HR 7528: Comment Integrity and Management Act of 2024

HR 7528 in plain English: This bill sets rules for how federal agencies handle mass and AI-generated public comments during the rulemaking process. Agencies must verify whether comments come from humans, may post just one representative copy of identical or near-identical mass comments, and must establish policies for dealing with computer-generated input. The Office of Management and Budget would issue implementation guidance and the Government Accountability Office would report on the issue.

Stated purpose

To help federal agencies manage mass comments and computer-generated comments in the federal regulatory process, improving the integrity of public comment submissions without discouraging mass commenting.

Key points

• Requires federal agencies to verify, as much as possible, whether public comments are submitted by humans.
• Allows agencies to post only one representative copy of mass comments instead of all duplicates.
• Agencies must note how many identical or near-identical mass comments were submitted when posting a single copy.
• Each agency must create a formal policy for handling mass and computer-generated comments in rulemaking.
• The GAO must report on the identification and effects of computer-generated comments in the rulemaking process.

Arguments supporters make

• AI-generated and copy-paste comment floods can overwhelm agencies and drown out thoughtful individual input, so filtering them helps agencies focus on meaningful public feedback.
• Labeling mass comments and counting them separately keeps the record honest without silencing any voice, since the total number of submissions is still publicly noted.
• Clearer comment management rules give agencies consistent tools and reduce confusion about how to handle modern comment campaigns fairly.

Arguments opponents make

• Mass comment campaigns are a legitimate way for ordinary people to make their voices heard on complex regulations, and labeling or consolidating them could cause agencies to give them less weight than they deserve.
• Giving agencies discretion to decide what counts as a 'mass comment' could allow them to dismiss coordinated public opposition to their own proposed rules.
• The technology used to detect AI-generated or duplicate comments may misclassify genuine individual submissions, silently excluding real citizens from the official record.

Tradeoffs

Making the rulemaking record cleaner and easier to process may come at the cost of reducing the visible political weight of large organized comment campaigns, creating tension between administrative efficiency and broad public participation.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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