EPA Comment Guidance
On this page:
- Responding to Comments and Direct Messages on EPA Social Media Accounts
- External Social Media Tools that Allow Comments
- Documenting Unapproved Comments Other than Spam
Responding to Comments and Direct Messages on EPA Social Media Accounts
Any EPA employee, contractor, or other person who is authorized to use social media on behalf of EPA may respond, as part of their official duties, to comments and direct messages on EPA social media accounts, when there is a factual, public, and relevant answer available, in the following instances:
- Answering a direct question about EPA public engagements, webinars, or publicly available information from a commenter;
- Providing additional resources the public can go to learn more about a specific topic, using the following standard language:
- For more information on [topic], visit [website], send a message to our [contact us page], or direct message us for an EPA contact.
- Providing critical information on behalf of the Agency during emergency situations;
- Conducting pre-planned official engagements, such as Twitter chats; or
- Responding to a direct message with a canned response written by OPA.
Responses should:
- Direct people to EPA resources or other government information that is publicly available
- Take precautions not to disclose non-public information, such as personal identifiable information (PII) and confidential business information (CBI); and
- Be approved by OPA, if necessary.
Any EPA employee, contractor, or other person who is authorized to use social media on behalf of EPA should avoid responding to commenters that use inappropriate language. Inappropriate comments may be removed from the account as discussed in the section below.
External Social Media Tools that Allow Comments
Use the link for Interacting with EPA Online on all EPA external-facing tools that allow comments.
Placement of the link to the Interacting with EPA Online disclaimer on pages that accept comments will depend on the tool, the page setup, and other considerations. Please contact the Office of Web Communications in OPA for guidance on specific tools.
If comments are removed (after posting) or unapproved (not posted) because they do not meet the comment guidelines, then document that decision using the process outlined below. Comments that are spam do not need to be documented.
Note: OPA and OMS are responsible for updating and revising EPA's comment guidelines with the assistance of OGC to ensure that there are no legal concerns or issues.
Documenting Unapproved Comments Other than Spam
Copy the following text into a document and keep a copy of all unapproved comments, and the reason(s) they were not approved:
Unapproved Comments Other than Spam
This document shows all comments, other than spam, that we haven't approved. Potential reasons for not approving a comment:
- contains obscene, indecent, or profane language;
- contains threats or defamatory statements;*
- contains hate speech directed at race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion, or disability; or
- promotes or endorses services or products (note that non-commercial links that are relevant to the topic or another comment are acceptable);
* When threats or violent comments are received, an incident report should be filed with the security office.
Paste in new ones at the bottom, number them, and add a reason.
Examples of Comment Violations
1) 3/15/2011
Live webcast: Join us March 17 and share your ideas. Help us design a plan we’ll use to periodically review regulations.
Comment: Joe Smith - count moldremoval.com to be a part of that I am the social media coordinator and love to be involved with this
Reason: Promotional
2) 3/18/2011
Have you seen our frequently asked questions about the Japan nuclear incident and our monitoring?
Comment: Joseywalesful Daniel - Quite right indeed because I'm stocking up on ammunition that's why I know. (^_^)
Reason: Threatening
3) 5/10/2011
Our new radiation monitoring map provides near-real-time levels in air and lab analysis of precipitation, milk, and drinking water. Each dot still links to a page showing all data, and you can search for your town to see how close the nearest dots are.
Comment: Nate Ham - Why do u think there is only 3 major cell phone companies? listen when all sh** [asterisks added by EPA] hits the fan like Egypt and the gov shut down the internet and cell phones think how easy it would be to do in the USA with everyone and there i phone i pad tablet black berry now they have tablet computers THINK how easy it will be for them to shut off your cell phone internet even power
Reason: Profanity