Although rulemaking has become the method for resolving many major public policy issues, most people (including most lawyers) know very little about the process. The principal statute governing rulemaking, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), describes only the bare skeleton. Not only have many variations developed outside the APA, but also most of the process occurs inside the agency, or another part of government, and does not follow precise steps or timetables.
The Project will create a series of integrated web pages designed to allow the user to obtain information about the process, to the extent and at the level of detail she chooses. The series comprises two sets of pages:
Overview Pages: Consisting of an introductory page of basic facts and a multi-page graphic representation of the entire lifecycle of a rule, the goal here is to provide core information, that is accurate yet comprehensible and non-intimidating to those not legally trained.
In Depth Pages: Accessible from any of the steps in the lifecycle or from a sidebar menu, these are a set of web index-cards that provide additional detail, with links to primary sources such as statutes and Executive Orders. Designed for the non-expert who wants more information about all or part of the process, they will use plain language as far as possible to outline the principal elements of each step. They will not attempt the sort of comprehensive coverage as, e.g., an administrative law treatise.
