Rulemaking

As executive branch agencies, health departments are often delegated authority to create laws to advance public health through a process known as rulemaking. Agencies’ rules, sometimes called regulations, touch on nearly every aspect of modern life, including food safety, water quality, housing, infectious disease control, licensing, pharmaceuticals, occupational safety, and medical practice, among others.

The following resources provide core insights into the rulemaking process and more.

Navigating the Rulemaking Process Part 1

Get an overview of the rulemaking process from this webinar, which defines what regulations are and why they are important to public health. The session also details where health departments get their rulemaking authority and what processes health departments should use to create regulations.

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Navigating the Rulemaking Process Part 2

Learn strategies for strengthening regulations and avoiding legal challenges in this webinar. It also provides recommendations on how agencies can increase equity in their rulemaking process, featuring a conversation with the Washington Department of Health on their recent work to do so.

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Colorado’s Multi-Pronged Approach to Addressing Syphilis

After a concerning rise in syphilis cases—with overall case numbers more than doubling from 2019 to 2023—the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment implemented a series of policies to decrease the number of cases in the state. This ultimately resulted in new agency rules to increase syphilis testing. Learn more about these policies and their impact.

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Mount Rainier over Tacoma, WA Waterfront at dusk.

Equitable Rulemaking in Washington State

In 2022, the Washington State Department of Health formed a workgroup to improve its rulemaking process to promote health equity and reduce health disparities. Learn about the department's transformative work from identifying how to boost staff knowledge of the rulemaking process to noting strategies for community engagement and finding opportunities to improve its rulemaking infrastructure.

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