NASA Procedures and Guidelines
This Document is Obsolete and Is No Longer Used. Check the NODIS Library to access the current version: http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov
NPR 1400.1C Eff. Date: February 13, 2002 Cancellation Date: February 18, 2007	NASA Directives System Procedural Requirements w/Changes 1-4, 12/5/03
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CHAPTER 1. NASA Directives Systems

1.1 Goal

The goal of the NASA Directives System is to promote a standard process for creating, revising, reviewing, approving, publishing, and cancelling NASA policies and procedures and guidelines across the Agency.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of directives management are to document Agency and Center policies, procedures, and guidelines and to provide Agency managers with the means to effectively and efficiently convey instructions to employees, customers, and suppliers. Centers may supplement Agency directives with Center-specific guidance in the Center's directives system but must not duplicate or replicate Agency policy in the Center directives system.

1.3 Directive Types

The NASA Directives System consists of NASA Policy Directives (NPD) that are limited to policy and NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) that provide detailed procedures to implement policy. NPD's and NPR's contain standard elements as prescribed in this NPR.

1.4 Process

Directives must be prepared, reviewed, approved, and published using the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS). NODIS provides electronic means to create, review, and comment on draft documents, disposition comments, concur in the directives, approve the directives, control revisions, track document history, generate reports, and publish Agency Directives.

1.4.1 Prereview Process

1.4.1.1 The originator or originating Directives Manager (DM) creates a Directive Request Summary (NODIS NASA Headquarters Form184) for the proposed directive in NODIS. The NODIS NHQ Form184 includes basic information about the directive, such as the subject classification number, the responsible office, the subject, the purpose and justification for a directive, a list of significant changes to a revised directive, and the proposed concurring offices. NODIS automatically notifies the Management Assessment Division that a NODIS NHQ Form184 has been submitted. The Management Assessment Division verifies the data, accepts the NODIS NHQ Form184, and notifies the originating DM to enter the text of the NPD into the NASA Policy Directive Form in NODIS or to provide a Microsoft Word copy of the NPR to the Management Assessment Division to be posted in the Directives Management System (DMS) of NODIS.

1.4.1.2 Once the directive text is in NODIS, the Management Assessment Division prereviews the document to ensure that all elements of the directive are incorporated, it is in the proper format, and conforms to policies and procedures as described in NPD 1400.1 as well as this procedure and guideline. The Management Assessment Division coordinates suggested changes with the originator or DM. The originator or DM notifies the Official-in-Charge (OIC) of the office that is sponsoring the directive that the pre-review process is complete and that the NODIS NHQ Form184 is ready for approval. The OIC approves the NODIS NHQ Form184 to indicate that the proposed directive is ready to begin the Official Review Process.

1.4.2 Official Review Process

1.4.2.1 To begin the Official Review Process, the OIC releases the draft directive by electronically signing NODIS NHQ Form184 in NODIS. NODIS notifies the Management Assessment Division and the originator or DM that the NODIS NHQ Form184 is signed and that the directive is ready for official review. The Management Assessment Division assigns the draft directive the next Summary of Actions date.

1.4.2.2 Notification of Proposed Summary of Actions. After the Summary of Actions date has been assigned, NODIS places the draft directive on the appropriate monthly Summary of Actions. The Management Assessment Division e-mails a notice to all Headquarters offices that the proposed Summary of Actions is ready for review in NODIS. All Headquarters offices are asked to notify the originating office that they want to be added to or removed from the list of reviewing organizations.

1.4.2.3 The Official Review Process. The final Summary of Actions displays the list of reviewing organizations and the date when the final signature package is due to the Management Assessment Division. Within the time limit, the originating office sets the suspense date for comments and concurrences to be entered into NODIS. Reviewers should be allowed 20 days to comment on NPD's and 30 days to comment on NPR's, unless an exception has been granted to expedite or extend the review period.

1.4.2.4 The Concurrence Process

a. Mandatory Concurring Offices. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Office of Human Resources and Education, and General Counsel must review and concur in all directives. The Management Assessment Division must review and concur on the signature package to ensure that all components are included (see 1.4.2.5) and that the package has been processed in accordance with this directive (see 3.11). In the rare case in which concurrence is not achieved by negotiation between the originator and a mandatory concurrence office before the review suspense date, the nature of the impasse must be documented in the signature package in accordance with 1.4.2.5 a.(6).

b. Nonmandatory Concurring Offices. These offices review and concur in proposed directives to ensure proper and complete coordination. However, failure to meet the suspense date will permit the originating OIC to assume the office's concurrence.

1.4.2.5 Administrator's/OIC's Signature Package.

a. The originating office prepares the final hard-copy signature package that must include the following:

(1) Action Document Summary (NODIS NHQ Form 117) with all concurrences and the approval of the sponsoring OIC (print from the Final Approvals section of NODIS);

(2) The proposed directive (print NPD's from the Final Approvals section of NODIS);

(3) Disposition of Comments (an abstract or summary of the Directive Review Form Report; see Appendix C);

(4) Directive Review Form Report (Report of all Review Comments and Originator's Responses plus any comments received in hard copy) (print from the Final Approvals section of NODIS);

(5) Any additional documents that convey executive direction or final decisions on the content of the directive, including working group decision documents and supporting material for comment rejection and/or nonconcurrences;

(6) For nonconcurring offices, the originating office must provide a covering memo that states (i) the issue resulting in the nonconcurrence; (ii) the way in which the originating office attempted to resolve the issue and the outcome of those attempts; (iii) the reason(s) the issue remains unresolved; and (iv) the recommendation of the originating office;

(7) NASA Directive Request Summary (NODIS NHQ Form184) (print from the Final Approvals section of NODIS); and

(8) One copy of each directive to be cancelled by the proposed directive when it is approved.

b. The originating DM submits the Administrator's signature package to the Management Assessment Division, which reviews and approves the final signature package and processes it for submission to the General Counsel and the Associate Deputy Administrator.

1.4.3 Final Approval

All NPD's are signed by the NASA Administrator. The Headquarters Correspondence Management Office reviews NPD's against NASA correspondence standards prior to signature approval by the Administrator. Ordinarily, NPR's are signed by the OIC of the office responsible for the NPR. The Headquarters Correspondence Management Office reviews NPR's prior to OIC signature approval. When signed, a directive becomes an official NASA directive and is published in the NODIS library where it can be accessed via the Internet.

1.5 NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS)

NODIS is a computerized tool that resides on the Internet. It provides an electronic process to a. create, review, and comment on draft documents; b. disposition comments; c. concur in and approve directives; d. control revisions and track document history; e. generate reports; and f. publish and cancel Agency Directives. NODIS provides access to the current version of all approved directives in an online library. The NODIS library includes all approved Agencywide NASA Directives, access to Center-level directives, and other guidance used by NASA such as the Code of Federal Regulations, Executive Orders, OMB Circulars, and standards, enabling users access to view and print them.

1.5.1 Linking Other Guidance and ISO 9000 Documentation to NODIS

1.5.1.1 When an OIC determines that a standard, work instruction, or guidance is applicable outside the office of origination, but not appropriate for inclusion as a directive, the OIC should ensure that the document is available through linkage to NODIS. This should be coordinated with the Management Assessment Division.

1.5.1.2 Hierarchy of NASA Policy Documents. The "NASA Strategic Plan," NPD 1000.1; the "NASA Strategic Management System," NPR 1000.2; "The NASA Organization," NPR 1000.3; "Program/Project Management," NPD 7120.4; "Program and Project Management Processes and Requirements," NPR 7120.5; and the NPD's and NPG's that are currently being coordinated for the other crosscutting processes-Generate Knowledge and Communicate Knowledge-documenting the overarching management system of the Agency. The documents required by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 documentation model detail core processes and office work instructions that implement the policy and procedures promulgated in NASA directives. Only create the documentation required at each level. If there is no requirement for documentation at a particular level, do not create any. At each level, these documents should link or point to NASA Directives and other technical documentation rather than incorporating guidance that exists elsewhere. The hierarchy of NASA policy and procedure documents is as follows:

1.6 Case Files

The case file consists of all the material included in the Administrator's/OIC's Signature Package (see 1.4.2.5). The Management Assessment Division manages directives case files.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS