Plain English effort reduces regulatory rambling

As part of the Clinton Administration's ongoing effort to make government employees write clearly, Vice President Al Gore Wednesday honored Housing and Urban Development Department officials for rewriting a regulation.

Gore presented his fourth monthly "No Gobbledygook" awards to two HUD officials who made a housing discrimination regulation easier to understand.

Harry Carey, assistant general counsel for fair housing enforcement, and Sara Pratt, director of the office of fair housing enforcement, earned the honor by more clearly explaining how people can file housing discrimination complaints.

Here is an excerpt showing the fair housing regulation before and after the rewrite:

BEFORE
Sec. 103.40 Date of filing of complaint.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a complaint is filed when it is received by HUD, or dual filed with HUD through a substantially equivalent State or local agency, in a form that reasonably meets the standards of Sec. 103.30.
(b) The Assistant Secretary may determine that a complaint is filed for the purposes of the one-year period for the filing of complaints, upon the submission of written information (including information provided by telephone and reduced to writing by an employee of HUD) identifying the parties and describing generally the alleged discriminatory housing practice.
(c) Where a complaint alleges a discriminatory housing practice that is continuing, as manifested in a number of incidents of such conduct, the complaint will be timely if filed within one year of the last alleged occurrence of that practice.

AFTER
Sec. 103.18 Is there a time limit on when I can file?
Yes. You must notify us within one year that you are a victim of discrimination. If you indicate there is more than one act of discrimination, or that it is continuing, we must receive your information within one year of the last incident.

Gore's awards follow on President Clinton's June 1 memorandum instructing federal agencies to write documents and regulations in plain English.

John Strylowski, an Interior Department senior regulatory analyst who doubles as a plain English evangelist, leads clear writing workshops for federal agencies. Strylowski urges regulation writers to think about the people who have to read their ramblings.

"The most important thing is identifying with readers," Strylowski says, adding that writers need to "put the stuff that's important to readers first, not what's important to them."

Strylowski ticks off tips for writers: use the active voice, write short sentences and use pronouns. Writers have to avoid the standard that has developed in government, which puts a premium on complexity rather than clarity.

"People have sat up and taken notice," Strylowski says. "There are always hold-outs, but it's amazing how many people have turned around because they've seen what plain English can do."

Federal employees from a dozen agencies have banded together to form the Plain Language Action Network. The group's Web site lists online resources for improving writing and explains how to apply for a No Gobbledygook Award.