Our mission is to encourage people to make their voices heard by the Government when it proposes to change or repeal regulations affecting important public interests.
Regulation is not inherently good or bad. To be sure, over-reaching and ill-advised regulations can place unreasonable burdens on business activity and annoying limitations on our lives. But regulations also provide critically important safeguards to the health, safety, security, and well-being of the American Public – helping to ensure that safe buildings and workplaces, clean air and water, protection from disease, and a host of other public interests do not take a back-seat to the profit motives of business enterprise. Should our Government seek to follow an aggressive course of dismantling federal regulatory standards and safeguards in order to accommodate business interests, it will be more important than ever for Americans to understand what is involved and what is at stake when federal regulatory and deregulatory actions are proposed, and to know how to make our voices heard when public interests are at risk.
Generally, before a federal regulation can be issued, amended, or repealed, members of the public have a statutory right to be heard by the government component proposing to take the regulatory action, through submission of written comments to that part of the Government. By increasing public awareness and understanding of this statutory process (known as “Notice and Comment”), as well as of specific regulatory and deregulatory proposals, Citizens Comment hopes to equip a dramatically expanded segment of the Public with the information and knowledge necessary to exercise their right to be heard by federal agencies and to meaningfully participate in the “rule making” process, especially before existing regulatory protections are altered or eliminated. (Note: the term “agency” is used on this website, as well as in the law, to refer to any component of the Executive Branch of the U.S, Government, other than the President, whether that component is formally designated as a Department, Bureau, Commission, Administration, Agency, or other label.)
This website is designed to do four main things beyond making people generally aware of the Notice and Comment process:
- Identify particular proposals by the Executive Branch of the federal government to eliminate or otherwise change federal regulations, where the proposed action may adversely affect important public interests.
- Explain in as simple terms as possible what is being proposed, what issues are raised by the proposal, and available facts that relate to pros or cons of the proposal.
- Provide links and references to other resources and sources of information that individuals interested in a “deeper dive” may want to consult before formulating views or comments of their own.
- Provide simple step-by-step instructions on how to submit your comment to government agencies on current proposals to dismantle regulatory protections or restraints.
We hope that you will use our site to Learn More About the Notice and Comment Process and to develop and communicate your views about specific deregulatory proposals listed on our Topics for Comment page in a form that must be considered by the Government before proposed changes become final.
You can find out more about us by visiting our People Page.