E-rulemaking ready for launch
Web site will make it easier for the public to comment on proposed rules and regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to launch a Web site Jan. 23 that will make it easier for the public to comment on proposed rules and regulations.
The EPA took charge of the Online Rulemaking Management project — one of 24 cross-agency e-government initiatives highlighted by the Bush administration — from the Transportation Department last year. The agency is enhancing its own e-rulemaking system, which uses a solution from Documentum Inc.
E-rulemaking will enable citizens to search for agency rules from any PC and post remarks online. It also will lay the groundwork for standardizing the process governmentwide.
Nearly 100 agencies publish rules and regulations in the Federal Register, but only about 12 have electronic dockets, an EPA official said.
E-rulemaking will migrate those current systems and add other agencies. It will be accessible from the federal Web portal FirstGov.
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