Analysis reveals procedural acknowledgment does not guarantee substantive policy influence in federal rulemaking, indicating a strategic agency approach.
Key Points
The research aims to differentiate between procedural acknowledgment and substantive influence in federal rulemaking processes.
Analyzed 854 federal rules from 2017 to 2023
Employed semantic text analysis to evaluate regulatory provisions
Investigated the relationship between comment citations and changes in regulatory text
Two-thirds of comment citations did not lead to any responsive changes in regulatory text
Agencies often cite comments from well-resourced groups while rejecting their substance
Procedural responsiveness is used strategically to maintain legal defensibility without policy changes.