For many years, federal agencies have been encouraged to use information technology to improve their communications with the public and to increase participation in the rulemaking process. One of the recommendations of the National Performance Review in September 1993 was to “se information technology and other techniques to increase opportunities for early, frequent, and interactive public participation during the rulemaking process ...” The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 states that the Director of OMB should promote the use of IT “to improve the productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of Federal programs…” Similarly, a December 17, 1999, presidential memorandum on “Electronic Government” noted that “as public awareness and Internet usage increase, the demand for online Government interaction and simplified, standardized ways to access Government information and services becomes increasingly important.” Between June 2000 and February 2001, as information technology began to play an increasingly important role in agencies’ regulatory management and the facilitation of public participation in federal rulemaking, we reported on a number of associated opportunities and challenges. We pointed out that the use of information technology could reduce regulatory burden, improve the transparency of regulatory processes, and, ultimately, facilitate the accomplishment of regulatory objectives. We reported on innovative uses of information technology that representatives of federal or state agencies and nongovernmental organizations believed could be more widely used by federal regulatory agencies, and we recommended actions that could facilitate innovation, avoid duplication of effort, and potentially result in a broader and more consistent approach across federal agencies. The President, through the President’s Management Agenda, has advanced greater use of information technology across a range of government functions, including rulemaking. In July 2001, the President identified the expansion of e-government as one of the five priorities of his management agenda. To support this, OMB has developed an implementation strategy and identified 25 e-government initiatives, one of which is e-Rulemaking. In May 2002, the Director of OMB issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies advising them of “our intention to consolidate redundant IT systems relating to the President’s on-line rulemaking initiative.” Citing OMB’s authority under the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, the Director said OMB had identified “several potentially redundant systems across the federal government that relate to the rulemaking process,” and indicated that consolidation of those systems could save millions of dollars. The administration said e-Rulemaking would “democratize an often closed process.” In late 2002, the President signed into law the E-Government Act of 2002. The act requires agencies, to the extent practicable, to accept public comments on proposed rules “by electronic means” and to ensure that a publicly accessible federal Web site contains “electronic dockets” for their proposed rules. The act also established an Office of Electronic Government within OMB, headed by an Administrator appointed by the President and required to work with the Administrator of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in establishing the strategic direction of the e-government program and to oversee its implementation. Initially, OMB named the Department of Transportation (DOT) as the lead agency, or managing partner, for the e-Rulemaking effort, entrusting DOT with the day-to-day management of the project as well as collaboration with other e-Rulemaking agencies. In a previous report, we noted that “DOT had the most developed electronic docket system of the agencies that we contacted, covering every rulemaking action in the department and including all public comments received regardless of medium.” DOT served as managing partner until an independent consultant’s assessment concluded in August 2002 that the system operated by EPA was the optimal platform to serve as the consolidated electronic docket platform for the entire federal government. As a result of this assessment, OMB transferred managing partner responsibilities from DOT to EPA in late 2002. The e-Rulemaking initiative provides a single portal for businesses and citizens to access the federal rulemaking process and comment on proposed rules. It is composed of three modules. The first module was completed in January 2003 with the launch of the www.regulations.gov Web site. The second module, which is the focus of this report, will move beyond rule identification and a comment mechanism by establishing a governmentwide electronic docket management system into which all relevant regulatory supporting materials and public comments will be placed. The third and final module will create an electronic regulatory desktop to facilitate the rule development process. E-Rulemaking officials and the e-Rulemaking Initiative Executive Committee considered three alternative designs for the federal e- Rulemaking system and ultimately chose to develop and implement a single, centralized design. This decision was based upon studies that examined the costs, deployment risks, and security aspects of the three designs. Throughout the management of the e-Rulemaking initiative, e- Rulemaking officials have estimated that the centralized design would save money; the latest estimate is that it would save approximately $94 million over 3 years. Officials said they used their best professional judgment and information about the costs to develop and operate paper and electronic rulemaking systems. E-Rulemaking officials and the e-Rulemaking Initiative Executive Committee considered three designs for the system architecture of the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system. These were a centralized, tiered, or a distributed design. The key characteristics of the governmentwide e- Rulemaking system architecture would: enable agencies to manage content and workflow processes using variable access controls and role definitions; provide a robust and scaleable Web-based solution that supports the capture, conversion, and dissemination of high volumes of information; provide the public and stakeholders with the ability to perform electronic docket searching, viewing, and commenting across multiple agencies; and minimize the total cost of system ownership and management while delivering responsive service to agencies/subagencies, businesses, and citizens. Anyone with the ability to connect to the Internet with a standard industry browser would be able to access the e-Rulemaking system. Centralized design. The centralized design uses a minimal number of governmentwide e-Rulemaking system components in the same location to provide consistent access and services for citizens and agency staff across all dockets. Under this design, the features and functions of the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system are provided by component-based application architecture and all standard components are centrally located. These application components would reside on servers in a single location for delivery of services to the public and the agencies. Unlike the tiered and distributed designs, which are discussed in the next sections, the centralized design will not support existing agency docket systems nor will it distribute components of the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system in agency facilities. Tiered design. The tiered design utilizes a centralized governmentwide e- Rulemaking system to deliver all agency and citizen services, but is different from the centralized design because common hardware and software components installed in the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system are also installed at different agency sites to enhance system performance. For example, components like the database management or document management system may be placed on separate servers in the same or different locations to process information more efficiently to boost system performance, and the responsibility for the data is dispersed across multiple entities or agency sites and would be maintained locally at each site. Because the tiered design is based on the use of common hardware and software components, the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system is not linked to any existing agency specific docket system with its unique hardware and software. As a result, no customized software interfaces are needed. Distributed design. The distributed design integrates a centralized governmentwide e-Rulemaking system with existing agency-specific electronic docket systems while satisfying all governmentwide e-Rulemaking system requirements. This design links agencies with existing docket systems to the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system using customized software (middleware) to allow interconnectivity between agencies’ systems and the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system. This design provides the public with a means of searching across agency dockets and establishes the governmentwide e-Rulemaking system as an access point to the public and agencies for searching, reviewing, and commenting on dockets that reside on the agencies’ existing docket systems. In addition, agencies with docket systems will continue to perform their own workflow/business/docket life-cycle processing. In 2002, DOT, which was the managing partner for the e-Rulemaking initiative, contracted with a consulting firm to assess the capabilities of seven existing agency e-Rulemaking systems and prepare a business case describing alternative designs for the system and the recommended design. The firm was to provide advice to DOT about the best technical approach for the initiative, along with a full analysis of alternatives that leverage the use of existing technology to meet the vision, goals, and objectives of the initiative. Based on its assessment, the consulting firm’s August 2002 report recommended that EPA’s eDocket system would be the optimal platform for a governmentwide centralized e-Rulemaking system. The business case discussed two other alternative designs as well. DOT submitted this business case to OMB in September 2002. Based on the recommendation to use EPA’s e-Rulemaking system as the platform for a centralized system, OMB transferred managing partner responsibilities for the e-Rulemaking initiative from DOT to EPA. After EPA became the managing partner in late 2002, EPA submitted three additional business cases to OMB—in December 2002, September 2003, and September 2004—and recommended the centralized design. During this time period, e-Rulemaking officials also hired a contractor to refine the three alternative designs, summarize the costs and risks for each alternative, and recommend one alternative for implementation. E- Rulemaking officials used the contractor’s January 2004 report recommending the centralized alternative when preparing the last of the three business cases that was submitted to OMB. E-Rulemaking officials and the e-Rulemaking Initiative Executive Committee based the decision to select the centralized design over the tiered and distributed designs on three assessments that generally found that the centralized design was most cost effective, had the lowest risk for deployment and support instability, was the most secure, and was most likely to deliver the breadth and functionality sought by agencies and the public.