Notice and Comment

Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act of June 11, 1946, sets the basic procedure for most federal regulations, known as informal or notice-and-comment rulemaking. An agency must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register describing the rule and its legal authority, give the public an opportunity to submit written comments, consider the relevant comments, and publish the final rule with a concise statement of its basis and purpose, usually at least 30 days before it takes effect.

Comment periods typically run 30 to 60 days, and since 2003 most comments have been submitted through Regulations.gov. Agencies receive comments from businesses, advocacy groups, state and local governments, experts, and individuals, and must respond to significant points in the final rule, though the process is not a vote. Some rules draw millions of comments, many generated by mass campaigns, as the 2017 net neutrality repeal did. The law exempts interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules, and allows agencies to skip notice and comment for good cause when it is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, sometimes by issuing interim final rules.

Courts can strike down rules that skipped required procedures or failed to respond to significant comments, making notice and comment an important check on agencies. In April 2025 a presidential memorandum directed agencies to repeal regulations they considered unlawful under recent Supreme Court decisions, citing the good-cause exception to bypass comment in some cases, which critics said was legally vulnerable. Supporters of the process say it makes rulemaking transparent and gives the public a voice, while critics say it is slow and costly and that well-funded interests dominate the comments.