OTI Signs Onto Letter to Administrative Conference of the United States about Mass Comments

OTI joined over 80 organizations in sending a letter to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) urging them to ensure that people have the opportunity to have their voices heard as federal agencies weigh crucial policies. ACUS, an independent federal agency, convened to discuss recommended guidelines for federal agencies—and how they should treat mass comments that grassroots and public-interest groups submit—that could curtail the public’s ability to engage in important policymaking procedures.

Many of our organizations work to raise awareness of federal rulemakings and to lower the barriers to public participation in these administrative processes. We provide members of the general public with easy ways to navigate federal agencies’ comment processes and make their voices heard in those proceedings.

Comments that agencies receive from the public at large, in response to awareness-raising efforts and general public participation in these important proceedings, are not the same as fraudulent and computer-generated comments. We are encouraged that ACUS has made this clear in its most recent recommendations draft, noting that the Conference “does not mean to suggest that these comments are to be addressed in the same way,” nor “does it intend to imply that the widespread participation in the rulemaking process, including via mass comments, is problematic.”