| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| Q: |
What is the DOE Directives Program?
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| A: |
The Departmental Directives Program is the official means for proposing, agreeing upon, documenting, promulgating, and cataloging Departmental
policies, requirements, and procedures. Typically they are written by staff offices for implementation by program offices of the whole
Department.
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| Q: |
How many types of directives are there?
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| A: |
There are five types of directives in the Directives Program: Policies, Orders, Notices, Manuals, and Guides.
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| Q: |
How is each directive identified?
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| A: |
Each directive is identified by an alphabetical prefix for Policies, Orders, Notices, Manuals, and Guides (P, O, N, M, and G, respectively).
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| Q: |
What is an OPI?
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| A: |
An OPI is the Office of Primary Interest that develops and maintains a directive or directives within its functional areas.
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| Q: |
Who administers the Directives Program?
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| A: |
The Office of Information Resources (MA-44), a part of the Office of Administration, within the
Office of Management manages the Directives
Program.
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| Q: |
Why are some of the directives restricted from the general public?
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| A: |
Public access was restricted to several Office of Security and Safety Performance Assurance, Office of the Chief Information Officer, and Office
of Intelligence and Counterintelligence directives in May 2002, at the request of those offices. The availability of the restricted directives
presented an unneeded disclosure of sensitive Departmental operating procedures.
Questions regarding this matter should be directed to Geralyn Praskievicz.
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| Q: |
Who can I contact for information or assistance on writing a directive?
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| A: |
You may contact the Directives Management Team by sending an e-mail to Directives Management Team.
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| Writing a Directive |
| Q: |
What are the writer's responsibilities? |
| A: |
| 1. |
Develop draft directive within their functional area.
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| 2. |
Submit a justification memorandum to the Office of Management (MA-1) through the Office of Information Resources (MA-44).
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| 3. |
Pre-coordinate draft directive with stakeholder/user community and with any other relevant points of contact.
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| 4. |
Respond to all comments and resolve all major comments.
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| 5. |
Incorporate agreed upon comments into the draft directive.
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| 6. |
Provide MA-44 with a redline/strikeout of draft directive.
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| 7. |
Provide final package (which includes an approval memo signed by their Secretarial Officer, synopsis, and the final draft directive) to MA-44 for
approval to publish.
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| Q: |
What is the effective date of a directive? |
| A: |
The effective date is the date the directive is approved by the appropriate official. |
| Q: |
What writing style should I use when writing a directive? |
| A: |
Writers should use the active voice, plain English, and strive for clarity. Editors are available to guide you. |
| Q: |
How are directives numbered? |
| A: |
| 1. |
An alphabetical prefix consisting of "DOE" or "HQ" (Department of Energy and Headquarters, respectively) followed by a space;
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| 2. |
an additional alphabetical prefix denoting Policies, Orders, Manuals, Notices, and Guides (P, O, M, N, and G, respectively) followed by a space;
and
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| 3. |
a three-digit Arabic number identifying the subject matter category and a sequential Arabic number suffix. In addition, when a directive is
revised (except Notice), it retains its original number and an alphabetical character is added at the end of the suffix. In the case of a page
change, the number is retained and the change is denoted by "Chg" and an Arabic number on each changed page.
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| Coordination Procedures |
| Q: |
Who approves coordination of directives? |
| A: |
The Director of Information Resources is the approving official for coordination of directives.
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| Q: |
How can we track our coordination? |
| A: |
The online Review and Comment System (RevCom) is the web-based system for tracking the coordination of draft
directives. For each draft directive, a DMTeam analyst tracks and monitors the coordination process.
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| Q: |
What is the difference between Major and Suggested comments in RevCom? |
| A: |
When submitting comments to RevCom, all comments must be identified as either "Major Comments" or "Suggested Comments." Major comments address
issues serious enough to preclude or significantly hamper the Department's ability to do any of the following:
- Accomplish policy objectives and missions;
- Comply with applicable laws, rules, and regulations; or
- Fulfill contractual obligations and formal commitments.
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| Q: |
Who may make official comments on draft directives? |
| A: |
Official comments are received from the Headquarters Directives Points of Contact (DPCs) and must be approved by the Secretarial Officer or
senior level designee. Headquarters DPCs consolidate comments received from their subject matter experts. Headquarters DPCs who represent Lead
Program Secretarial Offices receive comments from their subject matter experts and field DPCs. Note that at each successive step up the LPSO's
hierarchy, comments can be included, excluded, edited, etc.
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| Posting and Record Keeping |
| Q: |
Where will directives be posted? |
| A: |
All directives are posted on the DOE Directives Portal. |
| Q: |
Who will post the directives? |
| A: |
The Office of Information Resources (MA-44) will post the directives.
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| Q: |
What file format is being used? |
| A: |
The final directive is posted in HTML and PDF format. The PDF version of the file is the document's official version.
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| Q: |
Who maintains the original approval memo for DOE directives? |
| A: |
The original approval memo and all corresponding documents are maintained by the Office of Information Resources (MA-44).
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