One of the better ways for ordinary Americans to keep our vast, federal bureaucracies in check is to submit public comments about their rulemaking.
Federal agencies open rules up for “notice and comment,” a process by which citizens have a chance to weigh in on regulatory rules and policies. It’s a way to not just communicate to federal agencies but the wider public about issues. In this sense, anyone can become a citizen journalist.
Heritage Action for America recently launched two separate community portals to make it easier to submit public comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency about some of their current initiatives and regulatory proposals.
Earlier in the year, Heritage Action launched a similar portal for comments to the FTC about Big Tech censorship. The result was a deluge of comments explicitly accusing Big Tech companies of censorship and suppressing speech.
This time, the FTC is seeking out public comments about gender ideology. The FTC announced on July 28 that its looking into “potential deceptive and unfair practices” involving what is inappropriately called “gender affirming care.” Gender affirming care meaning hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and gender reassignment surgeries.
The FTC, according to National Review, is investigating cases where American “have been exposed to false or unsupported claims” about such treatments to “gauge the harms consumers may be experiencing.”
Heritage Action noted that the FTC is “taking an important step toward public transparency by evaluating whether children, parents, and families have been misled by radical gender ideology.”
It also said that citizens can personalize their submission “by sharing examples of false data, advertisements, social media posts, disclosures, or empirical research that have harmed children and families.”
Access the Heritage Action Portal on gender ideology HERE. The FTC also has instructions for how to submit a confidential comment HERE. The FTC’s comment period ends on Sept. 26.
The EPA is also seeking comments from the public on the repeal of an Obama-era rule that regulated vehicles and engines based on the so-called Endangerment Finding.
“Since the 2009 Endangerment Finding was issued, many have stated that the American people and auto manufacturing have suffered from significant uncertainties and massive costs related to general regulations of greenhouse gases from vehicles and trucks,” a press release by the EPA stated. “Finally, EPA is proposing to provide much needed certainty and regulatory relief, so companies can plan appropriately, and the American people can have affordable choices when deciding to buy a car.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposed rule change will “end sixteen years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers.”
Heritage Action also commented on the destructiveness of the Obama era rule:
Countless regulations that devastated American energy and raised prices for families through regulations under the Clean Air Act were based on faulty climate science. These regulations have been squeezing gas powered and even hybrid cars out of the market and forcing an increase in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to achieve an overall net carbon emission reduction. In addition to rescinding the Endangerment Finding, this proposed rule would also remove all existing regulations that require new motor vehicles to comply with emissions standards.
Access to the Heritage Action portal on the EPA’s decision to overturn the Obama-era rule can be found HERE. The comment period ends on Sept. 22.
