As OMB Watch wrote in the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter The Watcher, the Obama administration is asking the public for ideas on reforming e-rulemaking – government’s system for displaying regulatory information and receiving public comments on proposed rules.

One of the methods the Obama administration is using to receive feedback is the Open Government Initiative – an online discussion of government transparency issues.

Today is the last day to participate in the drafting phase of the Open Government Initiative. During this phase, several users have posted recommendations for reforming e-rulemaking. Those recommendations have been rated and commented on by other users.

OMB Watch has submitted two sets of recommendations (because of the sites limit of 3,000 characters, or about one page typed). Both sets are based entirely on an American Bar Association report that discusses e-rulemaking at length.

The report, Achieving the Potential: The Future of Federal e-Rulemaking, was written by regulatory and open government experts from outside the government. The authors wrote the report to provide the administration and Congress with a comprehensive roadmap for reforming e-rulemaking.

Among other things, the report recommends:

• An improved search function that allows users to better define search parameters and sort results
• The use of innovative techniques such as wikis and blogs to stimulate participation
• The creation of comment portals on individual agency sites in addition to the current, centralized portal found at Regulations.gov
• The formation of a public committee to advise the federal government on the status of, and changes to, the e-rulemaking system
• Greater and more consistent funding for e-rulemaking efforts (currently, a dedicated funding source does not exist, requiring agencies to divert funds from other activities)


OMB Watch’s comments on the Open Government Initiative reiterate those and other points. You can read the comments at mixedink.com/OpenGov/ERulemaking (filed under my name, Matt Madia). Or, you can view them on our website here: www.ombwatch.org/node/10177.