Narrative:

I was working [position] ad when aircraft X called the [phone] line and requested his IFR clearance off of ZZZ airport. I began to read the clearance and then realized partially through that due to a read & initial (right&I) item this week and the team briefing that I was issuing it incorrectly. I then told the pilot halfway through reading the clearance that the clearance was cancelled and to standby. The pilot acknowledged. I went to the operations supervisor (os) and requested that he give the pilot the clearance due to not completely understanding how it is supposed to be done. The os gave a little push back and asked why I wasn't comfortable issuing it; but he finally issued it himself. The pilot then called back about 10 or so minutes later and asked for his release. I asked if he was familiar with the ZZZ obstacle departure procedure (odp) and he said he was but that he was also visual at the time. I then told him to fly the odp and issued the release once I obtained the release from the appropriate controller. The problem is that there are a few contradictory mandates as to how to issue this release. The first is that the D01 SOP states that I am to tell the aircraft to 'depart via the obstacle departure procedure' but the 7110.65 states that I must say 'depart via the (airport name) obstacle departure procedure'. Secondly; in an right&I briefing I was informed that odps are now to be included in the initial clearance given to a pilot; which I also believe goes against the 7110.65. I have searched the 7110.65 to find an example of how to clear an aircraft to their destination airport with the odp included in the clearance and I have not found one. I also asked an os in a team briefing how it is all supposed to be tied together and was given one example but it led to some ambiguity. There is a possibility of an aircraft needing to be cleared via an odp and then it somehow needs to connect into a SID and I do not know how to tie that together. The third thing is that the odp for ZZZ is for the aircraft to turn to ZZZ1 VOR and hold and then climb based on their filed route and meas. So I am unsure if I give this odp in the initial clearance if it technically changes their clearance limit to the ZZZ1 VOR or if it continues on to their filed destination. My main recommendation is that the facility find a way to do what management is mandating in the operations before they make it a rule. I have had the briefing and I have signed off on the right&I item which means I am responsible to do this new rule; but I do not understand it and I cannot be told exactly how to do it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: D01 Controller reported the facility was unable to provide clarification on issuing an Obstacle Departure Procedure clearance per the facility and national directives.

Narrative: I was working [position] AD when Aircraft X called the [phone] line and requested his IFR clearance off of ZZZ airport. I began to read the clearance and then realized partially through that due to a Read & Initial (R&I) item this week and the team briefing that I was issuing it incorrectly. I then told the pilot halfway through reading the clearance that the clearance was cancelled and to standby. The pilot acknowledged. I went to the Operations Supervisor (OS) and requested that he give the pilot the clearance due to not completely understanding how it is supposed to be done. The OS gave a little push back and asked why I wasn't comfortable issuing it; but he finally issued it himself. The pilot then called back about 10 or so minutes later and asked for his release. I asked if he was familiar with the ZZZ Obstacle Departure Procedure (ODP) and he said he was but that he was also visual at the time. I then told him to fly the ODP and issued the release once I obtained the release from the appropriate controller. The problem is that there are a few contradictory mandates as to how to issue this release. The first is that the D01 SOP states that I am to tell the aircraft to 'depart via the obstacle departure procedure' but the 7110.65 states that I must say 'depart via the (airport name) obstacle departure procedure'. Secondly; in an R&I briefing I was informed that ODPs are now to be included in the initial clearance given to a pilot; which I also believe goes against the 7110.65. I have searched the 7110.65 to find an example of how to clear an aircraft to their destination airport with the ODP included in the clearance and I have not found one. I also asked an OS in a team briefing how it is all supposed to be tied together and was given one example but it led to some ambiguity. There is a possibility of an aircraft needing to be cleared via an ODP and then it somehow needs to connect into a SID and I do not know how to tie that together. The third thing is that the ODP for ZZZ is for the aircraft to turn to ZZZ1 VOR and hold and then climb based on their filed route and MEAs. So I am unsure if I give this ODP in the initial clearance if it technically changes their clearance limit to the ZZZ1 VOR or if it continues on to their filed destination. My main recommendation is that the facility find a way to do what management is mandating in the operations before they make it a rule. I have had the briefing and I have signed off on the R&I item which means I am responsible to do this new rule; but I do not understand it and I cannot be told exactly how to do it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.