EPA Releases New Policy for Managing Draft Documents

EPA’s Office of Water has recently issued a policy for managing draft documents (click here). EPA and the Office of Water use guidance documents to support regulatory programs and provide recommendations for monitoring and sampling protocols. The Agency, to increase transparency, has issued a new policy for managing draft documents that have not been finalized in an appropriate amount of time to reduce confusion. Draft documents that have been issued more than two years ago and not been finalized are now rescinded. Draft documents recently issued, and issued in the future, must be finalized within two years of the draft date, or they will automatically be rescinded.

Existing draft guidance or policy documents that are important to the Office of Water’s national programs will need to be reissued and finalized in reasonable time in accordance with this new policy. The Office of Water intends to establish a website database with the complete collection of guidance and policy documents that are currently effective. New draft and final guidance documents will be uploaded to this database within 30 days of issuance.