As Republicans Concede, F.C.C. Is Expected to Enforce Net Neutrality

Re:As Republicans Concede, F.C.C. Is Expected to Enforce Net... by dragonwriter on Tuesday February 24, 2015 @07:25PM (#9104523)

> Traditionally the rules would appear in the Federal Register ( https://www.federalregister.gov ) with a request for comment (check the proposed rules section).

No, traditionally -- as a preliminary draft that has not been voted on by the commission considering them -- they would not.

They would only appear in the Federal Register for comment if and when they were adopted by the appropriate decisionmaker (which, in the case of the FCC or similar multimember regulatory commission, is by a vote of the commission) as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (which is a proposal with a comment period) or an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (which is an adopted rule which also includes a built in comment period.)

They would also appear in the Federal Register (but not with the intent of soliciting comment) when adopted as a Final Rule, though that does not include a comment period.

Preliminary drafts that have not been adopted by the appropriate decisionmaker (such as proposals that have not yet been voted on by a commission such as the FCC) do not appear in the Federal Register.

The NPRM in the matter under consideration was published in the Federal Register last year [0]. Whatever drafts Wheeler or other commission members have circulated based on the discussion, comments, etc., subsequent to that NPRM are not formally proposed regulations, and would not be expected to be published before being voted on.

[0] https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/01/2014-148...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As Republicans Concede, F.C.C. Is Expected to Enforce Net... by protomyth on Tuesday February 24, 2015 @07:41PM (#9104586)

When I dealt with DOE, the actual rules proposed were put in the Federal Register for comment, so that we could actually comment on the rules making. I guess it works differently now or the FCC being an "independent board" does it different.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As Republicans Concede, F.C.C. Is Expected to Enforce Net... by dragonwriter on Tuesday February 24, 2015 @07:50PM (#9104641)

> When I dealt with DOE, the actual rules proposed were put in the Federal Register for comment, so that we could actually comment on the rules making. I guess it works differently now or the FCC being an "independent board" does it different.

The DOE is a single-decisionmaker hierarchy, and so there is no body that has to vote on proposals before they are formal proposals, the appropriate decisionmaker simply decides, and its a formal proposal.

But what is published in the FR for comment as "the actual rules proposed" would generally be an NPRM -- a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking -- which, in this matter, was published last year (linked upthread.) The internal drafts that are discussed after the comments are received but before either a second NPRM or a Final Rule is finalized on are not published in the Federal Register. And that's what the draft(s) circulating in the FCC prior to the upcoming vote are.

The difference between a department like DOE and a commission like the FCC is that the way that a formal proposal (NPRM) or rule -- the kind of thing that would be published in the Federal Register -- is decided on by the FCC or other commission is by a vote.

[ Parent | on HN ]