PART 18—PREPARATION AND TRANSMITTAL OF DOCUMENTS GENERALLY Authority: 44 U.S.C. 1506; sec. 6, E.O. 10530, 19 FR 2709; 3 CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., p. 189. Source: 37 FR 23609, Nov. 4, 1972, unless otherwise noted. § 18.1 Original and copies required. Except as provided in § 19.2 of this subchapter for Executive orders and proclamations, each agency submitting a document to be filed and published in the Federal Register 1 1 [54 FR 9680, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.2 Prohibition on combined category documents. (a) The Director of the Federal Register will not accept a document for filing and publication if it combines material that must appear under more than one category in the Federal Register. (b) Where two related documents are to be published in the same Federal Register [54 FR 9680, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.3 Submission of documents and letters of transmittal. (a) Each document authorized or required by law to be filed for public inspection with the Office of the Federal Register and published in the Federal Register (b) Except for cases involving special handling or treatment, there is no need for a letter of transmittal for a document submitted for filing and Federal Register (c) Receipt dates are determined at the time a signed original and clear and legible copies are received. [37 FR 23609, Nov. 4, 1972, as amended at 54 FR 9680, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.4 Form of document. (a) A printed or processed document may be accepted for filing for public inspection and publication if it is on bond or similar quality paper, legible, and free of adhesive or correction tape. 2 2 (b) A document in the form of a letter or press release may not be accepted for filing for public inspection or publication in the rules and regulations, proposed rules, or notices categories of the Federal Register. (c) Original documents submitted by telecommunication and authenticated by digital signatures consistent with applicable Federal standards and Office of the Federal Register technical specifications may be accepted for publication. 3 3 [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989, as amended at 61 FR 68119, Dec. 27, 1996] § 18.5 Certified copies. The certified copies or duplicate originals of each document must be submitted with the original. Each copy or duplicate must be entirely clear and legible. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.6 Form of certification. Each copy of each document submitted for filing and publication, except a Presidential document or a duplicate original, must be certified as follows: (Certified to be a true copy of the original) The certification must be signed by a certifying officer designated under § 16.1 of this chapter. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.7 Signature. The original and each duplicate original document must be signed in ink, with the name and title of the official signing the document typed or stamped beneath the signature. Initialed or impressed signatures will not be accepted. Documents submitted under § 18.4(c) may be authenticated as original documents by digital signatures. [37 FR 23609, Nov. 4, 1972, as amended at 54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989; 61 FR 68119, Dec. 27, 1996] § 18.8 Seal. Use of a seal on an original document or certified copy is optional with the issuing agency. § 18.9 Style. Each document submitted by an agency for filing and publication shall conform to the current edition of the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual in punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and other matters of style. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.10 Illustrations, tabular material, and forms. (a) If it is necessary to publish a form or illustration, a clear and legible original form or illustration, or a clear and completely legible reproduction approximately 8 1/2 (b) A document that includes tabular material may be assigned to the deferred publication schedule. See § 17.7. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.12 Preamble requirements. (a) Each agency submitting a proposed or final rule document for publication shall prepare a preamble which will inform the reader, who is not an expert in the subject area, of the basis and purpose for the rule or proposal. (b) The preamble shall be in the following format and contain the following information: AGENCY: (Name of issuing agency) ACTION: (Notice of Intent), (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), (Proposed Rule), (Final Rule), (Other). SUMMARY: (Brief statements, in simple language, of: (i) the action being taken; (ii) the circumstances which created the need for the action; and (iii) the intended effect of the action.) DATES: (Comments must be received on or before: _____.) (Proposed effective date: _____.) (Effective date: _____.) (Hearing: _____.) (Other: _____.) ADDRESSES: (Any relevant addresses.) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: (For Executive departments and agencies, the name and telephone number of a person in the agency to contact for additional information about the document [Presidential Memorandum, 41 FR 42764, September 28, 1976].) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: (See paragraph (c) of this section.) (c) The agency may include the following information in the preamble, as applicable: (1) A discussion of the background and major issues involved; (2) In the case of a final rule, any significant differences between it and the proposed rule; (3) A response to substantive public comments received; and (4) Any other information the agency considers appropriate. [41 FR 56624, Dec. 29, 1976, as amended at 54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.13 Withdrawal or correction of filed documents. (a) A document that has been filed for public inspection with the Office of the Federal Register but not yet published, may be withdrawn from publication or corrected by the submitting agency. Withdrawals or minor corrections may be made with a timely letter, signed by a duly authorized representative of the agency. Extensive corrections may require agency withdrawal of the document from publication. (b) Both the originally filed document and the withdrawing or correcting letter shall remain on file. The original document and the withdrawing or correcting letter will be retained by the Office of the Federal Register after the public inspection period expires. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.15 Correction of errors in printing. (a) Typographical or clerical errors made in the printing of the Federal Register Federal Register (1) The error would tend to confuse or mislead the reader; or (2) The error would affect text subject to codification. (b) The issuing agency shall review published documents and notify the Office of the Federal Register of printing errors found in published documents. (c) If the error was in the document as submitted by the agency, the issuing agency must prepare and submit for publication a correction document. [50 FR 12468, Mar. 28, 1985] § 18.16 Reinstatement of expired regulations. Agencies may reinstate regulations removed from the Code of Federal Regulations data base which have expired by their own terms only by republishing the regulations in full text in the Federal Register. [54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.17 Effective dates and time periods. (a) Each document submitted for publication in the Federal Register Federal Register. (b) Dates certain will be computed by counting the day after the publication day as one, and by counting each succeeding day, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. However, where the final count would fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the date certain will be the next succeeding Federal business day. (c) In the event an effective date is dependent upon Congressional action, or an act of Congress or a dispositive Federal court decision establishes or changes the effective date of an agency's regulation, the issuing agency shall promptly publish a document in the Federal Register [37 FR 23609, Nov. 4, 1972, as amended at 54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989] § 18.20 Identification of subjects in agency regulations. (a) Federal Register documents. Federal Register (1) Include a list of index terms for each Code of Federal Regulations part affected by the document; and (2) Place the list of index terms as the last item in the Supplementary Information portion of the preamble for the document. (b) Federal Register Thesaurus. [46 FR 7163, Jan. 22, 1981, as amended at 54 FR 9681, Mar. 7, 1989]