SIGNATURE INITIATIVE: ERULEMAKING

Offer citizens a single location to find, view, and comment on rulemakings.

Other Information:

Overview: Operated by EPA, the eRulemaking Program is a federal-wide E-Gov and Open Gov initiative offering citizens a single location to find, view, and comment on rulemakings from www.regulations.gov. Thirty-nine departments and agencies, representing more than 90% of federal rulemakings issued each year, are served by this fee-for-service program. Timing: Beginning in January 2012, the eRulemaking Program will overhaul Regulations.gov to improve usability, increase public participation in Federal decision-making and provide more opportunities to educate public stakeholders about the regulatory process. Overview: Regulations.gov is the premier site for public participation in rulemaking, receiving an average of over 12 million page views per-month in 2010 and providing public access to more than 3 million documents. The eRulemaking Program will overhaul Regulations.gov to improve the user experience by: introducing new browsing and learning functions on the homepage, improving search capabilities, and offering connectivity to other websites for broad information collection. A more user-friendly layout will assist the public in better understanding the activities available through Regulations.gov. Data sharing and output tools will also be used to improve the usefulness of the site. Distinctive display of social media tools will encourage public discourse regarding rulemakings and will include Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Regulations.gov Exchange. The redesign is in response to Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, as well as Executive Order 13571 which calls for improved customer service. Impact and Benefits: The eRulemaking Program provides substantial cost savings to both EPA and participating federal agencies. The Program’s Regulations.gov and Federal Docket Management System collectively have resulted in an estimated $129 million in costs saved or avoided over the last 5 years. Second, the re-design of Regulations.gov will increase public transparency and accelerate service delivery. Specifically, the browsable home page and improved search capabilities allow the user to find the documents they are looking for faster and more accurately. Third, improved access to and highlighting of social media tools provides yet another vehicle for the public to have a dialogue with rulemaking agencies and other users. The improved website will enable the public faster access to agency documents, quicker ability to review and make comments, and increased educational applications to better inform the public about the regulatory process itself and the public’s impact on that process. Key Milestones and Timeline: The redesign of Regulations.gov will be carried out in four (4) stages.

Stakeholder(s):

• Federal Government Agencies: Key Customer Group: Customers include Federal, state, local and tribal government agencies; academics; advocacy groups; non-governmental organizations; regulated business community; small businesses; students; and the public.


• State Government Agencies


• Local Government Agencies


• Tribal Government Agencies


• EPA/OEI


• Academics


• Advocacy Groups


• Non-Governmental Organizations


• Regulated Business Community


• Small Businesses


• Students


• The Public

Objective(s):

SI 1: Data Gathering

SI 2: Re-Launch

SI 3: Docket and Search

SI 4: Layout and Usability

Content