This bill establishes requirements with respect to the submission of mass comments and computer-generated comments in the federal rulemaking process.
Specifically, the bill requires federal agencies to verify, to the greatest extent possible at the time a public comment is submitted, whether the comment has been submitted by a human being.
An agency also must determine whether comments are mass comments and may publish on the docket only a single representative copy of such comments or a single copy of one variation of mass comments that use standardized but not identical language. If the agency publishes only a single copy of a mass comment, the agency also must indicate the number of mass comments submitted that were identical or substantively identical to the representative copy or variation that the agency published.
Additionally, each agency must establish a policy with respect to the posting and consideration of computer-generated comments and mass-comments during the agency's rulemaking process.
The Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance for implementing the requirements of this bill, and the Government Accountability Office must report on the identification and effect of computer-generated comments in the rulemaking process.
