The source document is the Form 8260-3 or 8260-5. Those are actually individual
amendments to FAR Part 97, and are published by reference in the federal
register. They are available for inspection at any regional flight procedures
office. Jeppesen, and others, subscribe to them. I suspect the subscription is
expensive. The adjunct forms, such as the 8260-2, which is issued for each
intersection, VOR, and waypoint is converted into electronic form and the chart
makers use that elecronic compilation for all the fixes, holding patterns, and
waypoints.

Whenever new or revised procedures are in regulatory coordination, which means
the public can review and comment about them, they are on AVN-100 procedures
website at:

http://avn.faa.gov/acifp.asp

They have all the forms there, including the 8260-9, record of controlling
obstacles for each segment, which are not released to chart makers. They also
have color terps maps of the protected airspace, although they are not easy to
read.

Mark Astley wrote:

All,

I was once told that instrument procedures (i.e. approaches) are published
in text form, and then rendered into NOS charts (and a similar process for
Jeppesen).

1) Is this true?
2) If so, is this "raw" data available to the public somewhere? I'm looking
for something similar to the ATA-100 databases which can be purchased from
the FAA.
3) How did NOS wind up producing the charts anyway?

Thanks in advance,
mark