Selected Agencies Should Clearly Communicate Practices Associated with Identity Information in the Public Comment Process

Members of Congress asked the Government Accountability Office to review issues related to identity information associated with public comments on proposed rulemakings. This report examines (1) the identity information selected agencies collect through Regulations.gov and agency-specific comment websites, (2) the internal guidance selected agencies have related to the identity of commenters, (3) how selected agencies treat identity information collected during the public comment process, and (4) the extent to which selected agencies clearly communicate their practices associated with posting identity information collected during the public comment process.

While the public comment process allows interested parties to state their views about prospective rules, the lack of communication with the public about the way in which agencies treat identity information during the posting process, particularly for duplicate comments, may inhibit users’ meaningful participation in the rulemaking process. Without clearly communicating how comments and their associated identity information are presented in the data, public users could draw inaccurate conclusions about public comments during the rulemaking process, limiting their ability to participate in the rulemaking process.