Strengthening Public Participation in the Regulatory Process

by Sam Berger, Associate Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Public input makes the regulatory process work better. Agencies can be more responsive to public needs, rules can benefit from a wide range of inputs, and members of the public can see how their voices make a difference. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration has made strengthening public participation and community engagement in the regulatory process a priority.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has taken a number of steps to support agencies in adopting leading practices to encourage public participation in the regulatory process, including issuing government-wide guidance calling for early and proactive engagement with the public. This type of engagement helps ensure that agencies obtain information from a broad range of perspectives at a point in the regulatory process when that information may be particularly useful in shaping priorities and regulatory approaches.

Today, OIRA released a report highlighting the efforts of agencies to do just that. Agencies have adopted a range of approaches depending on the type of action under consideration and the stakeholders they are seeking to engage, but there are four recurring best practices:

1. Early engagement with the public before a proposed rule is issued: early opportunities for public input, like listening sessions, can help an agency better understand the relevant issues before it starts drafting a regulation.
2. After the proposed rule is issued, supporting a robust public comment process that makes it easier for a broad range of stakeholders to comment: through webinars, fact sheets, or listening sessions agencies can inform members of the public about what the rule does, and about how and when to submit a public comment.
3. Encouraging participation from affected communities, including underserved communities, through proactive outreach and work with trusted intermediaries: targeted outreach can help affected communities that have not historically participated in the regulatory process offer their perspectives.
4. Demonstrating how the agency took public input into account in finalizing a rule: agencies should show they take public input seriously and that comments can have an impact on the agency’s decision making.

The report highlights examples of effective public engagement from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Nutrition Service in the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Federal Communications Commission, and OIRA’s own efforts to support robust public engagement.  It also details the leading practices of a range of agencies across the government. The efforts highlighted in the report provide real-world examples to agencies of strategies that they can consider adopting in their own rulemakings. The report was compiled from insights gathered from agencies’ discussion of public participation in the Fall and Spring Regulatory Agendas, newly required by OIRA’s guidance, and input offered by agencies.  

Strengthening public participation is an ongoing process, and OIRA will continue to work with agencies to ensure that the regulatory process effectively incorporates public input. OIRA also welcomes ideas from the public about ways to continue to improve public engagement in the regulatory process. Public input significantly shaped OIRA’s 2023 guidance and will be critical to ongoing efforts in this space. Ideas can be shared with OIRA by emailing them to publicparticipation@omb.eop.gov.