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

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7528

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2024

   Mr. Higgins of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was 
       referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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. 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), under guidance established by OMB in paragraph (4) of this 
        subsection, 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, identify 
                        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) in a 
                        machine and human readable format that the 
                        comment is part of a mass comment submission.
                    ``(B) Handling of mass comments.--Notwithstanding 
                subsection (d)(2)(A), for comments determined to be 
                mass comments pursuant to paragraph (2), the head of an 
                agency, instead of making available through the 
                electronic docket of the agency each mass comment 
                accepted by electronic means under subsection (c), 
                may--
                            ``(i) make available through such docket 
                        only a single representative sample of each 
                        such mass comment; and
                            ``(ii) in the case where mass comments take 
                        the form of variations on certain standardized 
                        but not identical language the agency may 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, as authorized under 
                subparagraph (B), the agency shall make available 
                (through a label or indicator) in a machine and human 
                readable format, the number of submissions that were 
                determined to be identical or substantially identical 
                to the single submission made available on such docket.
            ``(3) 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, consistent with the guidance issued 
                pursuant to paragraph (4) and with the requirements of 
                paragraph (2), 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.
                    ``(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) may be updated by the head 
                of the agency, in consultation with the Director, as 
                the head of the agency determines appropriate.
            ``(4) 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 indicate, 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), 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.
            ``(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) Information Systems.--On a timetable established by the 
Director, but not longer than 18 months, the head of each agency shall 
update their website and/or information systems to ensure compliance 
with these requirements. 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). 
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.
            (2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) Computer-generated comments.--The term 
                ``computer-generated comment'' means a submission under 
                section 553(c) of title 5, United States Code, the 
                substance of which is primarily generated by computer 
                software, including through the use of artificial 
                intelligence, rather than by a human being.
                    (B) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the 
                Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act, or any amendment 
made by this Act, shall be construed to minimize an agency's due 
consideration of mass comments submitted during the rulemaking process.
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