Comment Integrity and Management Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9643 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9643

  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

                             July 13, 2026

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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''.

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 the 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
        Government Reform 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.
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