This page displays a list of all documents managed by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance and designated as guidance documentsGuidance DocumentsAgency statements of general applicability, intended to have future effects on the behavior of regulated parties, that set forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue, or an interpretation of a statute or regulation, with some exceptions as detailed in E.O. 13891, Section 2(b).  EPA's guidance documents lack the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract. The agency may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not posted on this website, except to establish historical facts.

EO 13891 defines guidance as documents “intended to have future effect on the behavior of regulated parties,” and specifically excludes “internal guidance directed to the issuing agency or other agencies that is not intended to have substantial future effect on the behavior of regulated parties.”

OECA has internal guidance used to establish enforcement priorities or to ensure that enforcement discretion is carried out consistently among regional enforcement offices.  These documents are not EO guidance because they are intended to affect the behavior of EPA employees, not regulated entities. These documents are available to the public, but are not on our EO 13891 Guidance Document webpage.

• Text file (CSV) of guidance documents