[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7528 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7528

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve the 
   integrity and management of mass comments and computer-generated 
   comments in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Comment Integrity and Management Act 
of 2024''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

     The purpose of this Act is to help Federal agencies manage mass 
and computer-generated comments in the Federal regulatory process. This 
should in no way be understood to discourage mass comments, which are a 
vital part of the regulatory process.

SEC. 3. IMPROVING INTEGRITY AND MANAGEMENT OF MASS COMMENTS AND 
              COMPUTER-GENERATED COMMENTS IN THE REGULATORY REVIEW 
              PROCESS.

    (a) In General.-- Section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 
(Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended by--
            (1) redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Information Integrity.--
            ``(1) Verification of electronic submissions.--With respect 
        to each comment accepted by electronic means under subsection 
        (c), in accordance with the guidance established by Director in 
        paragraph (3), the head of an agency shall verify, to the 
        greatest extent possible, at the time the comment is submitted, 
        whether the comment has been submitted by a human being.
            ``(2) Identification and management of mass comments.--
                    ``(A) Identification of mass comments.--With 
                respect to each comment accepted by electronic means 
                under subsection (c) by the head of an agency, the head 
                of the agency shall--
                            ``(i) to the extent practicable, reasonably 
                        determine whether such comment is a mass 
                        comment; and
                            ``(ii) in the case that the agency has made 
                        a reasonable determination that the comment is 
                        a mass comment, indicate on any publicly 
                        available copy of the comment, or comment 
                        variations, (through a label or indicator, and 
                        in a machine and human readable format) that 
                        the comment is part of a mass comment 
                        submission; and
                    ``(B) Handling of mass comments.--Notwithstanding 
                subsection (d)(2)(A), instead of making available 
                through the electronic docket of the agency each 
                comment identified as a mass comment under paragraph 
                (2), the head of an agency may--
                            ``(i) make available through such docket 
                        only a single representative sample of each 
                        such mass comment; or
                            ``(ii) in the case where mass comments take 
                        the form of variations on certain standardized 
                        but not identical language the agency make 
                        available through such docket a single copy of 
                        one of the variations of the mass comment.
                    ``(C) Number of submissions.--In case in which the 
                head of an agency makes available through such docket a 
                single representative sample or a single copy of one of 
                the variations of a mass comment under subparagraph 
                (B), the head of the agency shall indicate (through a 
                label or indicator, and in a machine and human readable 
                format), on the sample or copy made available, the 
                number of submissions that were determined to be 
                identical, or substantively identical to the sample or 
                copy made available on such docket.
            ``(3) OMB guidance.--
                    ``(A) Guidance.--Not later than 240 days after the 
                date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director, 
                in consultation with the Administrator of General 
                Services, shall issue guidance to the heads of each 
                agency on the implementation of the requirements of 
                this subsection.
                    ``(B) Contents of guidance.--The guidance issued 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall include 
                recommendations for agencies on how to best manage 
                comments accepted by electronic means, including 
                recommendations on how to do the following:
                            ``(i) Use technology tools and procedures 
                        that verify, to the greatest extent possible, 
                        whether a comment is being submitted by a human 
                        being.
                            ``(ii) Identify mass comments, including 
                        how to leverage software tools to identify 
                        whether a comment is a mass comment.
                            ``(iii) Indicate (through a label or 
                        indicator, and in a machine- and human-readable 
                        format), that a comment is a mass comment.
                            ``(iv) Use new technology to offer new 
                        opportunities for public participation in the 
                        rulemaking process.
                    ``(C) Updates.--The Director, in consultation with 
                the Administrator of General Services, may update the 
                guidance issued pursuant to subparagraph (A), as 
                determined necessary by the Director.
            ``(4) Policies concerning posting and consideration of 
        computer-generated comments and mass comments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of the enactment of this subsection, the head of 
                each agency shall establish a policy with respect to 
                the posting and consideration of computer-generated 
                comments and mass-comments during the rulemaking 
                process of the agency that is consistent with--
                            ``(i) the requirements of paragraph (2); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the guidance issued under paragraph 
                        (3).
                    ``(B) Availability of policy.--Not later than 60 
                days after the date on which the head of an agency 
                establishes a policy pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 
                head of the agency shall, to the extent practicable, 
                post the policy on the website through which an agency 
                makes comments available pursuant to subsection 
                (d)(2)(A).
                    ``(C) Update to policy.--The policy established 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) shall be updated as necessary to make 
                        such guidance consistent with any updates to 
                        the guidance issued under paragraph (3); and
                            ``(ii) may be updated by the head of the 
                        agency, in consultation with the Director, as 
                        the head of the agency determines appropriate.
            ``(5) Exception to time limitation for implementation.--The 
        requirement described under subsection (f) shall not apply to 
        this subsection.
            ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Comment.--The term `comment' means a 
                submission under section 553(c) of title 5, United 
                States Code.
                    ``(B) Computer-generated comment.--The term 
                `computer-generated comment' means a comment the 
                substance of which is primarily generated by computer 
                software, including through the use of artificial 
                intelligence, rather than by a human being.
                    ``(C) Mass comment.--The term `mass comment' means 
                a comment submitted as part of an organized submission 
                of a large volume of identical, or substantively 
                identical, comments submitted by different signatories 
                or entities.''.
    (b) Update to Websites, Information Systems of Agencies.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency subject to 
        the requirements of section 206(e) of the E-Government Act, as 
        added by subsection (a), shall update any website of the 
        agency, and any information system of the agency, as necessary 
        to ensure compliance with the requirements of such section.
            (2) Regulations.gov.--The Administrator of General 
        Services, acting through the eRulemaking Program Management 
        Office, shall update Regulations.gov as necessary to ensure 
        compliance with the requirements of section 206(e) of the E-
        Government Act, as added by subsection (a).
            (3) Erulemaking system.--The Administrator of General 
        Services shall update the shared eRulemaking system on behalf 
        of participating agencies.
    (c) GAO Report on Computer-generated Comments.--
            (1) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and 
        Accountability of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
        Senate a report on the identification of computer-generated 
        comments under section 206(e) of the E-Government Act of 2002 
        (Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), that includes the 
        following:
                    (A) Recommendations on how to identify if a 
                submission under that section is a computer-generated 
                comment.
                    (B) Any effect that computer-generated comments 
                have on the rulemaking process.
                    (C) The extent to which the public uses computer-
                generated comments to participate in the rulemaking 
                process at the time the report is submitted.
                    (D) How prevalent computer-generated comments are 
                at the time the report is submitted.
                    (E) How prevalent the Comptroller General 
                anticipates computer-generated comments will be 5 years 
                after the date on which the report is submitted.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act, or the amendments 
made by this Act, may be construed as affecting the consideration of a 
mass comment by the head of an agency during the rulemaking process.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Comment.--The term ``comment'' means a submission under 
        section 553(c) of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Computer-generated comments.--The term ``computer-
        generated comment'' means a comment the substance of which is 
        primarily generated by computer software, including through the 
        use of artificial intelligence, rather than by a human being.
            (3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (4) Mass comment.--The term ``mass comment'' means a 
        comment submitted as part of an organized submission of a large 
        volume of identical, or substantively identical, comments 
        submitted by different signatories or entities.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 6, 2024.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 7528

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve the 
   integrity and management of mass comments and computer-generated 
   comments in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.