VOR-DME wrote:

The previously cited phrase :
"...ODPs are recommended for obstruction clearance
and may be flown without ATC clearance unless an alternate departure
procedure (SID or radar vector) has been specifically assigned by
ATC. "

is not in my 2008 AIM.
Had it been, I would not have started this thread.


Are you referring to the Jeppesen FAR/AIM? It's in the 2006 edition,
paragraph 5-2-6 INSTRUMENT DEPARTURE PROCEDURES(DP)--OBSTACLE DEPARTURE
PROCEDURES(ODP) AND STANDARD INSTRUMENT DEPARTURES (SID), exactly as you
quote it above. The paragraph in the current AIM has the same title but is
now paragraph 5-2-8.