Page 257 - Large Business IRS Training Guides

APA Notice-and-Comment Process

Two Types of Regulations

There are two types of regulations:

• Legislative Regulations: when Congress simply provides an end result,

without any guidance as to how to achieve the desired result or when a
statutory provision does not provide adequate authority for the regulatory

action taken. CCDM 32.1.1.2.7

• Interpretative Regulations: issued by an agency to advise the public of

the agency’s construction of the statutes it administers. If Congress

provided specific rules and merely left gaps to fill, regulations filling those
gaps are considered interpretative. Most IRS/Treasury regulations are

considered interpretative because the underlying statute implemented by

the regulation contains the necessary legal authority for the action taken
and any effect of the regulation flows directly from that statute.

The APA requires agencies to follow notice-and comment process for legislative
rules and exempts interpretative rules from the notice-and-and comment

process. This distinction is of little significance.

187