(a) The Administrator shall promulgate and require the observance of policies and procedures, and may take other action as he deems appropriate or necessary for carrying out the provisions and purposes of Federal laws, the policies of the Federal Highway Administration, and the regulations of this part.

(b) The Administrator or his delegated representative, as appropriate, is authorized to issue the following type of directives:

(1) Federal Highway Administration Regulations are issued by the Administrator or his delegate, as necessary, to implement and carry out the provisions of title 23 U.S.C., relating to the administration of Federal aid for highways, direct Federal programs and State and community safety programs; and title 49 U.S.C., relating to motor carrier safety; and other applicable laws and programs under his jurisdiction.

(2) Notices are temporary issuances transmitting one-time or short-term instructions or information which is expected to remain in effect for less than 90 days or for a predetermined period of time normally not to exceed one year.

(3) Orders are directives limited in volume and contain permanent or longlasting policy, instructions, and procedures. FHWA Orders are to be used primarily as internal FHWA directives.

(4) Joint Interagency Orders and Notices are used by FHWA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue joint policies, procedures, and information pertaining to the joint administration of the State and Community Highway Safety Program. Where necessary, other joint directives may be issued with other modal administrations within the Department of Transportation.

(5) Manuals are generally designed for use in issuing permanent or long-lasting detailed policy and procedure. Some of the major manuals recognized by the FHWA Directives System follow:

(i) The Federal-Aid Highway Program Manual has been established to assemble and organize program material of the type previously contained in the Policy and Procedure and Instructional Memoranda which will continue in effect until specifically revoked or published in the new manual. Regulatory material is printed in italics in the manual and also appears in this code. Nonregulatory material is printed in delegate type.

(ii) The Administrative Manual covers all internal FHWA administrative support functions.

(iii) The Highway Planning Program Manual covers the methods and procedures necessary to conduct the highway planning functions.

(iv) The Research and Development Manual series entitled, “The Federally Coordinated Program of Research and Development in Highway Transportation” describes the FHWA research and development program.

(v) The External Audit Manual provides guidance to FHWA auditors in their review of State programs and processes.

(vi) The Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Manual provides guidance to FHWA and State Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Officers.

(vii) The BMCS Operations Manual provides program guidance for all field employees assigned to the motor carrier safety program.

(viii) The Highway Safety Program Manual, issued jointly by FHWA and NHTSA, contains volumes relating to the joint administration of the program.

(6) Handbooks are internal operating instructions published in book form where, because of the program area covered, it is desirable to provide greater detail of administrative and technical instructions.

(7) Transmittals identify and explain the original issuance or page change, provide background information, and provide filing instructions for insertion of new pages and removal of changed pages, or both.

(49 U.S.C. 1655)

[39 FR 1512, Jan. 10, 1974]