To expand public involvement in the regulatory process, EPA will hold a “Forum on Public Access to Federal Rulemaking Through the Internet” in August.

EPA is the managing partner for E-Rulemaking, an E-Government Initiative to foster greater participation in federal rulemaking by the public and regulated entities with a better, easier way to read and comment on rules electronically.

EPA will hold four public meetings seeking input on this cross-agency initiative established under the President’s Management Agenda. The first component, “Regulations.gov,” was launched in January 2003, consolidating government rules open for public comment (from over 160 agencies) into a single, user friendly website.

When a rulemaking is announced in the Federal Register, a docket is also created to hold related documents, such as reports and public comments.

The second component now being developed is E-Dockets, a government-wide centralized docket management system. E-Dockets will allow the public to access and search all publicly available regulatory material.

During these meetings, EPA will ask for feedback on the usability, features, and capabilities of the existing Regulations.gov and the planned E-Dockets. The public meeting closest to Pennsylvania is on Aug. 12, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.

For further information on the meetings, contact Kristin Tensuan at tensuan.kristin@epa.gov .

7/30/2004