Tools for Rules: Technology Transfer and Electronic Rulemaking

Large-scale, email public comment campaigns in the United States necessitate the creation of new, specially tailored power tools for language. We call these applications "tools for rules". This paper introduces the rule writers' workbench, a system developed specifically for dealing with the influx of public comments. We describe the context in which these tools were developed and report on our first round of usability testing. Our major finding is that a particular tool ('DURIAN' or duplicate removal In large collection) performs a critical function in the era of burgeoning email campaigns. We provide a glimpse into the real world testbed provided by over 540,000 emails submitted to the Fish & Wildlife Service on the proposed listing of the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. Finally, we conclude with observations about the likely political considerations as tools like DURIAN become more commonplace on the desktop of regulatory rule writers.