DHS CII Docket Published, Not User-Friendly - September 22, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 19

September 22, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 19:

Published: 09/22/2003

Printable Version
Email to a Friend

DHS CII Docket Published, Not User-Friendly

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally published public comments to the proposed Critical Infrastructure Information (CII) rule on its website. OMB Watch published the comments on our site Sept. 3 after DHS failed to post them according to its timeline. Although the comments are now publicly available through DHS, the entire dissemination process DHS followed has been poor and could set a bad precedent for the agency's future rulemakings.

The agency posted the CII comments several layers deep on the website and made no announcements on the home page, or its news or press sections. The only search term that produces a link to the comments is “Critical Infrastructure Information.” And even that only gets the user to a central CII page from which another link must be followed to get the docket. Because the CII docket is so hard to find, very few people will actually see the comments.

Additionally, the docket files are in a zip format, sometimes difficult to access. In order to read the files, they must be first downloaded and then unzipped. A simple word or PDF would be much more user friendly and allow interested parties to view the comments online.

The process of getting DHS to post the comments early was difficult. Initially, the department stated the comments would only be available when the final rule was published. OMB Watch and other public interest groups pushed for earlier disclosure and eventually DHS agreed.

Allowing public comments is an integral part of the rule making process, as is providing access to those comments. The Bush administration has placed a heavy emphasis on e-government and e-rulemaking in particular. However, this is the first time DHS has put out a rule. OMB Watch hopes this is not the model that DHS will follow in future rulemaking efforts.