HOW-TO GUIDE SCIENCE ADVOCACY TOOLKIT

The document outlines how federal agencies implement laws through regulations, detailing the legal obligations for content and process, the role of public commentary, and the influence of the White House via the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

• Federal agencies are legally required to base regulations on a thorough analysis of relevant scientific, technical, and economic information; failure to do so can lead to a court overturning the decision.
• The standard rulemaking process requires agencies to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, provide the public at least 30 days to submit comments, and respond to all 'significant' comments—those providing new analysis or reasoned arguments—in the final rule.
• The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) acts as the gatekeeper for interagency review of 'significant' rules to ensure consistency with presidential policies.
• The administrative record, which includes all written comments and public hearing statements in the publicly accessible docket, serves as the legal basis upon which an agency must defend its decision in court.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2021). HOW-TO GUIDE SCIENCE ADVOCACY TOOLKIT. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Inside-the-Federal-Rulemaking-Process-6-29-21.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. HOW-TO GUIDE SCIENCE ADVOCACY TOOLKIT. 2021. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Inside-the-Federal-Rulemaking-Process-6-29-21.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=HOW-TO GUIDE SCIENCE ADVOCACY TOOLKIT |date=July 2021 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Inside-the-Federal-Rulemaking-Process-6-29-21.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2021howto, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{HOW-TO GUIDE SCIENCE ADVOCACY TOOLKIT}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Inside-the-Federal-Rulemaking-Process-6-29-21.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }