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[Federal Register: July 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 136)]
[Notices]
[Page 42727-42729]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Forum on Public Access to Federal Rulemaking Through the Internet; Announcement
of Public Meetings and Request for Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Action: Notice
SUMMARY:
The eRulemaking Initiative, a federal
government-wide effort, will hold a series of public meetings and an online
dialogue to obtain public input on its major projects.
The Initiative will use information technology to expand public understanding
and involvement in the rulemaking process by providing an easy and consistent
way for the public to search, view, and comment on proposed federal regulations
online. It is comprised of three major parts. In January 2003, an inter-agency
team launched
http://www.regulations.gov, the first component of the Initiative. This Web
site allows the public to search, view, and download all rulemaking documents
published in the Federal Register. It also allows the public to submit comments
on proposed regulations currently open for comment.
The second part of the Initiative is the development of a full- featured
electronic docket management system that will provide the public with online
access to the broad set of documents routinely included in regulatory and
non-regulatory dockets (e.g., Federal Register notices; technical, scientific,
and legal analyses; and public comments). It will continue to provide the public
with the same capabilities as Regulations.gov and will ultimately replace
existing electronic and paper-based docket systems. The federal docket system
will include additional features, such as full-text and Boolean search
capabilities, e-mail notification, data export, and reporting and tracking
functions.
The last part of the eRulemaking
Initiative is the development of an online workspace containing a variety of
tools and templates to assist in the development, review, and publication of
federal regulations and the analysis of public comments. Such tools will be
available to federal regulation writers and the public and may include
databases, collaboration applications, and content categorization software.
The Environmental Protection Agency, as managing partner of the
eRulemaking Initiative, will convene a
series of public meetings to solicit feedback on the usability and features of
the Regulations.gov Web site, the planned government-wide electronic federal
docket management system, and the online rulewriter toolbox. Comments received
will be considered during the development and/or enhancements of these systems.
In addition to these public meetings, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government, in partnership with the
eRulemaking Program Office, will host an online national dialogue to
solicit additional public input.
Individuals planning to attend the public meetings or participate in the online
dialogue should contact the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT for the location of the meeting. Please register no later than one week
before the event.
DATES: Public meetings are scheduled to be
held on the following dates:
1. August 2, 2004; 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., San Francisco, CA.
2. August 3, 2004; 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Chicago, IL.
3. August 9, 2004; 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm., Cambridge, MA.
4. August 9, 2004; 12:00 p.m. to 6 p.m., Online Dialogue.
5. August 12, 2004; 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Washington, DC.
Should a meeting be rescheduled, registrants will be notified via e-mail.
Comments must be received on or before August 16, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. OEI-2004- 0002, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Agency Web site:
http://www.epa.gov/edocket. EDOCKET, EPA's electronic public docket and
comment system, is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: OEI Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: OEI Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave.,
NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's
normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays), and special arrangements should be made for
deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. OEI-2004-0002. EPA's policy
is that all comments received during the open comment period will be included in
the public docket without change and may be made available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/edocket, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by
statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through EDOCKET or Regulations.gov.
The EPA EDOCKET and the federal Regulations.gov Web sites are ``anonymous
access'' systems, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you submit an
electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit.
If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact
you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be
free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the EDOCKET index at:
http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Although listed in the index, some information
is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is
restricted. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed
on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically in EDOCKET or in
hard copy at the OEI Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number
for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Kristin Tensuan, eRulemaking Program Branch, Collection Strategies Division (Mail Code 2822V), Office of Environmental Information (OEI), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 632-0338; fax number: (202) 632-0349; e-mail address: tensuan.kristin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Background
The eRulemaking Initiative is an
E-Government Initiative authorized by Section 206 of the E-Government Act of
2002. The Initiative's goals include:
Expand public understanding of the rulemaking process by providing an easy and
consistent way for public to search, view, and comment on federal rules.
Improve the quality of federal rulemaking decisions and transparency of the
rulemaking process.
Increase the amount, breadth, and ease of citizen and intergovernmental access
and participation by using the Internet to enhance public access to information
on federal rulemaking.
The eRulemaking Initiative consists of
three modules:
Module 1--Regulations.gov. Launched in January 2003, this Web site provides
one-stop, online access to every open rule published by more than 160 different
federal agencies. The Web site allows the public to view and download Federal
Register notices of every federal rule currently open for comment as well as
allow the public to submit comments to the appropriate federal agency.
Module 2--Federal Docket Management System. This system, currently under
development, will build upon Regulations.gov to establish a full- featured
docket management system. It will serve as a central repository for federal
rulemaking dockets, which are comprised of Federal Register notices, supporting
materials, and public comments. The docket management system also will be
designed to include non- rulemaking documents, such as Information Collection
Requests that agencies can post online for public comment.
Module 3--Online Rulewriter Toolbox. The Initiative also will explore deploying
information technology tools to assist in the development, review, and
publication of federal regulations and the analysis of public comments. Tools
will be available to federal regulation writers and the public. Such tools may
include templates, collaboration applications, databases and content
categorization software.
The Environmental Protection Agency leads an inter-agency team that manages the
Initiative. Other participating federal agencies include: Department of
Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of
Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland
Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Interior,
Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation,
Department of Treasury, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal
Communications Commission, National Archives and Records Administration, General
Services Administration, the Government Printing Office, and the Small Business
Administration.
B. Topics of Discussion
The eRulemaking
Program Office is seeking public feedback on the usability and features of the
Regulations.gov Web site, the planned government-wide electronic federal docket
management system, and the rulewriter's toolbox. The following topics will be
discussed at the meetings:
Web site designs that maximize ease-of-use and public utilization,
Features that users consider most important and would frequently use,
Additional capabilities that users can apply,
and Other considerations regarding the
eRulemaking Initiative.
We welcome comments from stakeholders interested in electronic rulemaking
including, but not limited to, advocacy groups, trade associations, labor
unions, regulated industries, small businesses, state and local governments, and
the academic community.
II. Additional Information
Additional information about the eRulemaking Initiative is available online at: http://www.regulations.gov. You may also contact the person listed under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice. Help in understanding the Federal rulemaking process and terminology is available from the Federal Register at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html .
Dated: July 13, 2004
Mark A. Luttner,
Director of Information Collection, Office of Environmental Information.
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