From the site, Regulations.gov, the user is provided a brief description of each rule open for comment, a link to the agency’s Federal Register notice and complete text of the rule, and a web-based comment form that allows for a 4,000-character submission, as well as attachments.
In some ways, this is not much different from what has already been in place. The web site of the Federal Register, where agencies publish their regulatory proposals, provides a similar listing of rules open for comment and allows for complex searches -- and most agencies have been accepting comments electronically via email for years.
Fortunately, the administration sees Regulations.gov as only a starting point for pursuing continued improvements in electronic rulemaking. Specifically, the administration should:
- Allow for public comments to be viewed through the site as they are submitted to agencies. This could encourage interaction among concerned parties, as well as with government officials, providing agencies with a much fuller presentation of views than they would otherwise receive.
- Allow users to sign up and receive email notification on newly posted rulemakings of concern -- for example, by providing a check box with a list of subjects (e.g., clean air, clean water).
- Draw attention to high-profile, high-impact rules. Agencies promulgate thousands of rules a year, most of which are routine, uncontroversial, and unlikely to draw much public interest. Yet Regulations.gov provides the public no way of differentiating these rules from the larger, more controversial ones. Other browsing features could also make the site easier to use, as the Center for Democracy and Technology discusses.
- Integrate information from agency electronic dockets. The administration is working to develop a governmentwide e-docket for regulation, modeled on EPA’s docket. This should provide the entire rulemaking record for each regulation, including agency cost-benefit analyses, reports and studies, public comments, and any other documents influencing the agency’s decision-making. Currently, Regulations.gov only provides a link to an agency’s Federal Register notice; it should give access to the complete rulemaking record.
Online rulemaking is one of 24 "E-Government Initiatives" outlined in the E-Government Strategy that implements the President's Management Agenda for e-government. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is carrying out the e-rulemaking initiative with EPA facilitating as the lead agency, as OMB Watch previously discussed.
The E-Government Act, signed by President Bush on December 17, also instructs regulatory agencies to provide online “electronic dockets for rulemakings” and accept public comments through electronic means (e.g., email). OMB is to establish a timeline for implementation of agency e-dockets.