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EDGI’s new public comments initiative
Every once in a while, I get a question from a researcher about finding public comments for some regulation administered by an executive agency. All public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper form, are now made available for public viewing in the electronic public docket at Regulations.gov, but that was not always the case. And past comments on proposed regulations, while potentially interesting from a research standpoint, aren’t the real point of the whole commenting process. The real point is that Commenting on proposed regulations is a key part of our participatory democratic process. But this process is often arcane and confusing and takes effort to track the process and even know that a commenting period is open.
Things are about to get much more transparent and understandable. The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) has just rolled out their Public Comments Initiative. They’ve created guides to better understand the entire process, including how to write effective public comments, research recommendations for writing public comments, tracking on public comments, and other ways to engage with and influence government agencies and their regulatory process. And to top it off, they are starting a public policy initiative with suggestions to improve the entire process. Check it out.
Thanks EDGI!
Comparing LIS and Thomas
The Congressional Research Service has published an update to its handy guide for finding current legislation and regulations:
- Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff. by Jerry W. Mansfield, Congressional Research Service, RL33895 (August 31, 2012). Available from Federation of American Scientists.
For those experienced in legislative and regulatory searching there won’t be anything new or surprising here, but it is a handy introduction and reference.
One thing I particularly liked was the comparison on p. 13 of the “Legislative Information System,” which provides access to legislative information to Members of Congress and their staff, and THOMAS, which makes information on federal legislation freely available to the public. That’s right, one system for Congress and a separate system for us ordinary folk.
Here is a sample:
| LIS | THOMAS |
| Best used for Finding the most complete legislative information | Best used for Working with constituents |
| Links from Bill Summary & Status display to CRS reports | No CRS reports |
| Links to Capitol Hill and selected outside sources of floor and committee schedule information. | Minimal links |
| Special advanced search capabilities | Advanced search capabilities only in Bill Summary & Status database |
Again, this won’t be news to most of you, but it is a nice summary of what we are missing.
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