From time to time, federal agencies accept comments from the general public on proposed regulations, petitions for exemptions from regulations, etc.

Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration moved its docket over to http://www.regulations.gov, and the process for submitting comments on the Internet is quite different from before.

The following steps will walk you through finding the docket that is open for comments and into the comment process.

1. Go to http://www.regulations.gov
2. Click on “Search for Dockets” on the top of the screen.
3. Fill in the “Docket ID” line and either hit return or scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the “Submit” button.
4. On the left-hand side of the page, you should see the docket number you typed as an active link. Click on that docket number.
5. On that page, which says “Docket Details” at the top, you will need to scroll down until you see a solid blue bar that lists “Docket ID,” “Title,” etc. On the far right-hand side of that bar, you will see “Add Comments.” Below that heading you should see a comment icon. Click on the comment icon.
6. The comment page will load with information on how to comment, but all you need to do is scroll down until you see a form for you to fill in and submit your comments to the agency.
7. You only have to fill out the field with the red asterisk beside it. All other fields are optional – so you can file comments anonymously.
8. Once you have filled out all fields with personal information you choose to provide and have typed your comments in the “General Comments” box, you simply scroll down and hit the “Next step” button.
9. You will then be able to scroll down, preview your comments and either click on the “Cancel/Exit,” “Edit,” “Print” or “Submit” button.

Of course, submitting comments electronically via the Internet isn’t your only option. You can still:

• Fax comments with the docket ID number to (202)-493-2251;
• Mail comments with the docket ID number to:

Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room W-12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20590-0001

• Or hand deliver comments between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except on federal holidays to the ground floor of the U.S. Department of Transportation building, Room W-12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC.