Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking; Request for Comments

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Office of the Chairman of ACUS is requesting public input on federal agency approaches and processes for receiving, publicizing, and responding to comments related to rulemaking proceedings. ACUS is accepting written comments. Responses to this request may inform an ongoing ACUS project, Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking, which, if warranted, may recommend best practices for agencies to use.

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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 205 (Monday, October 26, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67262-67263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21742]


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Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 205 / Monday, October 26, 2026 / 
Notices

[[Page 67262]]



ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES


Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking; Request for 
Comments

AGENCY: Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS).

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Chairman of ACUS is requesting public input 
on federal agency approaches and processes for receiving, publicizing, 
and responding to comments related to rulemaking proceedings. ACUS is 
accepting written comments. Responses to this request may inform an 
ongoing ACUS project, Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking, 
which, if warranted, may recommend best practices for agencies to use.

DATES: Written comments must be received no later than 10:00 a.m. (ET) 
December 28, 2026.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#50393e363f10313325237e373f26"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5831363e3718393b2d2b763f372e">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> 
(with ``Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking'' in the 
subject line of the message), or by U.S. Mail addressed to Processing 
Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking, Administrative Conference of the 
United States, Suite 706 South, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 
20036. ACUS will ordinarily post comments on the project web page 
(<a href="https://www.acus.gov/projects/processing-public-comments-agency-rulemaking">https://www.acus.gov/projects/processing-public-comments-agency-rulemaking</a>) as they are received. Commenters should not include 
information, such as personal information or confidential business 
information, that they do not wish to appear on the ACUS website. For 
the full ACUS public comment policy, please visit <a href="https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy">https://www.acus.gov/policy/public-comment-policy</a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becaja Caldwell, Attorney Advisor, 
Administrative Conference of the United States, 1120 20th Street NW, 
Suite 706 South, Washington, DC 20036; Telephone (202) 480-2080; email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b5d7d6d4d9d1c2d0d9d9f5d4d6c0c69bd2dac3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dcbebfbdb0b8abb9b0b09cbdbfa9aff2bbb3aa">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Administrative Conference Act, 5 U.S.C. 
591-596, established the Administrative Conference of the United 
States. The Conference studies the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness 
of the administrative procedures used by federal agencies and makes 
recommendations to agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial 
Conference of the United States for procedural improvements (5 U.S.C. 
594(1)). For further information about the Conference and its 
activities, see <a href="http://www.acus.gov">www.acus.gov</a>.

Processing Public Comments in Agency Rulemaking

    The public notice-and-comment process is an integral part of 
federal agency rulemaking. It provides an important opportunity for 
interested persons to share their perspectives, expertise, and 
experiences relevant to an agency's proposed action. Public comments 
can help inform an agency's decision making, for example by identifying 
potential local impacts, implementation challenges, and alternative 
approaches to regulatory action. Addressing public comments adequately 
is essential to ensure that final agency actions are based on the best 
available information, are perceived as legitimate by the public, and 
are not subsequently set aside on judicial review.\1\
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    \1\ Admin. Conf. of the U.S., Recommendation 2018-7, Public 
Engagement in Rulemaking, 84 FR 2146 (Feb. 6, 2019).
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    While most proposed rules receive few or no public comments, many 
receive hundreds or thousands of them. Processing voluminous comments 
requires significant agency resources, but even small numbers of 
comments may raise complex questions of law and policy that require 
substantial time and effort to address. Accordingly, agencies must 
ensure they employ robust procedures for processing comments from 
intake and analysis to response and resolution of comments.
    ACUS is undertaking a project to examine how agencies receive 
public comments related to rulemaking proceedings; make those comments 
available to agency staff, contractors, and the public; analyze the 
content of the comments; and develop responses to them. The project 
includes consideration of the organizational practices agencies use to 
process comments; how agencies use contractors in comment processing; 
and how agencies procure and use various technological tools (including 
algorithmic tools) in receiving, analyzing, and responding to comments.

General Topics for Public Comment

    ACUS welcomes views, information, and data on all aspects of 
federal agencies' process for receiving, reviewing, analyzing, and 
responding to comments in connection with rulemaking proceedings. ACUS 
invites interested persons to share their experiences with submitting 
comments on proposed rules or other rulemaking-related requests for 
information. For example:
    A. What has been your experience submitting comments to federal 
agencies on proposed rules or in response to advance notices of 
proposed rulemaking or other rulemaking-related requests for 
information?
    B. If you have submitted comments via both <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and 
another agency platform, such as the Federal Communications Commission 
Electronic Comment Filing System, in what ways were the experiences 
similar? In what ways were they different?
    Specific questions that ACUS is examining as part of this study 
include:
    1. Which agencies conduct rulemakings that commonly receive public 
comments? What are the notable variations in the kinds of rules that 
receive comments and the quantity and quality of those comments?
    2. How do agencies use <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) to solicit, organize, store, and publish 
public comments? What agency officials (or contractors) are involved in 
these processes?
    3. Which agencies have developed their own electronic systems to 
solicit, organize, and store public comments? How do these systems 
compare to <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> and FDMS?
    4. How do agencies conduct comment analysis? What are the primary 
elements of the agency's comment analysis process? Who is involved in 
it? What

[[Page 67263]]

technologies, if any, do agencies use to analyze comments? How formal 
or informal is the process?
    5. How do agencies develop responses to public comments? How does 
this stage of the process relate to prior stages? How does the 
development of comment responses relate to other aspects of developing 
the final rule? How do public comments affect the substance of final 
rules?
    6. What aspects of agency comment processing procedures seem to be 
working well and why? For areas where things are not working well, what 
seem to be the sources of the problems and what are the potential 
solutions?

(Authority: 5 U.S.C. 595.)

    Dated: October 21, 2026.
Shawne C. McGibbon,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2026-21742 Filed 10-23-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6110-01-P


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