Hearings may be in Washington, D.C., or at field locations around the country. The Federal Register will have notices of theses hearings. The agency usually requires written requests to appear at the hearings. At the hearing, witnesses are allowed to testify and participate in a question and answer session with agency personnel. The agency must review the comments and take them into account.
Every agency is required to publish an agenda listing the regulations to be issued that year.
These lists are usually published in the spring and fall. Employers should check with the agency or at its web site to determine if regulations on a specific issue are scheduled for action. If an agency is in the process of developing a rule, an employer should be careful to document its interactions with agency officials. The reason this documentation is important is that if it is proven that your contact with the agency, outside of normal public comment, materially influenced the rules, the rule could be challenged as improper. Long before Congress actually passes legislation resulting in issuance of a rule, employers can influence the final outcome.