The EPA is launching a new website that should make it easier for the public to participate in the agency's rulemaking process. The online Rulemaking Gateway is a portal to the agency's priority rules, and provides quick information about agency regulations in progress. It also allows users to search for EPA rules that relate to specific interests.

The site will serve as a complement to Regulations.gov (Ed note: PE's primary resource for regulatory info), by providing brief overviews of specific EPA rules and additional ways to search rules based on the phases they are in (e.g., pre-proposal, proposal), the topics they relate to (e.g., air, water), and the impacts they might have (e.g., impacts on small businesses or environmental justice).

The agency has initiated a discussion forum on the new portal to allow the public to suggest enhancements to the site. The forum will be open through July 16, 2010, after which the agency plans to make enhancements based on ideas received.

More information on Rulemaking Gateway and the discussion forum can be found at www.epa.gov/rulemaking.