§ 301. — Departmental regulations.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC301]
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
PART I--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
CHAPTER 3--POWERS
Sec. 301. Departmental regulations
The head of an Executive department or military department may
prescribe regulations for the government of his department, the conduct
of its employees, the distribution and performance of its business, and
the custody, use, and preservation of its records, papers, and property.
This section does not authorize withholding information from the public
or limiting the availability of records to the public.
(Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 379.)
Historical and Revision Notes
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Revised Statutes and
Derivation U.S. Code Statutes at Large
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5 U.S.C. 22. R.S. Sec. 161.
Aug. 12, 1958, Pub.
L. 85-619, 72 Stat.
547.
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The words ``Executive department'' are substituted for
``department'' as the definition of ``department'' applicable to this
section is coextensive with the definition of ``Executive department''
in section 101. The words ``not inconsistent with law'' are omitted as
surplusage as a regulation which is inconsistent with law is invalid.
The words ``or military department'' are inserted to preserve the
application of the source law. Before enactment of the National Security
Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat. 578), the Department of the Army, the
Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force were
Executive departments. The National Security Act Amendments of 1949
established the Department of Defense as an Executive Department
including the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and
the Department of the Air Force as military departments, not as
Executive departments. However, the source law for this section, which
was in effect in 1949, remained applicable to the Secretaries of the
military departments by virtue of section 12(g) of the National Security
Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat. 591), which provided:
``All laws, orders, regulations, and other actions relating to the
National Military Establishment, the Departments of the Army, the Navy,
or the Air Force, or to any officer or activity of such establishment or
such departments, shall, except to the extent inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act, have the same effect as if this Act had not been
enacted; but, after the effective date of this Act, any such law, order,
regulation, or other action which vested functions in or otherwise
related to any officer, department, or establishment, shall be deemed to
have vested such function in or relate to the officer, or department,
executive or military, succeeding the officer, department, or
establishment in which such function was vested. For purposes of this
subsection the Department of Defense shall be deemed the department
succeeding the National Military Establishment, and the military
departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force shall be deemed the departments
succeeding the Executive Departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force.''
This section was part of title IV of the Revised Statutes. The Act
of July 26, 1947, ch. 343, Sec. 201(d), as added Aug. 10, 1949, ch. 412,
Sec. 4, 63 Stat. 579 (former 5 U.S.C. 171-1), which provides ``Except to
the extent inconsistent with the provisions of this Act [National
Security Act of 1947], the provisions of title IV of the Revised
Statutes as now or hereafter amended shall be applicable to the
Department of Defense'' is omitted from this title but is not repealed.
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable
and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Improvements in Identification-Related Documents
Pub. L. 104-208, div. C, title VI, Sec. 656, Sept. 30, 1996, 110
Stat. 3009-716, as amended by Pub. L. 106-69, title III, Sec. 355, Oct.
9, 1999, 113 Stat. 1027, provided that:
``(a) Birth Certificates.--
``(1) Standards for acceptance by federal agencies.--
``(A) In general.--
``(i) General rule.--Subject to clause (ii), a Federal
agency may not accept for any official purpose a certificate
of birth, unless the certificate--
``(I) is a birth certificate (as defined in paragraph (3));
and
``(II) conforms to the standards set forth in the regulation
promulgated under subparagraph (B).
``(ii) Applicability.--Clause (i) shall apply only to a
certificate of birth issued after the day that is 3 years
after the date of the promulgation of a final regulation
under subparagraph (B). Clause (i) shall not be construed to
prevent a Federal agency from accepting for official
purposes any certificate of birth issued on or before such
day.
``(B) Regulation.--
``(i) Consultation with government agencies.--The
President shall select 1 or more Federal agencies to consult
with State vital statistics offices, and with other
appropriate Federal agencies designated by the President,
for the purpose of developing appropriate standards for
birth certificates that may be accepted for official
purposes by Federal agencies, as provided in subparagraph
(A).
``(ii) Selection of lead agency.--Of the Federal
agencies selected under clause (i), the President shall
select 1 agency to promulgate, upon the conclusion of the
consultation conducted under such clause, a regulation
establishing standards of the type described in such clause.
``(iii) Deadline.--The agency selected under clause (ii)
shall promulgate a final regulation under such clause not
later than the date that is 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act [Sept. 30, 1996].
``(iv) Minimum requirements.--The standards established
under this subparagraph--
``(I) at a minimum, shall require certification of the birth
certificate by the State or local custodian of record
that issued the certificate, and shall require the use
of safety paper, the seal of the issuing custodian of
record, and other features designed to limit tampering,
counterfeiting, and photocopying, or otherwise
duplicating, the birth certificate for fraudulent
purposes;
``(II) may not require a single design to which birth
certificates issued by all States must conform; and
``(III) shall accommodate the differences between the States
in the manner and form in which birth records are stored
and birth certificates are produced from such records.
``(2) Grants to states.--
``(A) Assistance in meeting federal standards.--
``(i) In general.--Beginning on the date a final
regulation is promulgated under paragraph (1)(B), the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the
Director of the National Center for Health Statistics and
after consulting with the head of any other agency
designated by the President, shall make grants to States to
assist them in issuing birth certificates that conform to
the standards set forth in the regulation.
``(ii) Allocation of grants.--The Secretary shall
provide grants to States under this subparagraph in
proportion to the populations of the States applying to
receive a grant and in an amount needed to provide a
substantial incentive for States to issue birth certificates
that conform to the standards described in clause (i).
``(B) Assistance in matching birth and death records.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services, acting through the Director of the National Center
for Health Statistics and after consulting with the head of
any other agency designated by the President, shall make
grants to States to assist them in developing the capability
to match birth and death records, within each State and
among the States, and to note the fact of death on the birth
certificates of deceased persons. In developing the
capability described in the preceding sentence, a State that
receives a grant under this subparagraph shall focus first
on individuals born after 1950.
``(ii) Allocation and amount of grants.--The Secretary
shall provide grants to States under this subparagraph in
proportion to the populations of the States applying to
receive a grant and in an amount needed to provide a
substantial incentive for States to develop the capability
described in clause (i).
``(C) Demonstration projects.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services, acting through the Director of the National
Center for Health Statistics, shall make grants to States for a
project in each of 5 States to demonstrate the feasibility of a
system under which persons otherwise required to report the
death of individuals to a State would be required to provide to
the State's office of vital statistics sufficient information to
establish the fact of death of every individual dying in the
State within 24 hours of acquiring the information.
``(3) Birth certificate.--As used in this subsection, the term
`birth certificate' means a certificate of birth--
``(A) of--
``(i) an individual born in the United States; or
``(ii) an individual born abroad--
``(I) who is a citizen or national of the United States at
birth; and
``(II) whose birth is registered in the United States; and
``(B) that--
``(i) is a copy, issued by a State or local authorized
custodian of record, of an original certificate of birth
issued by such custodian of record; or
``(ii) was issued by a State or local authorized
custodian of record and was produced from birth records
maintained by such custodian of record.
``[(b) Repealed. Pub. L. 106-69, title III, Sec. 355, Oct. 9, 1999,
113 Stat. 1027.]
``(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act [Sept. 30, 1996], the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall submit a report to the Congress on ways to reduce the fraudulent
obtaining and the fraudulent use of birth certificates, including any
such use to obtain a social security account number or a State or
Federal document related to identification or immigration.
``(d) Federal Agency Defined.--For purposes of this section, the
term `Federal agency' means any of the following:
``(1) An Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of title 5,
United States Code).
``(2) A military department (as defined in section 102 of such
title).
``(3) An agency in the legislative branch of the Government of
the United States.
``(4) An agency in the judicial branch of the Government of the
United States.''
Equal Opportunity in Federal Employment
Establishment of equal employment opportunity programs by heads of
Executive departments and agencies, see Ex. Ord. No. 11246, Sept. 24,
1965, 30 F.R. 12319 and Ex. Ord. No. 11478, Aug. 8, 1969, 34 F.R. 12985,
set out as notes under section 2000e of Title 42, The Public Health and
Welfare.
