Today EDGI launched our Public Comments Initiative, a project that aims to help people and organizations understand and more effectively engage in the public commenting process when new rules are proposed by federal agencies.
While federal agencies do take seriously the role of public comments in the regulatory process (e.g. GAO, 2020), public commenting remains an under-actualized avenue for civic input. The very limited research that has been conducted on this topic indicates that certain interest groups have more influence than others through public comments (Yackee and Yackee, 2006), and only a small fraction of the comments received by agencies are considered “significant” (unpublished research).
There is a substantial disjuncture between the perceived opportunity for the public to influence federal rulemaking through their comments and the reality that this process is often opaque and privileges those with greater resources and connections to government. We launched our Public Comments Initiative to help close this gap.
As part of this project, EDGI has developed four guides, which are tailored to the EPA, but can be more broadly applicable. They include:
- How to Write Effective Public Comments
- Research Recommendations for Writing Informed Public Comments
- What Happens to a Public Comment After It Is Submitted
- Beyond Public Comments: Other Ways to Engage With and Influence Federal Agencies
We have also written a policy brief and public comments on improving the government’s public participation facilitation. These include:
- Expanding Public Participation Through Improved Sharing and Management of Public Information (July 2, 2024)
- EDGI Comments on the Office of Management and Budget’s RFI on Advancing Public Participation and Community Engagement (May 17, 2024)
- Comments by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative on Broadening Public Engagement in the Federal Regulatory Process (March 10, 2023)
EDGI is invested in improving the public comments process, and the larger landscape of public participation with the federal government. We plan to conduct further research and to expand upon these resources, so stay tuned!
To get in touch or contribute to this work, please email Gretchen Gehrke, gretchen.gehrke@envirodatagov.org. We would love to hear from you!