Before a federal agency adopts most new regulations, it must first publish a proposal. The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 requires a “general notice of proposed rule making” in the Federal Register. The agency must then give “interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making through submission of written data, views, or arguments.”
A citizen, a company or an association can read the proposal. They can tell the agency what is wrong with it before it becomes binding. The agency must consider the comments. It must explain the final rule’s “basis and purpose.” Agencies “respond to comments by categories in the preambles of final rules.” A new substantive rule normally takes effect at least 30 days after it is published.