[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7528 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7528
To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve the
integrity and management of mass comments and computer-generated
comments in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2024
Mr. Higgins of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve the
integrity and management of mass comments and computer-generated
comments in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Comment Integrity and Management Act
of 2024''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVING INTEGRITY AND MANAGEMENT OF MASS COMMENTS AND
COMPUTER-GENERATED COMMENTS IN THE REGULATORY REVIEW
PROCESS.
(a) In General.--Section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002
(Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended by--
(1) redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
(2) inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Information Integrity.--
``(1) Verification of electronic submissions.--With respect
to each comment accepted by electronic means under subsection
(c), under guidance established by OMB in paragraph (4) of this
subsection, the head of an agency shall verify, to the greatest
extent possible, at the time the comment is submitted, whether
the comment has been submitted by a human being.
``(2) Identification and management of mass comments.--
``(A) Identification of mass comments.--With
respect to each comment accepted by electronic means
under subsection (c) by the head of an agency, the head
of the agency shall--
``(i) to the extent practicable, identify
whether such comment is a mass comment; and
``(ii) in the case that the agency has made
a reasonable determination that the comment is
a mass comment, indicate on any publicly
available copy of the comment, or comment
variations, (through a label or indicator) in a
machine and human readable format that the
comment is part of a mass comment submission.
``(B) Handling of mass comments.--Notwithstanding
subsection (d)(2)(A), for comments determined to be
mass comments pursuant to paragraph (2), the head of an
agency, instead of making available through the
electronic docket of the agency each mass comment
accepted by electronic means under subsection (c),
may--
``(i) make available through such docket
only a single representative sample of each
such mass comment; and
``(ii) in the case where mass comments take
the form of variations on certain standardized
but not identical language the agency may make
available through such docket a single copy of
one of the variations of the mass comment.
``(C) Number of submissions.--In case in which the
head of an agency makes available through such docket a
single representative sample or a single copy of one of
the variations of a mass comment, as authorized under
subparagraph (B), the agency shall make available
(through a label or indicator) in a machine and human
readable format, the number of submissions that were
determined to be identical or substantially identical
to the single submission made available on such docket.
``(3) Policies concerning posting and consideration of
computer-generated comments and mass comments.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the head of
each agency, consistent with the guidance issued
pursuant to paragraph (4) and with the requirements of
paragraph (2), shall establish a policy with respect to
the posting and consideration of computer-generated
comments and mass-comments during the rulemaking
process of the agency.
``(B) Availability of policy.--Not later than 60
days after the date on which the head of an agency
establishes a policy pursuant to subparagraph (A), the
head of the agency shall, to the extent practicable,
post the policy on the website through which an agency
makes comments available pursuant to subsection
(d)(2)(A).
``(C) Update to policy.--The policy established
pursuant to subparagraph (A) may be updated by the head
of the agency, in consultation with the Director, as
the head of the agency determines appropriate.
``(4) OMB guidance.--
``(A) Guidance.--Not later than 240 days after the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director,
in consultation with the Administrator of General
Services, shall issue guidance to the heads of each
agency on the implementation of the requirements of
this subsection.
``(B) Contents of guidance.--The guidance issued
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall include
recommendations for agencies on how to best manage
comments accepted by electronic means, including
recommendations on how to do the following:
``(i) Use technology tools and procedures
that indicate, to the greatest extent possible,
whether a comment is being submitted by a human
being.
``(ii) Identify mass comments, including
how to leverage software tools to identify
whether a comment is a mass comment.
``(iii) Indicate (through a label or
indicator), in a machine- and human-readable
format, that a comment is a mass comment.
``(iv) Use new technology to offer new
opportunities for public participation in the
rulemaking process.
``(C) Updates.--The Director, in consultation with
the Administrator of General Services, may update the
guidance issued pursuant to subparagraph (A), as
determined necessary by the Director.
``(5) Exception to time limitation for implementation.--The
requirement described under subsection (f) shall not apply to
this subsection.
``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Comment.--The term `comment' means a
submission under section 553(c) of title 5, United
States Code.
``(B) Computer-generated comment.--The term
`computer-generated comment' means a comment the
substance of which is primarily generated by computer
software, including through the use of artificial
intelligence, rather than by a human being.
``(C) Mass comment.--The term `mass comment' means
a comment submitted as part of an organized submission
of a large volume of identical, or substantively
identical, comments submitted by different signatories
or entities.''.
(b) Information Systems.--On a timetable established by the
Director, but not longer than 18 months, the head of each agency shall
update their website and/or information systems to ensure compliance
with these requirements. The Administrator of General Services, acting
through the eRulemaking Program Management Office, shall update
Regulations.gov as necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements
of section 206(e) of the E-Government Act, as added by subsection (a).
The Administrator of General Services shall update the shared
eRulemaking system on behalf of participating agencies.
(c) GAO Report on Computer-Generated Comments.--
(1) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate a report on the identification of computer-generated
comments under section 206(e) of the E-Government Act of 2002
(Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), that includes the
following:
(A) Recommendations on how to identify if a
submission under that section is a computer-generated
comment.
(B) Any effect that computer-generated comments
have on the rulemaking process.
(C) The extent to which the public uses computer-
generated comments to participate in the rulemaking
process at the time the report is submitted.
(D) How prevalent computer-generated comments are
at the time the report is submitted.
(E) How prevalent the Comptroller General
anticipates computer-generated comments will be 5 years
after the date on which the report is submitted.
(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Computer-generated comments.--The term
``computer-generated comment'' means a submission under
section 553(c) of title 5, United States Code, the
substance of which is primarily generated by computer
software, including through the use of artificial
intelligence, rather than by a human being.
(B) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act, or any amendment
made by this Act, shall be construed to minimize an agency's due
consideration of mass comments submitted during the rulemaking process.
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