This is a project to collect and join various data on US federal agency rulemaking.
I have collected two datasets from regulations.gov, one for all rules, proposed rules, and notices and a second for all public comments:
| name | value |
|---|---|
| agency_acronym | FDA |
| allow_late_comment | 0 |
| attachment_count | 0 |
| comment_due_date | NA |
| comment_start_date | NA |
| docket_id | FDA-1976-N-0020 |
| docket_title | ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS/ISOLATION & DIFF OF MICROORGANSM CLI USE |
| docket_type | Nonrulemaking |
| document_id | FDA-1976-N-0020-0005 |
| document_status | Posted |
| document_type | Notice |
| fr_document_id | NA |
| fr_number | NA |
| number_of_comments_received | 0 |
| open_for_comment | 0 |
| posted_date | 1978-07-10T00:00:00-04:00 |
| rin | NA |
| title | Part 433 - Exemptions from Antibiotic Certification and Labeling Requirements - Notice of Confirmation of Effective Date |
| name | value |
|---|---|
| agency_acronym | CFPB |
| allow_late_comment | 0 |
| attachment_count | 1 |
| comment_due_date | NA |
| comment_start_date | NA |
| comment_text | Please accept the attached comments on behalf of the OnlineLenders Alliance regarding BCFP Trial Disclosure Programs Docket No. CFPB-2018-0023 Thank You Michael Day Policy Director Online Lenders Alliance |
| docket_id | CFPB-2018-0023 |
| docket_title | Policy to Encourage Trial Disclosure Programs |
| docket_type | Nonrulemaking |
| document_id | CFPB-2018-0023-0006 |
| document_status | Posted |
| document_type | Public Submission |
| posted_date | 2018-10-11T00:00:00-04:00 |
| submitter_name | Michael Day |
| title | Comment Submitted by Michael Day, OLA |
| rin | NA |
| organization | OLA |
Both tables are also available in SQL (instructions for using SQL)
For example, to get metadata for all CFPB rules:
SELECT * FROM rules WHERE agency_acronym = 'CFPB')
and all comments on those rules (including those without attachments):
SELECT * FROM comments WHERE agency_acronym = 'CFPB')
In R, you can query SQL databases with the DBI and RSQLite packages:
library(DBI)
library(RSQLite)
con <- DBI::dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), here::here("db", "regs_dot_gov.sqlite"))
# results for a comment, CFPB-2018-0023-0006
dbGetQuery(con, "SELECT * FROM comments WHERE docket_id = 'CFPB-2018-0023-0006'")
- XML versions available from 1995 until present
- Transformed to Rdata. Some errors corrected for 2000-2018
- Summary plots
[1] "ABSTRACT"
[2] "ADDITIONAL_INFO"
[3] "AGENCY"
[4] "AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST"
[5] "ANPRM"
[6] "ANPRMcomment"
[7] "ANPRMfedreg"
[8] "CFR_LIST"
[9] "CHILD_RIN_LIST"
[10] "COMPLIANCE_COST"
[11] "ENERGY_AFFECTED"
[12] "EO_13771_DESIGNATION"
[13] "FEDERALISM"
[14] "FINAL"
[15] "FINALeffective"
[16] "FINALfedreg"
[17] "FINALjudicial"
[18] "FINALstatutory"
[19] "FURTHER_INFO_URL"
[20] "GOVT_LEVEL_LIST"
[21] "IFR"
[22] "IFRcomment"
[23] "IFReffective"
[24] "IFRfedreg"
[25] "INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST"
[26] "JudicialFinal"
[27] "JudicialNPRM"
[28] "LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST"
[29] "LEGAL_DLINE_LIST"
[30] "LEGAL_DLINE_OVERALL_DESC"
[31] "MAJOR"
[32] "NAICS_LIST"
[33] "NPRM"
[34] "NPRMcomment"
[35] "NPRMfedreg"
[36] "NPRMjudicial"
[37] "NPRMstatutory"
[38] "PARENT_AGENCY"
[39] "PARENT_RIN"
[40] "PRINT_PAPER"
[41] "PRIORITY_CATEGORY"
[42] "PROCUREMENT"
[43] "PUBLIC_COMMENT_URL"
[44] "REINVENT_GOVT"
[45] "RELATED_AGENCY_LIST"
[46] "RELATED_RIN_LIST"
[47] "RFA_REQUIRED"
[48] "RFA_SECTION_610_REVIEW"
[49] "RIN"
[50] "RIN_STATUS"
[51] "RPLAN_ENTRY"
[52] "RPLAN_INFO"
[53] "RULE_TITLE"
[54] "SIC_DESC"
[55] "SMALL_ENTITY_LIST"
[56] "SNPRM"
[57] "SNPRMcomment"
[58] "SNPRMfedreg"
[59] "STAGE"
[60] "StatutoryFinal"
[61] "StatutoryNPRM"
[62] "TIMETABLE_LIST"
[63] "UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST"
[64] "UnifiedAgendaDate"
[65] "WITHDRAWAL"
[1] "AGENCY_CODE"
[2] "ANPRM_COMPLETED"
[3] "ANPRM_PUBLISHED"
[4] "ANPRM_RECIEVED"
[5] "DATE_COMPLETED"
[6] "DATE_PUBLISHED"
[7] "DATE_RECEIVED"
[8] "DECISION"
[9] "DODD_FRANK_ACT"
[10] "ECONOMICALLY_SIGNIFICANT"
[11] "EXPEDITED_REVIEW"
[12] "FEDERALISM_IMPLICATIONS"
[13] "FINAL_COMPLETED"
[14] "FINAL_PUBLISHED"
[15] "FINAL_RECIEVED"
[16] "HEALTH_CARE_ACT"
[17] "HOMELAND_SECURITY"
[18] "IFR_COMPLETED"
[19] "IFR_PUBLISHED"
[20] "IFR_RECIEVED"
[21] "INTERNATIONAL_IMPACTS"
[22] "LEGAL_DEADLINE"
[23] "MAJOR_OIRA"
[24] "NPRM_COMPLETED"
[25] "NPRM_PUBLISHED"
[26] "NPRM_RECIEVED"
[27] "REGULATORY_FLEXIBILITY_ANALYSIS"
[28] "RIN"
[29] "SMALL_ENTITIES_AFFECTED"
[30] "SNPRM_COMPLETED"
[31] "SNPRM_PUBLISHED"
[32] "SNPRM_RECIEVED"
[33] "STAGE"
[34] "TCJA"
[35] "TITLE"
[36] "UNFUNDED_MANDATES"
More about these data in:
- Why Do Agencies (Sometimes) Get So Much Mail? Lobbying Coalitions, Mass Comments, and Political Information in Bureaucratic Policymaking
- The Environmental Justice Movement’s Impact on Technocratic Policymaking
- The Climate Movement's Impact on Technocratic Policymaking
- Inequality in Administrative Democracy
- Data and Methods Analyzing Special Interests Influence in Rulemaking
- This collaborative repository
Much of the analysis using these data would not be possible without a team of research assistants who have read and coded many thousands of these documents.