Policy is official guidance issued by an organization with the intent to provide high-level procedures and protocols to achieve organizational goals and priorities.    

In the Federal government, policy follows a hierarchy. If an agency's policy conflicts with that of another level in the Federal government, this is how the conflict generally resolves:

• Federal law and regulations supersede all other corresponding federal policies. 

• The policies issued governmentwide from the Executive Branch supersede all other corresponding Departmental policies. 

• The policies of the Department of Interior supersede all other corresponding OSMRE policies. 

• OSMRE policies supersede other non-policy establishing practices, documents, and manuals.  

OSMRE does not intend to issue policy directives to restate Departmental or Federal policies. In the absence of specific OSMRE directives for a specific subject, OSMRE defaults to the Departmental and/or Federal policy or policies for that subject. Contact the OSMRE program area most closely related to the subject for more information on all policies governing that subject. 

Examples:

• Federal Legislation:
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)
• Federal Regulations, Policies, Directives:
  • Executive Orders
  • Code of Federal Regulations Title 30 : Mineral Resources
  • Office of Management and Budget Memoranda 
• Department of Interior Policies:
  • Secretary's Orders 
  • Department Manual 
• OSMRE Policies:
  • Directives (see below)

Directives are written communications provided in the form of instructions, manuals, notices, guides, policies, and certain high-level procedures. Directives assist OSMRE employees in effectively performing their jobs. Additionally, some directives are designed for use by external stakeholders.

Before 2023 some revisions to directives were enacted through Change Notices. In these cases the directive will have a subject code format with an additional dash and number (e.g. ADS-16-2). In cases where there are Change Notices associated with directives it is recommended to read the base directive first and then subsequent Change Notices.

OSMRE reviews all policy directives on a regular and recurring basis to assess continued alignment with applicable statutes, regulations, related policies, or other formal requirements, based on assigned and delegated authorities. These ongoing reviews inform OSMRE’s decision to update or rescind directives, as appropriate, to ensure continued relevance and applicability.

OSMRE employees interested in learning how to prepare, modify, or remove a directive, should consult Directive OPM-1.

OPM-1 Appendix F Action Summary was created as a desk reference for different actions in the Directives and SOP processes.

Contact the Directives Coordinator for additional resources.

When a directive is rescinded it is archived for historical purposes and is available to employees on the OSMRE Intranet. The rescission notice explaining the Bureau's decision to rescind the directive is posted on this website for at least one year. 

External stakeholders may request information on archived directives by contacting [email protected] or by phone at (202) 208-2565. The TTY telephone text number is (202) 208-2694.

For questions about the content of a specific directive please contact the OSMRE program area listed for that directive.

For questions or suggestions regarding OSMRE's Directives Program, please contact the OSMRE Directives Coordinator, Lilli Pickens-Mitchell, at [email protected].