Policy & Guidance Documents

TDEC, through its Bureau of Environment, has primary responsibility for many of the environmental statutes and regulations of the state of Tennessee. In some cases, TDEC may develop and implement policies and guidance to further explain statutes, regulations and procedures to assist staff and regulated entities with compliance and implementation with the statutes and regulations. Policy and Guidance are defined by TDEC as follows:

  • “Policy” means a set of decisions, procedures and practices pertaining to the internal operation or actions of an agency. These include: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Good Practice Guidelines (GxP), Checklists, Memoranda of Understanding or Memoranda of Agreement between Divisions, etc.
  • “Guidance” means a non-binding agency statement that explains the objective of rules or regulatory requirements and provides advice on compliance with the rule. These include: Compliance Guides, Regulatory Interpretive Memorandum, etc.

The draft and approved versions of Policy and Guidance documents on the links below are posted and maintained to enhance public access to information on Department programs.