Useful Sites About Government Processes and Information

www.epa.gov/regulations/

Multi-page textual description of how EPA writes regulations

http://congress.indiana.edu/learn_about/launcher.htm#leg_proc

A remarkable set of materials, many interactive, about Congress, the legislative process, citizen participation and (soon) budget preparation. Although designed in middle-school and high-school modules, they provide more information than most adults know about the topics.

hwww.reginfo.gov/public/reginfo/Regmap/index.jsp

The steps in informal rulemaking, from initiation to the final product—including the various analyses, statements and clearances required by executive orders and overarching statutes—captured on a single page. Not for the faint of heart.

Former Dep't of Interior Bureau of Reclamation Decision Process Guide

An excellent guidance series, developed by the Bureau, on interacting with the public in developing resource management policy; sadly, it has been removed from the agency's website and is now being hosted as an archive on a private website.

According to the current webmaster, the guide has been translated into Japanese and used by other goverment entities. Although government materials in general are copyright free, we've been asked to note that the comics are copyrighted and used with permission from Grantland.

Law Librarians' Society of Washington Legislative Source Book

A miscellany of good stuff, particularly in the areas of legislative history and online resources, that includes: "Electronic Sources for Federal Legislative History Documents"; prepackaged legislative histories of several significant statutes, prepared by the Department of Commerce; a "Guide to Federal Legislative History Research"; the same for the Federal Register; "Laws and Links Related to General Agency Operations" that provides a list of statutes (with related links to, e.g., the Public Law, U.S.Code locations, C.F.R. parts, and committee reports)ranging from the Administrative Procedure Act through the Hatch Act to "Constitution Day & citizenshhip Day — Sept. 17"; and generally probably everything you could want to know about the history, content, organization and relationships among basic legislative sources such as the Congresional Record, Statutes at Large and US Code.

Law Librarians' Society of Washington Legislative Source Book

A page in the previous resource worth special mention because it collects Congressional Research Service Reports on Congress and Its Procedures. From the technical (e.g., "Senate Committee Reports: Required Contents") to the historical (e.g., "Black Members of the United States Congress: 1870 to 2004"; a comparable report on women) to the contentious (e.g., "Constitutionality of a Senate Filibuster of a Judicial Nomination"), a fascinating array of stuff about the two chambers, from a highly respected source.

Don't miss the list, at the bottom of the page, of "Links to Most Other CSR Reports on the Internet," most of which are by subject area.

The Cyber Cemetary