NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 1400.1I Effective Date: November 01, 2024 Expiration Date: November 01, 2029

Subject: NASA Directives Procedural Requirements

Responsible Office: Chief of Staff

Chapter 1. NASA Directives

1.1 Overview

1.1.1 A NASA directive is a document that formally prescribes internal policies or requirements derived from law, Presidential direction, Federal regulation, or direction from the NASA Administrator or other senior NASA officials that is managed under the procedural requirements of this directive.

1.1.2 NASA directives may be issued by Officials-in-Charge of Headquarters organizations or NASA Center Directors.

1.1.3 NASA directives:

a. Establish policies and organizations.

b. Define purpose of existence and reason for revisions.

c. Assign authority and responsibilities.

d. Establish procedural requirements.

1.1.4 Revisions to Agency-level directives are developed, coordinated, and promulgated according to this directive to ensure that:

a. They are necessary for the fulfillment of NASA's mission and support adherence to applicable Federal laws, policies, and responsible standards of behavior.

b. Those assigned specific responsibilities and those responsible for assessing certain risks and impacts have an opportunity to provide comments and identify concerns.

c. Feedback is provided to the comments or concerns of required concurrers or required reviewers. Feedback on comments may be addressed individually, all together for specific paragraphs, or as a single consolidated response to multiple comments pertaining to the same matter.

d. They include an explanation of how the requirements in the directive will be verified for compliance.

1.1.5 NASA directives are promulgated by an Official-in-Charge (OIC) or Center Director as authorized by an external requirement or the assignment of specific responsibilities over a subject area in NPD 1000.3, The NASA Organization, or in other NASA directives.

1.2 General Provisions Governing NASA Directives

1.2.1 NASA directives are published in the NODIS Library at http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

1.2.1.1 Agency-level directives include:

a. NPDs that state the Agency's policies. b. NPRs that provide detailed responsibilities and procedural requirements to implement policy. c. NIDs that provide an immediate, short-term statement of the Agency's policies or procedural requirements. d. NPSs and NPIs provide immediate policy or procedural clarification by the Office of the Administrator.

1.2.1.2 Center-level directives include CPDs, CPRs, and CIDs and have the same general provisions as Agency-level directives.

1.2.2 Agency-level directives may apply to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)), other contractors, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements, and parties to other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contract, grant, or agreement. When NASA directives apply to JPL, other contractors, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements, or parties to other agreements, the contract, grant, or agreement should specify which specific requirements from directives apply. Conversely, requirements directed toward civil servants and contractors should be clearly delineated within directives so that contractors, grantees, or parties to agreements can appropriately identify which requirements apply. See paragraphs 2.6.1b and 2.19.6 note for delineating examples.

1.2.3 Approved NASA directives are in effect for a maximum of five years. However, the Chief of Staff may direct a shorter expiration, and revisions are made whenever a change is warranted. See content and structure requirements in Chapter 3 and process requirements in Chapter 4.

1.2.4 A waiver to Agency-level requirements may be requested. See process requirements in Chapter 5.

1.2.5 NPDs and NPRs are coordinated in the NODIS Document Management System (DMS) according to the established monthly directives review cycle schedule, and NIDs are coordinated outside of NODIS. See process requirements in Chapter 4.

1.3 Description and Hierarchy of NASA Directives

1.3.1 NPD 1400.1, Figure 1 of Attachment C, provides the hierarchy of NASA directives, and Appendix A of this directive provides the definitions.

1.3.2 In the event of a conflict among the top-level directives (e.g., NPD 1000.0, NPD 1000.3, and NPD 1000.5, Policy for NASA Acquisition), the information provided in the highest-ranking directive (i.e., NPD 1000.0) takes precedence.

1.3.3 In the event of a conflict among the top-level directives and one or more NPD/CPD and/or NPR/CPR, the information provided in the top-level directive(s) takes precedence. NASA directives may not be revalidated unless the conflict is resolved.

1.3.4 In the event of a conflict between an NID, NPD, and an NPR, the information provided in the NID takes precedence. For example, an NID to NPD 1400.1 would take precedence over NPD 1400.1.

Note: NIDs are included in the hierarchy at the same level of the directive it is intended to replace or update (i.e., an NID that is published in place of an NPD or NPR is included in the hierarchy at the level of either directive type).

1.3.5 In the event of a conflict between an NPD and an NPR with a Center-level directive, the information provided in the NPD or NPR takes precedence.

1.3.6 In the event of a conflict between a CPD and a CPR, the information provided in the CPD takes precedence.

1.3.7 In the event of a conflict between two or more equally ranking documents, the directive assigned to the office that is responsible for the function or program takes precedence.

Note 1: Attachment D of NPD 1400.1 establishes the flow and order of precedence and displays the hierarchical relationship between directives and NASA internal requirement documents.

Note 2: Readers may report conflicts to the Directives Manager (DM) to initiate resolution. See section 5.3.

1.3.8 In the event of a conflict between Office of the Administrator direction via an Agency Governance Council decision memorandum, an NPS, or an NPI with a published NID, NPD, or NPR, the Office of the Administrator direction takes precedence if the accompanying document directs modification of an NID, NPD or NPR and such modification has not yet been completed.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS

This document does not bind the public, except as authorized by law or as incorporated into a contract. This document is uncontrolled when printed. Check the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) Library to verify that this is the correct version before use: https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov.