2143

(a) An agency may issue a guidance document without following the rulemaking process set forth in §§ 2121—2132 of this title.\n(b) An agency that proposes to rely on a guidance document to the detriment of a person in any administrative proceeding shall afford the person an adequate opportunity to contest the legality or wisdom of a position taken in the document.\n(c) A guidance document may contain binding instructions to agency staff members if, at an appropriate stage in the administrative process, the agency’s procedures provide an affected person an adequate opportunity to contest the legality or wisdom of a position taken in the document.\n(d) A guidance document may be considered by an agency in an adjudication process, but it does not bind the agency. If an agency proposes to act in adjudication at variance with a position expressed in a guidance document, it shall provide a reasonable explanation for the variance.\n(e) Each agency shall maintain a public and physical index of all of its effective guidance documents, publish the index on its Internet website in a conspicuous and permanent manner, and make all guidance documents readily available to the public continuously

all of its effective guidance documents, publish the index on its Internet website in a conspicuous and permanent manner, and make all guidance documents readily available to the public continuously and free of charge. The secretary shall coordinate the implementation of the provisions of this section. The agency shall have thirty (30) days as of the approval of the guidance document to publish them.\nHistory —Aug. 12, 1988, No. 170, added as § 2.20 on May 18, 2015, No. 68, § 2, eff. 30 days after May 18, 2015.