Docket
Definition
A docket is the complete public file for a single rulemaking, holding the proposed rule, supporting studies and data, every public comment submitted, and eventually the final rule. Regulations.gov hosts dockets for most federal agencies and lets anyone search and read them.
Why it matters
The docket is the paper trail that makes a rule legally defensible or vulnerable in court, since a judge reviewing a challenge checks whether the agency actually engaged with the comments in its own docket. It is also the best public tool for spotting who is lobbying an agency, since coordinated form-letter campaigns and identical industry comments show up plainly once someone reads the docket rather than just the final rule.
Seen in the wild
Regulations.gov dockets for high-profile rules, such as EPA's 2025 "waters of the United States" proposal, routinely draw tens of thousands of public comments, a mix of individual letters, mass-campaign form comments from advocacy groups, and detailed technical submissions from regulated industries.1