Build a Public Comment Strategy That Regulators Take Seriously
Submitting a comment is more than voicing support or opposition—it’s an opportunity to shape the final rule. Agencies are far more likely to respond to comments that are specific, data-driven, and tied to the legal authority behind the proposal. McPherson Law Firm PLLC helps businesses, trade groups, and local stakeholders in Dallas, TX craft clear, credible submissions that protect operations and reduce compliance risk.
What Makes a Comment Effective
- Clear standing and impact: Explain who you are, what you do, and how the proposal affects your facility, project, customers, or community.
- Technical support: Use emissions calculations, modeling assumptions, monitoring data, or engineering constraints to back up your position.
- Legal hooks: Connect your points to statutory authority, required findings, cost considerations, and procedural obligations.
- Actionable alternatives: Offer revised language, phased timelines, safe harbors, or implementation guidance—not just criticism.
- A focused record: Create a clean paper trail that preserves issues for future negotiations, permitting, or potential challenges.
Common Pitfalls That We Help Clients Avoid
- Submitting general objections without citing the rule text or explaining real-world consequences
- Missing key deadlines, formatting requirements, or docket procedures
- Overlooking how a “minor” change could affect permitting, reporting, or enforcement exposure
- Failing to coordinate comments across facilities, trade associations, consultants, and internal teams
How Our Team Supports You From Start to Finish
Whether you need a rapid review or a fully developed filing, our attorneys can assist with:
- Identifying the provisions that create the highest operational or cost impact
- Collaborating with engineers and consultants to strengthen technical arguments
- Drafting persuasive narratives and proposed rule edits that are easy for reviewers to adopt
- Preparing supplemental materials (exhibits, calculations, declarations) that reinforce the record
- Coordinating follow-up communications and meeting preparation when appropriate
Need help deciding what to say—and how to say it—before the window closes? Contact McPherson Law Firm PLLC to discuss your goals and develop a comment plan tailored to your industry and timeline.
The Public Comment Period
When agencies and governments create new policies, they often fail to consider or simply don’t understand the particulars and concerns of any given business. Not surprisingly, proposed rules may simply be unworkable, even if the underlying intentions are sound.
As you decide whether or not to participate in rulemaking projects, consider the saying, “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” The policy may adversely affect your business operations, and your active involvement (i.e. understanding the proposed rule and submitting comments) could help you tailor it to your benefit or minimize its negative effects.
Furthermore, your competitors may be undertaking analysis themselves. If they succeed in adjusting policies to their benefit, the new regulations may entirely disregard your interests.
Here are four major rulemaking agencies that welcome your involvement during public comment periods:
This page lists current proposals along with their closing dates. When you click a rule, you have access to the complete text and the option to submit your information and comments.
Once agency staff members file recommendations with the Chief Clerk, commissioners vote on the proposal. If they approve the proposal, it moves to the Texas Register for public comment. On this site, you have access to each proposal, key due dates, and the portal you can use to submit comments.
Similar to the TCEQ process, opnce the commissioners approve a proposal, it moves to the Texas Register for public comment. On this site, you have access to each proposal, key due dates, and the portal you can use to submit comments.
Here, you can check the status of proposed rules within each policy chapter. If the comment period is still open, you have access to a link that takes you to a comment template.
