Policy Impacts

Reforming the Federal Petition Process

Individuals can petition federal agencies to issue, amend, or repeal regulations, but agencies lack a uniform process for handling these petitions. Our efforts have helped improve this system. Policy Integrity worked with the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), a federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process, to create new guidelines for the petition process. ACUS adopted new recommendations for federal agencies, based on Policy Integrity’s research and suggestions. The new guidelines include recommendations on how agencies should track petitions, when they should solicit public comment on pending petitions, and how online resources can best be used to facilitate submissions and update petitioners and the public on petition status. This effort began when Policy Integrity proposed that ACUS update its investigation of petitions for rulemaking. The agency later retained Policy Integrity as a consultant.