^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

GAO: Selected Agencies Should Clearly Communicate Practices Associated with Identity Information in the Federal Rulemaking Process
The U.S. Government Accounting Office published a report which found that when U.S. federal agencies propose new rules, they usually provide an opportunity for public comment, but agencies aren't required to collect or verify commenters' identity information.

Mass mailing campaigns can result in thousands of duplicate comments. Agencies can post them individually, as attachments to a single comment, or as a count of duplicates received. Practices vary among agencies, within agencies, and for each rule.

The variation in how agencies post comments could create an inaccurate view of who submitted public comments. GAO‘s recommendations include more clearly communicating agencies' comment policies.