EPA taps vendor for E-gov portal

Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $98 million contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. to help the agency meet the E-Rulemaking initiative under the President's Management Agenda.

As part of the Online Rulemaking project, Lockheed will help the EPA build a governmentwide portal and develop tools for rulemaking writers and docket managers at more than 150 federal agencies. The project will offer services from a one-stop access point and include opportunity for public comment.

The agency is the government's managing partner for this initiative, which is one of the Office of Management and Budget's 24 e-government initiatives. The Online Rulemaking program exists to consolidate rulemaking systems at various federal departments and centrally manage them through a Web portal.

"The expansion of electronic government through Online Rulemaking is, clearly, a significant priority of the President's Management Agenda because it enables greater public involvement in the decisions that affect their lives," said project director Oscar Morales.

The EPA in January launched www.regulations.gov as the federal rulemaking site, and will use this system as a model. The project will expand on existing systems while serving to eliminate duplication and redundancy.

Nine other departments have participated in the initiative, including Agriculture, Justice, Labor, Transportation, Health and Human Services, Housing and Development, the Federal Communications Commission, the General Services Administration, and the National Archives and Records Administration, including the Office of the Federal Register.