Subregulatory Guidance Tracker
Federal agencies sometimes create policies or alter regulations without submitting these changes to a formal review process as required by federal law. They do so by claiming these policies are simply clarifications of existing law, and issue them in the form of “Dear Colleague” letters, bulletins, memos, circulars, examples, etc., which together are often referred to as “guidance.”
More than 100,000 pieces of guidance exist, but most are not easily found online.
In this tracker, you will find summaries of suspect guidance, with links to their text and related information. Criteria for listing guidance is available here. If you are aware of guidance not listed here that you believe might be illegal rulemaking, please contact us.
You can search for guidance updates by agency using the drop down below or by keyword using the search function.
Agencies
- Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services 3
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2
- Council on Environmental Quality 1
- Department of Agriculture 6
- Department of Education 9
- Department of Health & Human Services 2
- Department of Health and Human Services 7
- Department of Justice 5
- Department of Transportation 2
- Department of the Interior 1
- Environmental Protection Agency 5
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration 1
- Office of Civil Rights 2
- Office of Land and Emergency Management 1
- Office of Management and Budget 1
- US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 1
Programs/Issues
- Americans with Disabilities Act 2
- Bostock v. Clayton 2
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 1
- CHIP 1
- Children's Health Insurance Program 5
- Civil Rights 5
- Criminal Justice 1
- Disability 2
- Discrimination 4
- EEOC 1
- Education 1
- Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Program 1
- Environment 8
- Environmental Justice 1
- Federal Financial Assistance 1
- Federal Funding 1
- Federal Grants 1
- Food and Nutrition Service 2
- Gender Identity 3
- Healthcare 1
- Indigenous Knowledge 1
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2
- Justice 1
- Medicaid 8
- NOAA Fisheries 1
- OSHA 1
- Office of Civil Rights 5
- Recycling 1
- SNAP 4
- Section 504 2
- Small Business 1
- Social Determinants of Health 1
- State Freight Plans 1
- Students 4
- Title IV 1
- Title IX 4
- Transportation 2
- courts 1
- environmental justice 2
Have you seen guidance issued that others should be aware of? Share the details via our Guidance Spotting form.
Guidance for Emergency Responses to People with Behavioral Health or Other Disabilities
This guidance from the Departments of Justice and Health & Human Services requires states and localities to modify how they respond to emergency calls involving people with behavioral health or other disabilities.
Fines and fees levied by state and local courts and juvenile justice agencies
The US Department of Justice issued two Dear Colleague letters that discuss fines and fees commonly established by juvenile justice agencies and state and local courts, suggesting they may constitute discrimination.
Federal Nondiscrimination Obligations Regarding Transgender Youth
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter to all state attorneys general, reminding them of federal constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth against discrimination, including when those youth seek gender-affirming care.
Racial Discrimination in School Discipline
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division jointly released a resource document that highlights recent investigations of school discipline policies. This document features various investigations of discrimination in student discipline on the basis of race, color, or national origin under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Departments’ Title VI regulations.
Discrimination Based on Pregnancy and Related Conditions
On October 4, 2022, the Department of Education released new guidance for students and schools on Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination based on pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions.