Code of Federal Regulations Title 29. Labor § 29.89.2 Definitions

The following definitions apply for purposes of this part:

Agency means the Department of Labor or any of its agencies, agency components, offices, or other similar organizational units.

Agency head means the actual head of the respective Agency within the Department.

Department means the Department of Labor.

Guidance or guidance document means an agency statement of general applicability, intended to have future effect on the behavior of regulated persons, that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue, or an interpretation of a statute or regulation. Guidance may come in a variety of forms, including letters, memoranda, circulars, bulletins, or advisories, and may include video, audio, and web-based formats. Guidance does not include the following:

(1) Rules promulgated pursuant to notice and comment under 5 U.S.C. 553 or similar statutory provisions;

(2) Rules exempt from 5 U.S.C. 553's rulemaking requirements under 5 U.S.C. 553(a) or any other statute;

(3) Rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice;

(4) Decisions of agency adjudications under 5 U.S.C. 554 or similar statutory provisions;

(5) Internal agency statements directed to the issuing agency or other agencies that are not intended to have substantial future effect on the behavior of regulated persons;

(6) Internal executive branch legal advice or legal opinions addressed to executive branch officials;

(7) Legal briefs and other court filings;

(8) Agency statements of specific applicability, including advisory or legal opinions directed to particular persons about circumstance-specific questions (e.g., case or investigatory letters, responses to complaints, warning letters), notices regarding particular locations or facilities (e.g., an agency statement pertaining to the use, operation, or control of a government facility or property), and correspondence with individual persons or entities (e.g., congressional correspondence or notices of violations), except statements ostensibly directed to a particular person but also designed or used by the agency to guide the conduct of the broader regulated public—for example, an opinion letter to a particular person that an agency publishes or otherwise issues and then cites in a letter to a different person could be guidance;  or

(9) Agency statements that do not set forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statute or regulation, such as statements merely communicating news updates about the agency (e.g., speeches or press releases).

OIRA means the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Person includes entities such as state, tribal, and local governments;  corporations, companies, associations, labor unions, firms, partnerships, societies;  and individuals.

Pre-enforcement ruling means a formal written communication by an agency in response to an inquiry from a person concerning compliance with legal requirements that interprets the law or applies the law to a specific set of facts supplied by the person. The term includes letter rulings, advisory opinions, no-action letters, and informal guidance under section 213 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, Public Law 104–121 (Title II), as amended.

Significant guidance or Significant guidance document means guidance or a guidance document that may reasonably be anticipated to:

(1) Lead to an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal governments or communities;

(2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another Federal agency (one outside the Department);

(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof;  or

(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles of Executive Order 12866.