,i  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ifdc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #ac1 #bjbf,mr4 
,higgins of ,louisiana introduced the   
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,oversight and        
,government ,reform  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend section #bjf of the ,e-,government
 ,act of #bjjb to improve the integrity 
and management of mass comments and     
computer-generated comments in the      
regulatory review process1 and for other
 purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act 
may be cited as the ,comment ,integrity 
and ,management ,act4  #b4 ,purpose ,the
 purpose of this ,act is to help        
,federal agencies manage mass and       
computer-generated comments in the      
,federal regulatory process4 ,this      
should in no way be understood to       
discourage mass comments1 which are a   
vital part of the regulatory process4   
#c4 ,improving integrity and management 
of mass comments and computer-generated 
comments in the regulatory review       

process  7a7 ,in general ,section #bjf  
of the ,e-,government ,act of #bjjb     
7,public ,law #ajg-cdg2 #dd ,u4,s4,c4   
#ceja note7 is amended by--  7#a7       
redesignating subsection 7e7 as         
subsection 7f72 and  7#b7 inserting     
after subsection 7d7 the following3  7e7
 ,information integrity  7#a7           
,verification of electronic submissions 
,with respect to each comment accepted  
by electronic means under subsection    
7c71 in accordance with the guidance    
established by ,director in paragraph   
7#c71 the head of an agency shall       
verify1 to the greatest extent possible1
 at the time the comment is submitted1  
whether the comment has been submitted  
by a human being4  7#b7  ,identification
 and management of mass comments  7,a7  
,identification of mass comments  ,with 
respect to each comment accepted by     
electronic means under subsection 7c7 by
 the head of an agency1 the head of the 
agency shall-- 7i7 to the extent        
practicable1 reasonably determine       

whether such comment is a mass comment2 
and  7ii7 in the case that the agency   
has made a reasonable determination that
 the comment is a mass comment1 indicate
 on any publicly available copy of the  
comment1 or comment variations1 7through
 a label or indicator1 and in a machine 
and human readable format71 that the    
comment is part of a mass comment       
submission2 and  7,b7 ,handling of mass 
comments ,notwithstanding subsection    
7d77#b77;,a71 instead of making         
available through the electronic docket 
of the agency each comment identified as
 a mass comment under paragraph 7#b71   
the head of an agency may--  7i7 make   
available through such docket only a    
single representative sample of each    
such mass comment2 or  7ii7 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 comment4  7,c7  ,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 7,b71 the    
head of the agency shall indicate       
7through a label or indicator1 and in a 
machine and human readable format71 on  
the sample or copy made available1 the  
number of submissions that were         
determined to be identical1 or          
substantively identical to the sample or
 copy made available on such docket4    
7#c7 ,,omb guidance  7,a7 ,guidance ,not
 later than #bdj days after the date of 
the enactment of this subsection1 the   
,director1 in consultation with the     
,administrator of ,general ,services1   
shall issue guidance to the heads of    
each agency on the implementation of the
 requirements of this subsection4  7,b7 
,contents of ,guidance  ,the guidance   
issued pursuant to subparagraph 7,a7    
shall include recommendations for       

agencies on how to best manage comments 
accepted by electronic means1 including 
recommendations on how to do the        
following3 7i7 ,use technology tools and
 procedures that verify1 to the greatest
 extent possible1 whether a comment is  
being submitted by a human being4  7ii7 
,identify mass comments1 including how  
to leverage software tools to identify  
whether a comment is a mass comment4    
7iii7 ,indicate 7through a label or     
indicator1 and in a machine- and        
human-readable format71 that a comment  
is a mass comment4  7iv7 ,use new       
technology to offer new opportunities   
for public participation in the         
rulemaking process4  7,c7 ,updates ,the 
,director1 in consultation with the     
,administrator of ,general ,services1   
may update the guidance issued pursuant 
to subparagraph 7,a71 as determined     
necessary by the ,director4  7#d7       
,policies concerning posting and        
consideration of computer-generated     
comments and mass comments  7,a7  ,in   

general  ,not later than #a year after  
the date of the enactment of this       
subsection1 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-- 7i7 the requirements of         
paragraph 7#b72 and  7ii7 the guidance  
issued under paragraph 7#c74  7,b7      
,availability of policy ,not later than 
#fj days after the date on which the    
head of an agency establishes a policy  
pursuant to subparagraph 7,a71 the head 
of the agency shall1 to the extent      
practicable1 post the policy on the     
website through which an agency makes   
comments available pursuant to          
subsection 7d77#b77;,a74  7,c7  ,update 
to policy  ,the policy established      
pursuant to subparagraph 7,a7-- 7i7     
shall be updated as necessary to make   
such guidance consistent with any       
updates to the guidance issued under    

paragraph 7#c72 and  7ii7 may be updated
 by the head of the agency1 in          
consultation with the ,director1 as the 
head of the agency determines           
appropriate4  7#e7  ,exception to time  
limitation for implementation  ,the     
requirement described under subsection  
7f7 shall not apply to this subsection4 
7#f7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3  
7,a7 ,comment ,the term comment means a 
submission under section #eec7;c7 of    
title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4  7,b7  
,computer-generated comment ,the term   
computer-generated comment means a      
comment the substance of which is       
primarily generated by computer         
software1 including through the use of  
artificial intelligence1 rather than by 
a human being4  7,c7  ,mass comment     
,the term mass comment means a comment  
submitted as part of an organized       
submission of a large volume of         
identical1 or substantively identical1  
comments submitted by different         
signatories or entities4  4  7b7 ,update

 to websites1 information systems of    
agencies  7#a7 ,in general ,not later   
than #ah months after the date of the   
enactment of this ,act1 the head of each
 agency subject to the requirements of  
section #bjf7;e7 of the ,e-,government  
,act1 as added by subsection 7a71 shall 
update any website of the agency1 and   
any information system of the agency1 as
 necessary to ensure compliance with the
 requirements of such section4  7#b7    
,regulations4gov ,the ,administrator of 
,general ,services1 acting through the  
e,rulemaking ,program ,management       
,office1 shall update ,regulations4gov  
as necessary to ensure compliance with  
the requirements of section #bjf7;e7 of 
the ,e-,government ,act1 as added by    
subsection 7a74  7#c7 e,rulemaking      
system ,the ,administrator of ,general  
,services shall update the shared       
e,rulemaking system on behalf of        
participating agencies4  7c7 ,,gao      
report on computer-,generated comments  
7#a7 ,report ,not later than #b years   

after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 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 #bjf7;e7 of the  
,e-,government ,act of #bjjb 7,public   
,law #ajg-cdg2 #dd ,u4,s4,c4 #ceja      
note71 that includes the following3 7,a7
 ,recommendations on how to identify if 
a submission under that section is a    
computer-generated comment4  7,b7 ,any  
effect that computer-generated comments 
have on the rulemaking process4  7,c7   
,the extent to which the public uses    
computer-generated comments to          
participate in the rulemaking process at
 the time the report is submitted4  7,d7
 ,how prevalent computer-generated      
comments are at the time the report is  
submitted4  7,e7 ,how prevalent the     

,comptroller ,general anticipates       
computer-generated comments will be #e  
years after the date on which the report
 is submitted4  7d7 ,rule of            
construction ,nothing in this ,act1 or  
the amendments made by this ,act1 may be
 construed as affecting the             
consideration of a mass comment by the  
head of an agency during the rulemaking 
process4  7e7 ,definitions ,in this     
section3 7#a7 ,comment ,the term comment
 means a submission under section       
#eec7;c7 of title #e1 ,united ,states   
,code4  7#b7 ,computer-generated        
comments ,the term computer-generated   
comment means a comment the substance of
 which is primarily generated by        
computer software1 including through the
 use of artificial intelligence1 rather 
than by a human being4  7#c7 ,director  
,the term ,director means the ,director 
of the ,office of ,management and       
,budget4  7#d7 ,mass comment ,the term  
mass comment means a comment submitted  
as part of an organized submission of a 

large volume of identical1 or           
substantively identical1 comments       
submitted by different signatories or   
entities4