OIRA said that it and the GSA now make available a “deduplication tool” that one agency used to reduce 300,000 comments on a proposed rule to 30,000 distinct comments. Image: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOMB has posted an update on steps taken by its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and by the GSA to help agencies process the sometimes large number of comments they receive after a notice of proposed rule-making and which they must consider and address in final rule-making.
“New technologies offer ways to improve this process, but can also raise new issues that must be addressed,” says the posting on actions under a Biden administration executive order calling for an approach to address mass comments, some of them computer-generated.
It cited as an example the 20 million comments the FCC received during its “net neutrality” rulemaking, saying that “when agencies receive this many comments, they often are the result of campaigns encouraging large numbers of individuals to submit similar comments. It takes agencies time and other resources to consider this influx of comments, which can delay the issuance of final rules and have other deleterious consequences.”
OIRA said that it and the GSA now make available a “deduplication tool” that one agency used to “distill from 300,000 comments on a proposed rule a much more manageable set of 30,000 distinct comments.”
It added that while computer-generated comments such as generative AI “might aid commenters” who are unfamiliar with the regulatory process, “the combination of mass and computer-generated comments has the potential to create operational challenges for agencies.”
It cited a verification service used by regulations.gov to help ensure that comment submitters are human beings. “OIRA is working with GSA to implement additional checks at the front end of the comment submission system, in order to help make sure that no one is abusing the system,” it said.
“Finally, agencies are continuing to monitor the potential for falsely-attributed comments—those that are submitted using the name of someone who did not consent to the submission, and who might not even know about it. OIRA has set up an informal interagency technical working group to discuss best practices and share tips on how to manage comments effectively,” it said.
Those efforts will continue as the relevant technology evolves, it added.
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