EPA Web site paving the way to transparency

As more agencies deploy online score cards that publicly chart the progress of specific missions, the Environmental Protection Agency's new Web site for tracking rulemaking could be a model, some government transparency activists say.

EPA launched its site, the Rulemaking Gateway, on Thursday to inform the public of the status of high-priority regulatory actions, such as proposals to control greenhouse gas emissions in heavy-duty vehicles and revise vehicle fuel economy labels.

The White House's fiscal 2011 budget for federal information technology calls on agencies to continue launching and expanding such public tracking devices, often called dashboards. The administration recently unveiled a dashboard to track compliance with a December 2009 open government directive and a site that follows the movement of regulations agencies have submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for peer review. Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients said on Thursday a performance dashboard that measures whether agencies are meeting goals will be up by the summer.

EPA has committed to releasing rulemaking plans earlier than in the past. As soon as an agency regulatory policy officer determines it is appropriate to start developing a rule, information will be posted on the gateway, officials said. A regulation could appear on the site months or even years before a file is created on the governmentwide rule-tracking site Regulations.gov.

"This could be a good model," said Matthew R. Madia, who works with the government transparency group OMB Watch. "I think the rulemaking gateway is all about transparency and participation."

Summaries of possible proposals note the likely adverse effects on critical interests, such as trade, small business or children's health. They also indicate whether local governments could play a role in implementing the rules.

The gateway is tightly tied to Regulations.gov to increase public participation in the rulemaking process, said Madia, a federal regulatory policy analyst at the group.

The EPA-specific site helps citizens key in on rules of personal interest through user-friendly search filters. When people find rules they want to learn more about, they can click on links that direct them to the relevant background on Regulations.gov, where they also can comment on the proposals.

"You can bounce back and forth between the two sites to gather the most information possible," Madia said. "My impression is that a lot of government Web sites operate as islands."

To be fair, he noted, EPA has an advantage in that it also maintains Regulations.gov.

The EPA Web site will show updated proposals monthly, as decisions are made. Time-sensitive information, such as announcements about public meetings, will be refreshed daily.