Informal Rulemaking
What does "Informal Rulemaking" mean in law?
The standard rulemaking procedure under Section 553 of the APA, synonymous with notice-and-comment rulemaking, used when a statute does not require formal, on-the-record proceedings. Informal rulemaking requires the agency to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking, accept public comments, and issue a final rule with a statement of basis and purpose. Although called 'informal,' courts have imposed additional procedural and substantive requirements through doctrines like hard look review, requiring agencies to respond to significant comments, disclose the data relied upon, and provide a reasoned explanation for their decisions. This is the workhorse of federal regulatory activity, producing thousands of binding rules each year.
Definition
The standard rulemaking procedure under Section 553 of the APA, synonymous with notice-and-comment rulemaking, used when a statute does not require formal, on-the-record proceedings. Informal rulemaking requires the agency to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking, accept public comments, and issue a final rule with a statement of basis and purpose. Although called 'informal,' courts have imposed additional procedural and substantive requirements through doctrines like hard look review, requiring agencies to respond to significant comments, disclose the data relied upon, and provide a reasoned explanation for their decisions. This is the workhorse of federal regulatory activity, producing thousands of binding rules each year.
Example
The Environmental Protection Agency used informal rulemaking to establish new emissions standards for power plants, publishing a proposed rule, collecting over one million public comments, and then issuing a final rule with a detailed explanation of its choices.