



Process Document Consolidation                            L. Eggert, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                                   Mozilla
Updates: 2850, 3710, 4949, 8713, 9281 (if                31 January 2026
         approved)                                                      
Intended status: Best Current Practice                                  
Expires: 4 August 2026


                      The IETF Chair May Delegate
                 draft-eggert-procon-chair-delegate-01

Abstract

   This document affirms that the IETF Chair may delegate some of their
   responsibilities to other Area Directors, and updates several
   existing RFCs to enable that.  It also defines a succession of
   emergency stand-ins in case the IETF Chair becomes incapacitated.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at https://ietf-wg-
   procon.github.io/ietf-chair-may-delegate/draft-eggert-procon-chair-
   delegate.html.  Status information for this document may be found at
   https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-eggert-procon-chair-delegate/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the procon Working Group
   mailing list (mailto:procon@ietf.org), which is archived at
   https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/procon/.  Subscribe at
   https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/procon/.

   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/ietf-wg-procon/ietf-chair-may-delegate.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.







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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 4 August 2026.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Emergency Stand-In  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.1.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.2.  Delegation of the IETF Chair Role . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Separating the IETF Chair and IESG Chair Roles  . . . . . . .   4
     3.1.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.2.  Delegation of the IESG Chair Role . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.  Delegation of the IAB Membership  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.1.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.  Delegation of the IAB Member Role . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   5.  Delegation of the General Area Director Role  . . . . . . . .   7
     5.1.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.2.  Delegation of the GEN Area AD Role  . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6.  Other Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     6.1.  Staff Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   7.  Other Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     7.1.  Liaison Statements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     7.2.  Transgressions of the IETF Guidelines for Conduct . . . .   9
     7.3.  Appointments to the Ombuds-, Moderator and Last-Call List
           Moderation Teams  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     7.4.  Serving on the IETF LLC Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   10. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   11. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10



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     11.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     11.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

1.  Introduction

   Throughout the history of the IETF, the role of the IETF Chair has
   always been filled by a single person.  None of the foundational
   documents of the organization precisely define the role, but most are
   written with an understanding that the role is filled by a single
   person who is then tasked with numerous responsibilities.  The
   expired Internet-Draft [I-D.carpenter-ietf-chair-tasks] attempted to
   define the role of the IETF Chair more precisely but was not taken
   forward.

   Few documents explicitly say that the IETF Chair may delegate some of
   these responsibilities.  Over time, this has created a situation
   where even a full-time commitment by a single person may no longer be
   sufficient to fulfill all of these roles and duties.  There may also
   be periods of high activity where not all duties can be performed due
   to other, higher-priority tasks.

   Also, the role of the IETF Chair is a single point of failure for the
   organization, with no defined processes for allowing others to
   quickly and/or temporarily take over aspects of the role if the IETF
   Chair becomes partially or fully unable to serve.  (The defined
   process is that for "mid-term vacancies" per Section 3.5 of
   [RFC8713], which can take up to six weeks to complete and only allows
   for the permanent replacement of the IETF Chair by another
   individual.)

   Single bottlenecks like this have obvious scaling and fault tolerance
   issues.  This document hence explicitly allows the IETF Chair to
   delegate some of their responsibilities to one or more other Area
   Directors.  It leaves it up to each IETF Chair to determine if they
   would like to delegate some of their responsibilities, and if so,
   which ones, to whom and when.

   One model that is specifically enabled by this document is a
   separation of the roles of the IETF Chair from that of the IESG
   Chair, allowing another Area Director to take over the chairperson
   role of the IESG and its associated responsibilities.  It also
   enables delegation of the IETF Chair's full IAB membership and
   delegation or sharing of the role of the General Area Director.

   This document does not require or even recommend that the IETF chair
   delegate any of their duties, it merely permits them to do so if they
   so choose.  Specifically, with these changes, it should be possible



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   for the IESG to request the selection of a General Area Director who
   is not at the same time also the IETF Chair, to whom the IETF Chair
   may then delegate some of their responsibilities.

   There must be community transparency about which roles the IETF Chair
   has delegated to which other Area Director, and for which time.  This
   transparency can be guaranteed in several ways, such as through the
   IESG website or public email.  Such operational details are left to
   the discretion of the IESG.

2.  Emergency Stand-In

   This section describes who may stand in for the IETF Chair in case of
   emergency if they become unable to fulfill their duties.

2.1.  Background

   As described in Section 1, the IETF Chair role is at the moment a
   single point of failure for the organization.  In an emergency that
   incapacitated the IETF Chair, a recall petition followed by executing
   a "mid-term vacancy" replacement would need to be executed to name a
   new IETF Chair.  This process will likely take several weeks at best,
   during which time there is no defined stand-in for the IETF Chair.

      |  Section 7.1.1 of [RFC8713] currently prevents NomCom-ineligible
      |  IETF participants from being signatories on recall petitions.
      |  This includes anyone serving in a NomCom-selected role.  This
      |  could be an issue, since IESG, IAB and LLC Board members may be
      |  first-hand witnesses to reasons that would merit an IETF Chair
      |  recall, but they are currently unable to initiate one directly.

2.2.  Delegation of the IETF Chair Role

   This document proposes that the IETF Chair, at their sole discretion,
   designates another Area Director as their stand-in immediately upon
   being seated and at anytime afterward in case changes need to be
   made.  In case the IETF Chair becomes incapacitated, the stand-in
   will automatically and immediately assume the role of the IETF Chair.
   This emergency delegation ends as soon as the NomCom appoints a new
   IETF Chair or the IETF Chair declares themselves fit for duty again.

3.  Separating the IETF Chair and IESG Chair Roles

   This section analyzes which RFCs imply that the IETF Chair and IESG
   Chair roles need to be filled by the same person, and makes updates
   that would allow a separation.





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3.1.  Background

   [RFC2026] is surprisingly silent on the role of the IETF Chair, only
   mentioning it in Section 14 of [RFC2026] as part of the terminology:

      Area Director - The manager of an IETF Area.  The Area Directors
      along with the IETF Chair comprise the Internet Engineering
      Steering Group (IESG).

      Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) - A group comprised of
      the IETF Area Directors and the IETF Chair. (...)

   Similarly, the role of the IESG Chair is only briefly mentioned in
   Section 6.5.2 of [RFC2026] as part of how process failures are
   handled:

      If an individual should disagree with an action taken by the IESG
      in this process, that person should first discuss the issue with
      the IESG Chair.  If the IESG Chair is unable to satisfy the
      complainant then (...)

   [RFC2026] does not require the IETF Chair to also fulfill the role of
   IESG Chair.  Section 1.2 of [RFC1602], the earlier revision of the
   standards process that [RFC2026] obsoletes, is an Informational RFC
   and does include text to that effect, however:

      The IESG is composed of the IETF Area Directors and the
      chairperson of the IETF, who also serves as the chairperson of the
      IESG.

   Section 1.2 of [RFC1602] is likely the basis for [RFC2028], a BCP
   that includes similar text:

      The IESG is composed of the IETF Area Directors and the chair of
      the IETF, who also serves as the chair of the IESG.

   Section 3.3 of [RFC9281], a BCP that obsoletes [RFC2028], retains
   that text and also states that the IETF Chair is the Area Director
   for the General Area:

      The IESG is composed of the ADs and the IETF Chair.  The IETF
      Chair also chairs the IESG and is the AD for the General Area.

   Section 4 of [RFC4949], an Informational RFC containing an Internet
   Security Glossary, contains this text under the "Internet Engineering
   Steering Group (IESG)" glossary item:





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      The part of the ISOC responsible for technical management of IETF
      activities and administration of the Internet Standards Process
      according to procedures approved by the ISOC Trustees.  Directly
      responsible for actions along the "standards track", including
      final approval of specifications as Internet Standards.  Composed
      of IETF Area Directors and the IETF chairperson, who also chairs
      the IESG.  (RFC 2026)

3.2.  Delegation of the IESG Chair Role

   To allow the IETF Chair to delegate the role of IESG Chair to another
   AD (as arguably intended to be allowed by [RFC2026]), the following
   updates to existing RFCs are needed:

   1.  Remove the sentence "The IETF Chair also chairs the IESG and is
       the AD for the General Area." from Section 3.3 of [RFC9281].

   2.  Change the clause "The IETF chair, who is also the chair of the
       Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)" in the second
       sentence of Section 1 of [RFC2850] to "The IETF chair or their
       delegate".  (This is also part of the change in Section 5.2.)

   3.  Remove the clause "who also chairs the IESG" from the "Internet
       Engineering Steering Group (IESG)" glossary item in Section 4 of
       [RFC4949].

4.  Delegation of the IAB Membership

   This section analyzes which RFCs contain text about the full IAB
   membership of the IETF Chair, and makes updates that would allow
   delegation of the IAB membership.

4.1.  Background

   Section 1 of [RFC2850] requires the IETF Chair to be a full member of
   the IAB:

      The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) shall consist of thirteen
      full members, composed of the chair of the Internet Engineering
      Task Force (IETF), and of twelve sitting members.

   Appendix C of [RFC8713] contains a similar statement as part of the
   second item in a list of "oral traditions" recorded for
   "consideration by future NomComs":

      No person should serve both on the IAB and as an Area Director,
      except the IETF Chair whose roles as an IAB member and Area
      Director of the General Area are set out elsewhere.



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   Section 3.4 of [RFC9281] says:

      The IETF Chair is also a member of the IAB, and the Chair of the
      Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is an ex officio member.

4.2.  Delegation of the IAB Member Role

   To allow the IETF Chair to delegate their full IAB membership to
   another AD, the following updates to existing RFCs are needed:

   1.  Add "or their Delegate Area Director" at the end of the clause
       "composed of the chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force
       (IETF)" in Section 1 of [RFC2850].

   2.  Add "With the publication of RFCXXXX, IETF guidance on this issue
       has changed as described there." to the second bullet item in
       Appendix C of [RFC8713].

   3.  Change the sentence "The IETF Chair is also a member of the IAB,
       and the Chair of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is an ex
       officio member." to "The IETF Chair or their delegate is also a
       member of the IAB, and the Chair of the Internet Research Task
       Force (IRTF) is an ex officio member." in Section 3.4 of
       [RFC9281].

5.  Delegation of the General Area Director Role

   This section analyzes which RFCs contain text about the
   responsibility of the IETF Chair to also serve as Area Director of
   the General Area, and makes updates that would allow delegation of or
   sharing of the role.

5.1.  Background

   Section 2 of [RFC3710] states that the IETF Chair is the General Area
   Director:

      The IETF Chair, who also functions as the General Area Director
      when this area is active

   Section 3.3 of [RFC9281] also makes a similar statement:

      The IETF Chair also chairs the IESG and is the AD for the General
      Area.







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5.2.  Delegation of the GEN Area AD Role

   To allow the IETF Chair to delegate the Area Director role of the
   General Area, the following updates to existing RFCs are needed:

   1.  Replace "who also functions as the General Area Director" with
       "who may also function as a General Area Director or may share
       that role with or delegate that role to another Area Director" in
       Section 2 of [RFC3710].

   2.  Change the clause "The IETF chair, who is also the chair of the
       Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)" in the second
       sentence of Section 1 of [RFC2850] to "The IETF chair or their
       delegate".  (This is also part of the changes in Section 3.2.)

6.  Other Updates

   This section collects updates to some text in existing RFCs that has
   become stale.

6.1.  Staff Supervision

   Section 7.1 of [RFC3710] says

      The IETF Chair has primary responsibility for supervising the work
      of the IETF Secretariat, with the advice and consent of the IESG,
      the IAB Chair and the ISOC president.

   With the publication of [RFC8711], this responsibility has moved to
   the IETF Executive Director.  The document updates Section 7.1 of
   [RFC3710] to remove the sentence above.

7.  Other Roles

   This section briefly summarizes other roles the IETF Chair has, but
   which require no updates, usually because delegation is already
   permitted.

7.1.  Liaison Statements

   Section 3.1 of [RFC4691] says

      Liaison statements are only sent on the initiative of the IETF
      chair, the IAB chair, IETF Area Directors, or IETF working group
      chairs.

   Section 4 of [RFC4052] says




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      For a liaison statement generated on behalf of the IETF as a
      whole, the IETF Chair must have generated or must agree with the
      sending of the liaison statement.  If the liaison statement is not
      sent by the IETF Chair, then his or her agreement must be obtained
      in advance and confirmed by copying the IETF Chair on the message.

   The combination of these two statements already allows another Area
   Director to send a liaison statement on behalf of the IETF with IETF
   Chair approval.

7.2.  Transgressions of the IETF Guidelines for Conduct

   Appendix A of [RFC7154] says "An individual can report transgressions
   of the guidelines for conduct to the IETF Chair or the IESG."

   However, [RFC7154] does not define any reactions the IETF Chair or
   the IESG should or may take, so the IETF Chair only acts as a
   recipient here.

7.3.  Appointments to the Ombuds-, Moderator and Last-Call List
      Moderation Teams

   The IETF Chair is tasked with managing the constituency of the
   ombudsteam [RFC7776] and the moderator team of the IETF discussion
   list [RFC9245].  They also select moderators for the Last-Call
   mailing list, and other lists with an organizational scope
   encompassing the entire IETF.

   This document does not make any changes here, but the community may
   consider allowing delegation of either of these responsibilities if
   revisions of [RFC7776] or [RFC9245] are undertaken.

7.4.  Serving on the IETF LLC Board

   [RFC8711] suggests that the IETF Chair, or a delegate selected by the
   IESG, will serve on the Board of Directors of the IETF Administration
   LLC.  Because delegation of that role is already explicitly allowed,
   no changes are made here.

8.  Security Considerations

   The usual security considerations [RFC3552] do not apply to this
   document.

9.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.




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10.  Acknowledgments

   These individuals suggested improvements to this document:

   *  Alvaro Retana

   *  Brian Carpenter

   *  Jari Arkko

11.  References

11.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2026]  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
              3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, DOI 10.17487/RFC2026, October 1996,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2026>.

   [RFC2850]  IAB and B. Carpenter, Ed., "Charter of the Internet
              Architecture Board (IAB)", BCP 39, RFC 2850,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2850, May 2000,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2850>.

   [RFC8713]  Kucherawy, M., Ed., Hinden, R., Ed., and J. Livingood,
              Ed., "IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection,
              Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF
              Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 8713,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8713, February 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8713>.

   [RFC9281]  Salz, R., "Entities Involved in the IETF Standards
              Process", BCP 11, RFC 9281, DOI 10.17487/RFC9281, June
              2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9281>.

11.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.carpenter-ietf-chair-tasks]
              Carpenter, B. E., "Tasks of the IETF Chair, IESG Chair,
              and General Area Director", Work in Progress, Internet-
              Draft, draft-carpenter-ietf-chair-tasks-00, 25 April 2006,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-carpenter-
              ietf-chair-tasks-00>.

   [RFC1602]  IAB and IESG, "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
              2", RFC 1602, DOI 10.17487/RFC1602, March 1994,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1602>.





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   [RFC2028]  Hovey, R. and S. Bradner, "The Organizations Involved in
              the IETF Standards Process", RFC 2028,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2028, October 1996,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2028>.

   [RFC3552]  Rescorla, E. and B. Korver, "Guidelines for Writing RFC
              Text on Security Considerations", BCP 72, RFC 3552,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3552, July 2003,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3552>.

   [RFC3710]  Alvestrand, H., "An IESG charter", RFC 3710,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3710, February 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3710>.

   [RFC4052]  Daigle, L., Ed. and IAB, "IAB Processes for Management of
              IETF Liaison Relationships", BCP 102, RFC 4052,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4052, April 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4052>.

   [RFC4691]  Andersson, L., Ed., "Guidelines for Acting as an IETF
              Liaison to Another Organization", RFC 4691,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4691, October 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4691>.

   [RFC4949]  Shirey, R., "Internet Security Glossary, Version 2",
              FYI 36, RFC 4949, DOI 10.17487/RFC4949, August 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4949>.

   [RFC7154]  Moonesamy, S., Ed., "IETF Guidelines for Conduct", BCP 54,
              RFC 7154, DOI 10.17487/RFC7154, March 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7154>.

   [RFC7776]  Resnick, P. and A. Farrel, "IETF Anti-Harassment
              Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 7776, DOI 10.17487/RFC7776, March
              2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7776>.

   [RFC8711]  Haberman, B., Hall, J., and J. Livingood, "Structure of
              the IETF Administrative Support Activity, Version 2.0",
              BCP 101, RFC 8711, DOI 10.17487/RFC8711, February 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8711>.

   [RFC9245]  Eggert, L. and S. Harris, "IETF Discussion List Charter",
              BCP 45, RFC 9245, DOI 10.17487/RFC9245, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9245>.

Author's Address





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   Lars Eggert (editor)
   Mozilla
   Stenbergintie 12 B
   FI-02700 Kauniainen
   Finland
   Email: lars@eggert.org
   URI:   https://eggert.org/












































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