More Open Gov't: Help Improve Regulations.gov

Last week, I blogged about 4 major new developments in open government.

Next up is an effort to engage the public in improving regulations.gov, which is where people can comment online about proposed regulations, read related materials, and generally get involved in helping set policy. The feedback effort is called Regulations.gov Exchange.

Here's the note that the site's managers sent out to the Gov't Web Managers Forum:

We are excited to announce that on May 21, 2009, the eRulemaking Program launched Regulations.gov Exchange, an online forum enabling the public to explore new innovative designs and features proposed for Regulations.gov.
We invite our colleagues on this listerv to login to the Exchange site and share your knowledge and suggestions on improving Regulations.gov. On the Exchange, you can preview the new homepage design and other features proposed for the site. We value the expertise and insight of this group, and will use the feedback from the Exchange site to prioritize our ongoing updates to Regulations.gov in the future.

Regulations.gov Exchange will be open for public participation until July 21, 2009 at www.regulations.gov/exchange

Regulations.gov Exchange promotes public engagement by actively involving citizens in the development of a major government-wide web site, and uses new technologies that enhance the transparency of
government decision-making. The public feedback will shape on-going updates of Regulations.gov, explore the impact of emerging Internet technologies on the federal rulemaking process, foster government-citizen collaboration, and promote government transparency and openness.

The eRulemaking Program, a federal-wide E-Government project led by the Environmental Protection Agency, operates the Regulations.gov web site. Regulations.gov is the one-stop, online source for citizens to search, view and comment on regulations issued by the U.S. government. In 2008, Regulations.gov received more than 110 million hits and 450,000 comments on new or existing regulations. It holds 2 million documents from more than 160 federal entities.

We thank you for your participation!

Kristin Tensuan and Shanita Brackett

So what are you still doing here? Go tell 'em how to make regs.gov better!