Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is a public notice issued by law when one of the independent agencies of the United States government wishes to add, remove, or change a rule or regulation as part of the rulemaking process. It is an important part of United States administrative law which facilitates government by typically creating a process of taking of public comment. This nomenclature is also utilized at the state level.

Equivalent procedures are also used outside the United States for a document giving public notice of a proposed rule change and inviting informed comment on it. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) publishes similar notices referred to a notice of proposed amendment when seeking public comment.

NPRM procedure is required and defined by the Administrative Procedure Act. The Constitution does not require NPRM. Rather, Congress created the requirement to enlighten agencies — that is, to force them to listen to comments and concerns of people whom the regulation will likely affect. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are examples of agencies subject to these procedures.

The NPRM is published in the Federal Register and typically gives 60 days for public comment from any interested party, and an additional 30 days for reply comments. Original comments may still be filed in the reply comments window. While this is the normal method of agency rulemaking, emergency rulemaking is allowed to bypass the NPRM process. A notice is not required to be published in the Federal Register if all persons subject to it are named and are personally served with a copy of it.

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