Plain Writing Act of 2010> Plain Language in Federal Agencies

Plain Writing Act of 2010: Plain Language in Federal Agencies

The Act was signed in October 2010, but some federal agencies have been promoting the use of plain language for years. (If you don't see your agency's program listed here, contact us so we can include it.)

Who is my agency's designated senior official and where is my agency's plain language webpage?

Department	Agency	Webpage	Senior Official	Contact
Consumer Finance Protection Bureau		http://www.consumerfinance.gov/plain-writing/	Gail Hillebrand, Associate Director, Division of Consumer Education and Engagement	CFPB_Plain_Writing_Act@cfpb.gov
Corporation for National and Community Service		www.nationalservice.gov/about/open/index.asp	Amy Borgstrom, Senior Agency Official for Plain Language	Aaron Olszewski, Plain Writing Coordinator aolszewski.guest@cns.gov
Department of Agriculture		www.usda.gov/plain-writing	Jerry Mande, Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services	Marge Harter, Marjorie.Harter@osec.usda.gov
Department of Commerce	-	http://www.commerce.gov/plain-language	Jennifer Friedman, Director, Public Affairs	PlainLanguage@doc.gov
	U.S. Census Bureau	www.census.gov/aboutus/plain_writing.html	Tasha Boone, Assistant to the Communications Director	Neil Tillman w.neil.tillman@census.gov
Department of Defense		www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/plainlanguage.html	Michael L. Rhodes, Director of Administration and Management	DoDPlainLanguage@whs.mil
Department of Education		www.ed.gov/plain-language	Cynthia Dorfman, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Communication Services	cynthia.dorfman@ed.gov
Department of Energy			Ingrid A. Kolb, Director, Office of Management	Michael Coogan, Michael.Coogan@hq.doe.gov
Department of Health and Human Services	-	www.hhs.gov/open/recordsandreports/plainwritingact/index.html	Oliver Potts, Deputy Executive Secretary and Plain Writing Coordinator	hhsplainwriting@hhs.gov
	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	http://www.medicare.gov/plainlanguage.aspx	Mary Wallace, Deputy Director, Office of Communications	mary.wallace@cms.hhs.gov
Department of Homeland Security		www.dhs.gov/xutil/dhs-plain-language-summary.shtm	Phil McNamara, Executive Secretary
Department of Housing and Urban Development		portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/plainlanguage	,	webmanager@hud.gov
Department of Interior		www.interior.gov/open/Plain-Writing.cfm	Meghan Conklin, Associate Deputy Secretary	John Strylowski, john_strylowski@ios.doi.gov
Department of Justice		www.justice.gov/open/plainlanguage.html	Michael H. Allen, Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Department of Labor		www.dol.gov/dol/PlainWriting/	William E. Spriggs, Assistant Secretary for Policy	plainlanguage@dol.gov
Department of State		www.state.gov/m/a/dir/rulemaking/	William Moser, Assistant Secretary of State
Department of Transportation		www.dot.gov/plainlanguage	Carol C. Darr, Director, Executive Secretariat
Department of Treasury	-	www.treasury.gov/open/Pages/plainwriting.aspx	Rebecca Ewing, Deputy Executive Secretary	plainwriting@treasury.gov
	Internal Revenue Service		Jodi Patterson, Director, Office of Taxpayer Correspondence
Department of Veterans Affairs			Ken Greenberg, Executive Secretary
Environmental Protection Agency		www.epa.gov/plainlanguage/	Eric Wachter, Director of the Office of the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the Administrator
Farm Credit Administration		www.fca.gov/home/plainwriting.html	Mike Stokke, Director of Congressional and Public Affairs	Emily Yaghmour, yaghmoure@fca.gov
Federal Communications Commission		www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/plain-writing-fcc	Howard Parnell, Chief, Web and Print Publishing Division
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation		www.fdic.gov/plainlanguage/	,	PlainWriting@fdic.gov
Federal Election Commission		www.fec.gov/info/plainwriting.shtml	Gregg Scott, Assistant Staff Director, Information Division	plainlanguage@fec.gov
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission		www.ferc.gov/open/plain-language.asp	Mary O'Driscoll, Press Secretary and Director of Media Relations	customer@ferc.gov
Federal Housing Finance Agency		www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=343	Sandy Comenetz, Executive Advisor to the Acting Director	plainlanguage@fhfa.gov
Federal Maritime Commission		www.fmc.gov/about/plain_language_guidelines.aspx	Karen V. Gregory, Secretary	secretary@fmc.gov
Federal Trade Commission			Christian S. White, Deputy General Counsel
General Services Administration		www.gsa.gov/plainlanguage	Susan Brita, Deputy Administrator	Katherine Spivey, katherine.spivey@gsa.gov
Institute of Museum and Library Services		www.imls.gov/about/plain_langauge.aspx	Mammie Bittner, Director, Communications and Government Affairs	Kevin O'Connell koconnell@imls.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration		www.nasa.gov/open/plainlanguage.html	Dave Radzanowski, Chief of Staff
National Archives and Records Administration		www.archives.gov/open/plain-writing/	Donna Garland, Senior Official for Plain Writing	plainwriting@nara.gov
National Capitol Planning Commission		www.ncpc.gov/Open/home.html	Barry Socks, Chief Operating Officer	plainwriting@ncpc.gov
National Credit Union Administration		http://www.ncua.gov/Legal/plainlanguage/Pages/default.aspx	John Kutchey, Deputy Executive Director	PlainWriting@ncua.gov
National Endowment for the Arts		www.nea.gov/open/Plain-language.html	Don Ball, Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs	plainlanguage@arts.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission		www.nrc.gov/public-involve/open/plain-writing/fed-mandates.html	Darren B. Ash, Deputy Executive Director for Corporate Management
Office of Management and Budget			Lauren Wright, Assistant Director for Management and Operations
Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation		onhir.gov/Plain_Writing/index.htm	Christopher J. Bavasi, Executive Director	Scott Kuhr skuhr@onhir.gov
Office of Personnel Management		www.opm.gov/plainlanguage/	Richard B. Lowe, Director of the Executive Secretariat and Ombudsman
			Rosemary Williams, Director of Communications and Public Liaison
			Matthew E. Perry, Chief Information Office
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation		http://www.pbgc.gov/about/pbgc-in-plain-english.html	J. Jioni Palmer, Senior Advisor and Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Securities and Exchange Commission		www.sec.gov/plainwriting.shtml	Lori J. Schock, Director, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy
Small Business Administration			Kim Bradley, Director, Office of the Executive Secretariat
Social Security Administration		www.ssa.gov/plain-language/	Robin Kaplan, Executive Secretary	OPI.Net.Post@ssa.gov
United States Agency for International Development		www.usaid.gov/open/	Sean Carroll, Chief Operating Officer	Lisa Glufling lglufling@usaid.gov; and Christine Brown chbrown@usaid.gov

What is my agency doing to promote plain language?

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services offers a Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective. Its focus is health-related materials, but it can be used for many other topics.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a thriving plain-language program and provides training for its staff throughout the country. As part of that program, it developed a series of short, funny videos highlighting different plain-language techniques.

These agencies have well-established plain-language programs:

The Department of the Army, the National Institutes of Health, and the CDC have all developed training available for anyone to use.

Other Pages:
Plain Writing Act of 2010

Federal Agency Requirements

Plain Language in Federal Agencies