Generally.
    2. All Privacy Act notices, Privacy Act regulations, and all computer matching notices that are to be published in the Federal Register shall be submitted to the Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records, Departmental Privacy Act Officer, for review and concurrence in accordance with TD 25-04.
    3. All Freedom of Information Act regulations that are to be published in the Federal Register shall be submitted to the Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records, Departmental Disclosure Officer, for review and concurrence in accordance with TD 25-05 and TD 28-03.
    4. Each bureau submitting a document to be filed and published in the Federal Register shall comply in accordance with the Federal Register Document Drafting Handbook (DDH). The DDH provides Federal agencies with guidance and examples for complying with the Office of the Federal Register’s format and editorial requirement for Federal Register documents.
    5. The bureau billing code must appear on the document submitted to the Office of the Federal Register. Documents without a billing code will not be published.
    6. Upon publication of a document under the Departmental Offices billing code, Departmental Offices liaison and certifying officers must notify the Office of Printing and Graphics.
  6. AUTHORITIES.
    1. 1 CFR Chapter 1, Administrative Committee of the Federal Register.
    2. Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 15).
    3. Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C., Chapter 5, Subchapter II).
  7. REFERENCES.
    1. Treasury Directive 25-04, “The Privacy Act of 1974, As Amended,” dated January 27, 2014.
    2. Treasury Directive 25-05, “The Freedom of Information Act,” dated March 1, 2000.
    3. Treasury Directive 28-03, “Review and Clearance of Regulations,” dated January 19, 2017.
  8. CANCELLATION. Treasury Directive 25-03, “Filing Documents for Publication with the Office of the Federal Register,” dated September 4, 2015, is superseded.
  9. OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of Executive Secretariat, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records, and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management.

 

/S/
David F. Eisner
Assistant Secretary for Management