II 
Calendar No. 712 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7528 
[Report No. 118–306] 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 7, 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
DECEMBER 17 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 
Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
AN ACT 
To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 
to improve the integrity and management of mass com-
ments and computer-generated comments in the regu-
latory review process, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 of 2024’’. 
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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 un-
derstood to discourage mass comments, which are a vital 
part of the regulatory process. 
SEC.
3.
IMPROVING
INTEGRITY
AND
MANAGEMENT
OF 
MASS
COMMENTS
AND
COMPUTER-GEN-
ERATED
COMMENTS
IN
THE
REGULATORY 
REVIEW PROCESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— Section 206 of the E–Govern-
ment 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
SUBMIS-
SIONS.—With respect to each comment accepted by 
electronic means under subsection (c), in accordance 
with the guidance established by Director in para-
graph (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. 
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‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION
AND
MANAGEMENT
OF 
MASS COMMENTS.— 
‘‘(A)
IDENTIFICATION
OF
MASS
COM-
MENTS.—With respect to each comment accept-
ed by electronic means under subsection (c) by 
the head of an agency, the head of the agency 
shall— 
‘‘(i) to the extent practicable, reason-
ably 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 dock-
et of the agency each comment identified as a 
mass comment under paragraph (2), the head 
of an agency may— 
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‘‘(i)
make
available
through
such 
docket only a single representative sample 
of each such mass comment; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case where mass com-
ments take the form of variations on cer-
tain standardized but not identical lan-
guage the agency make available through 
such docket a single copy of one of the 
variations of the mass comment. 
‘‘(C) NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS.—In 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
sub-
stantively 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 sub-
section, the Director, in consultation with the 
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Administrator of General Services, shall issue 
guidance to the heads of each agency on the im-
plementation of the requirements of this sub-
section. 
‘‘(B)
CONTENTS
OF
GUIDANCE.—The 
guidance issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) 
shall include recommendations for agencies on 
how to best manage comments accepted by elec-
tronic means, including recommendations on 
how to do the following: 
‘‘(i) Use technology tools and proce-
dures that verify, to the greatest extent 
possible, whether a comment is being sub-
mitted by a human being. 
‘‘(ii) Identify mass comments, includ-
ing how to leverage software tools to iden-
tify whether a comment is a mass com-
ment. 
‘‘(iii) Indicate (through a label or in-
dicator, 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. 
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‘‘(C) UPDATES.—The Director, in con-
sultation with the Administrator of General 
Services, may update the guidance issued pur-
suant to subparagraph (A), as determined nec-
essary by the Director. 
‘‘(4) POLICIES CONCERNING POSTING AND CON-
SIDERATION OF COMPUTER-GENERATED COMMENTS 
AND MASS COMMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, the head of each agency shall establish 
a policy with respect to the posting and consid-
eration 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 para-
graph (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 com-
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ments
available
pursuant
to
subsection 
(d)(2)(A). 
‘‘(C) UPDATE TO POLICY.—The policy es-
tablished pursuant to subparagraph (A)— 
‘‘(i) shall be updated as necessary to 
make such guidance consistent with any 
updates to the guidance issued under para-
graph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) may be updated by the head of 
the agency, in consultation with the Direc-
tor, as the head of the agency determines 
appropriate. 
‘‘(5) EXCEPTION TO TIME LIMITATION FOR IM-
PLEMENTATION.—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. 
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‘‘(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 sub-
section (a), shall update any website of the agency, 
and any information system of the agency, as nec-
essary 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 Regula-
tions.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
Adminis-
trator of General Services shall update the shared 
eRulemaking system on behalf of participating agen-
cies. 
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(c) GAO REPORT ON COMPUTER-GENERATED COM-
MENTS.— 
(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 Accountability 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 sub-
mitted. 
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(E) How prevalent the Comptroller Gen-
eral anticipates computer-generated comments 
will be 5 years after the date on which the re-
port 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 com-
ment 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 Budg-
et. 
(4) MASS COMMENT.—The term ‘‘mass com-
ment’’ means a comment submitted as part of an or-
ganized submission of a large volume of identical, or 
substantively identical, comments submitted by dif-
ferent signatories or entities. 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Comment Integrity and 
Management Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORT ON THE INTEGRITY AND MANAGEMENT OF 
MASS 
COMMENTS, 
COMPUTER-GENERATED 
COMMENTS, AND FALSELY ATTRIBUTED COM-
MENTS IN THE REGULATORY REVIEW PROC-
ESS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) 
ADMINISTRATOR.—The 
term 
‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of General Services. 
(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 3502 of title 44, United 
States Code. 
(3) 
APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit-
tees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 
of Representatives. 
(4) COMMENT.—The term ‘‘comment’’ means a 
submission under section 553(c) of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 
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(6) MASS COMMENT.—The term ‘‘mass comment’’ 
means a comment submitted as part of an organized 
submission of a large volume of identical, or sub-
stantively identical, comments submitted by different 
signatories or entities. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and annually during the 
5-year period thereafter, the Director, in consultation with 
the Administrator, shall submit a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees and post a report on the website 
of the Office of Management and Budget on— 
(1) the prevalence of mass comments, computer- 
generated comments, and falsely attributed comments 
in the rulemaking process; 
(2) the effect of mass comments, computer-gen-
erated comments, and falsely attributed comments on 
the rulemaking process; 
(3) leading practices, including policies and 
technologies, that agencies are using to identify and 
respond to mass comments, computer-generated com-
ments, and falsely attributed comments in the rule-
making process; and 
(4) agency efforts to respond to mass comments, 
computer-generated comments, and falsely attributed 
comments. 
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(c) GAO REPORT ON COMPUTER-GENERATED COM-
MENTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on computer-generated comments that includes— 
(1) recommendations on how to identify a com-
puter-generated comment; 
(2) any effects that computer-generated com-
ments have on the rulemaking process; 
(3) the extent to which the public uses computer- 
generated comments to participate in the rulemaking 
process at the time the report is submitted; 
(4) how prevalent computer-generated comments 
are at the time the report is submitted; and 
(5) how prevalent the Comptroller General of the 
United States anticipates computer-generated com-
ments will be 5 years after the date on which the re-
port is submitted. 
SEC. 3. NO NEW FUNDS. 
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 
for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 
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Calendar No. 712 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7528 
[Report No. 118–306] 
AN ACT 
To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 
2002 to improve the integrity and management 
of mass comments and computer-generated com-
ments in the regulatory review process, and for 
other purposes. 
DECEMBER 17 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 
Reported with an amendment 
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