RESOUR> [DIG_REF] NEW WEBSITE: The United States Federal Government Has Created a Website That Centralizes Citizen Comments on Proposed Federal Legislation

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From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To:  <DIG_REF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 15:56:05 -0500
Subject: [DIG_REF] NEW WEBSITE: The United States Federal Government Has 
Created a Website That Centralizes Citizen Comments on Proposed Federal 
Legislation
 
NEW WEBSITE: The United States Federal Government Has Created a Website
That Centralizes Citizen Comments on Proposed Federal Legislation

In the Center of Democracy and Technology Policy Post there is
announcement of and discussion of methods for improving a newly announced
Federal Government website that provides for citizen comment of proposed
regulations created by agencies of the executive branch of government.
The full text of the proposed regulations can also be found on this website.

The new website, Regulations.gov may be found at this URL:
<http://www.regulations.gov/>

with this description at the above URL:

Regulations.gov is the U.S. Government web site that makes it easier for
you to participate in Federal rulemaking - an essential part of the
American democratic process.

On this site, you can find, review, and submit comments on Federal
documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register,
the Governments legal newspaper.

As a member of the public, you can submit comments about these
regulations, and have the Government take your views into account .

To find Federal Register documents currently open for comment, please use
the GO buttons on the top of every page.

Then, you may use the Submit a Comment on this Regulation link to express
your opinion on a specific document. Alternatively, you may submit a
comment directly to the agency through the PDF or HTML version.

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The CDT Policy Post regarding this new website provides some pointers that
would be substantial improvements to the design and content of this
new government resource.

CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 3, January 23, 2003
<http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.03.shtml>

(1) Feds Open Portal for Online Comments on Regulations
(2) Improvements Needed in New Site
(3) Background on Online Rulemaking and E-government

In the recommendations included in the CDT Policy Post is this paragraph.

The search engine should be augmented with various browsing functions.
While one of the main benefits of the site is the ability to search by
keyword across departments and break down the "stovepipes" that have
traditionally made government bureaucracies practically obscure, the
current search tool may not be of much use if an individual does not know
the exact terminology for a regulation. Browsing tools can be the only way
for individuals not steeped in policy terminology to find a particular
rule for comment. The site creators say that they plan to implement
browsing features gradually.

========================
The full post may be read at the URL immediately above.

This website just made available by the Federal Government is one area of
the movement toward the increased operation of government more with
E-Government methods and tools.

For those interested, here is a description linked from Regulation.gov to
a record describing a proposed regulation:

AIR FORCE DEPARTMENT
http://www.regulations.gov/a-search.cfm

If this link does not work, the record of this regulation was found using
the drop down menu at the top right hand side of the new Regulation.gov
home page.

and a link to the complete regulation in html format (.pdf is also
available)

[Federal Register: November 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 230)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 71120-71121]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29no02-20]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
32 CFR Part 806b
[Air Force Instruction 37-132]
Privacy Act; Implementation
AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, DoD.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
<http://www.regulations.gov/freddocs/02-29812.htm>


Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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