Quote Originally Posted by Airmutt View Post
A bit off topic but...

FAA orders, notices and bulletins are documents that provide information to FAA employees. These documents are essential sources of information on what the FAA expects of applicants and certificate holders. Most of these documents can be obtained on the FAA’s regulatory and guidance library.
An order is considered an “internal agency mandate”. It is issued by the agency, to agency staff to explain a position on a specific question not directly addressed by a statute or regulation. Orders, like other non-legislative rules (e.g., ACs, notices, general statements of policy), are not created under delegated authority from Congress and most do not have to go through notice and comment under the APA.
Orders are meant to be binding (or provide direction) only to FAA employees, and not the public at large. However, if an inspector feels bound to act in a particular way because of direction in the “handbook”, that decision has real practical effect to those subject to FAA regulation. Therefore, internal government documents cannot be contrary to the plain language of the regulation or any clarification in the agency’s preamble to the rule.
That is exactly on topic Dave.
That says an internal document cannot be contrary to the plain language of the regulation. And 14CFR Part 61.31(k) (2) (B) is clearly plain language, as I see it. Thanks.