The Life of a Regulation

An agency determines that a new regulation or a change to an existing regulation is needed. This may be in response to a new law, court ruling, policy objective, or operational challenge. Agencies often (but not always) publicize upcoming regulatory actions in the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, more commonly known as the Unified Regulatory Agenda (URA), published on Reginfo.gov and Regulations.gov. For guidance on how to navigate the URA and find regulatory actions, click here.

The rule may be published as a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), interim final rule (IFR), or direct final rule. In some cases, agencies seek input before drafting a rule through meetings, listening sessions, or an Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking (ANPRM).

If the rule is a significant regulatory action, the agency submits it to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a division within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for a full government review. This review can take up to 90 days and may be shortened or extended. OIRA works with other agencies to coordinate comments and input, including a cost-and-benefit analysis.

The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) — the law governing many regulatory actions — has several exceptions to the rules that require comment. Before this administration, the default was to allow a notice-and-comment process wherever the public's substantive interests were affected. Exemptions apply to rules on military or foreign affairs, agency management or personnel, or public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts. A second group of exemptions covers rules that don't regulate public conduct — interpretative rules, general policy statements, or agency organizational/procedural rules. Finally, an agency can skip notice and comment for "good cause," if it can justify that public comment is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest — an explanation of that good cause must be included in the regulation.

Once the rule clears OIRA review, the agency publishes a proposed rule in the Federal Register, explaining the proposed changes and its reasoning.

Where a good-cause or procedural/policy exemption applies, a rule can become effective immediately upon publication — unlike rules that go through notice and comment, which require a 30-day wait before the final rule takes effect.

For guidance on finding proposed rules on the Federal Register, click here. For guidance on how to read and understand a proposed rule, click here.

The public gets a window to submit comments — typically 30 to 60 days. You can find the specific window under the "Dates" header of the proposed rule. Individuals can then share feedback, data, and recommendations.

For guidance on writing, structuring, and submitting your comment, click here. For guidance on viewing others' submitted comments, click here.

Once the comment period closes, the agency is required — under the APA — to consider, review, and respond to significant issues raised in the comments it received. Based on that feedback, the agency may revise, narrow, expand, or withdraw the proposal.

The agency's responses to comments appear in the next iteration of the proposal, or in the final rule itself.

There's no set amount of time an agency must spend considering comments before publishing a final rule. The final rule must be published in the Federal Register, and should explain the agency's reasoning and respond to comments received during the public comment period.

This step can follow right after Step 3 when a good-cause or procedural/policy exemption applies — skipping the comment period and agency review.

In most cases, the rule takes effect 30 or 60 days after publication, or as specified in the final rule itself. Final rules can go into effect immediately if they respond to a natural disaster or public health emergency, or if they only make technical changes that don't affect the public at large.

After a final rule is published and its effective date has passed, the agency can publish further documents interpreting or explaining the rule without going through notice and comment again.

For guidance on finding a rule's effective date, click here.