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Get Involved with EPA Regulations

Many people get involved with EPA's regulations by submitting comments when we publish a proposed version in the Federal Register. You can submit comments on-line at Regulations.gov or you can make a submission via mail, e-mail, or EPA docket centers.

Often, you can get involved well before a proposed regulation is published, as well. And after a regulation is finalized, regulated entities (such as businesses, state governments, or individuals) can stay involved by learning how to comply. Learn how to:

Comment on Our Regulations

  • Regulations.gov - This multi-agency website is EPA's official on-line comment system and serves as a clearinghouse for materials related to EPA rulemakings. You may submit comments on proposed regulations via this website.
    • If you know only the title or subject of the regulation, the easiest way to search is to enter the full title or keywords in the "Keyword or ID" field on the Regulations.gov home page. Be as specific as possible to help narrow your search results.
    • If you know the Docket or Document ID number, enter it in the "Keyword or ID" field. One of these tracking numbers are likely to yield more targeted results than a title search.
    • Once you locate the regulation you want to comment on, you can open the document to find other ways to comment (i.e., via mail or e-mail) in addition to the Regulations.gov on-line comment form.  Look for a section of the regulation called "ADDRESSES," which will specify other ways to comment.
  • Federal Register on FDSys - Use FDSys as an alternate to Regulations.gov. This website is maintained by the U.S. Government Printing Office and provides access to every regulation published in the Federal Register since 1994, as well as many other federal government publications. Navigate to the proposed regulation you are interested in; to do so, it is best if you know the date the proposed regulation was published or the citation. Once you reach the regulation, you will find instructions on how to submit comments in a section called "ADDRESSES."

Keep Tabs on Rulemakings

  • Regulatory Development and Retrospective Review Tracker (Reg DaRRT) - View monthly (and in some cases daily) updates to our priority rulemakings that are under development as well as our retrospective reviews of existing regulations. Reg DaRRT posts a profile on a priority rulemaking right when we start to work on it, which is sometimes months or even years before we publish a proposed rule. Also, Reg DaRRT offers a number of RSS feeds and lists upcoming public meetings related to priority rulemakings. 
  • Actions Initiated by Month - Every month, we post an Action Initiation List (AIL) that includes every new rulemaking that we are initiating. If there's a priority rulemaking on the AIL, we link to Reg DaRRT so you can continually keep tabs on it. If a rule isn't on Reg DaRRT, you can still get twice yearly updates in our Regulatory Agenda .
  • Regulations.gov - This is EPA's official on-line commenting system. Any rule in Reg DaRRT that is open for comment directs you to Regulations.gov so you may submit a comment. Also, from Regulations.gov, you can sign up for email alerts and sign up for RSS feeds.

Get compliance assistance news by e-mail

Subscribe to the compliance and enforcement e-mail notification. The Quarterly Compliance Assistance News Brief provides the latest information on:

  • New compliance assistance tools and resources.
  • Significant rule changes.
  • Upcoming workshops/trainings events and web casts.

Read Our Regulatory Agendas and Plans

EPA contributes an annual Regulatory Plan and Semiannual Regulatory Agenda to the U.S. government's Unified Agenda, which is published in the Federal Register. Our Regulatory Plans and Agendas broadly describe the regulatory activities that EPA will be undertaking over the next year; the Plan describes EPA's core priorities for the next fiscal year.

Access Our Docket Centers

A number of EPA docket centers collect information related to our regulations, such as background documentation and public comments about rulemakings. They are managed by the various offices (e.g., Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Water) that write the rules. Both hard-copy and electronic materials are available in the docket centers' public reading room. You may also submit comments to the docket centers, in addition to submitting them via Regulations.gov.

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