ACUS Adopts Five Recommendations That Will Improve Efficiency, Fairness, Transparency, and Public Participation in Government Programs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Harry M. Seidman
Phone: 202. 480. 2085
Email: hseidman@acus.gov
 

ACUS Adopts Five Recommendations That Will Improve Efficiency, Fairness, Transparency, and Public Participation in Government Programs

Washington, December 17, 2018 - At its 70th Plenary Session on December 13-14, the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) adopted five recommendations that will improve the efficiency, transparency, and fairness of administrative programs; reduce their costs to taxpayers; and enhance the public’s ability to participate in them.

Recommendation 2018-4: Recusal Rules for Administrative Adjudicators. This recommendation urges agencies to issue procedural regulations governing the recusal of adjudicators to ensure both impartiality and the appearance of impartiality in agency adjudications.  It encourages agencies to adopt procedures by which parties can seek the recusal of adjudicators assigned to their cases and to provide written explanations for recusal decisions. Additional information is available here.

Recommendation 2018-5: Public Availability of Adjudication Rules. This recommendation offers best practices to optimize agencies’ online presentations of procedural rules governing adjudications. It encourages agencies to make adjudication rules available online and to present them in a way that maximizes their accessibility both to parties appearing before the agency and to the broader public. Additional information is available here.

Recommendation 2018-6: Improving Access to Regulations.gov’s Rulemaking Dockets. This recommendation offers suggested improvements to Regulations.gov, the website that allows the public to comment on many federal agencies’ rulemaking proposals, to ensure that rulemaking materials on Regulations.gov are easily searchable and categorized consistently and clearly. Additional information is available here.

Recommendation 2018-7: Public Engagement in Rulemaking. This recommendation offers strategies for agencies to enhance public engagement when developing regulations. It encourages agencies to invest resources in a way that maximizes the probability that regulation-writers obtain high quality public information as early in the process as possible. Additional information is available here.

Recommendation 2018-8: Public-Private Partnerships This Recommendation offers agencies guidance on legal and other considerations for participating in public-private partnerships. It commends to agencies a Guide to Legal Issues Encountered in Public-Private Partnerships and proposes mechanisms that allow agencies to share resources and best practices with one another when creating and administering public-private partnerships. Additional information is available here.

 The next Plenary Session will be held in June 2019. Details, including times and recommendations to be considered, will be posted at acus.gov/meetings-and-events as soon as they become available. Join our mailing list at www.acus.gov/subscribe to be notified instantly.

 

About ACUS

The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research and providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of senior federal officials, academics, and other experts from the private sector. Except for the Chairman, all Conference Members are unpaid.

The Conference is committed to promoting effective public participation and efficiency in the rulemaking process by leveraging interactive technologies and encouraging open communication with the public as well as making improvements to the regulatory process by reducing unnecessary litigation, and improving the use of science and the effectiveness of applicable laws.  Learn more at www.acus.gov.