Once a law is passed, an executive branch agency becomes responsible for carrying it out. Good advocates will birddog a law's implementation just as thoroughly as they did the legislative process.

The first step is usually drafting the regulations to govern the program. For nearly every regulation, a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" - NPRM - is published by the responsible government agency so the public can comment.

At the federal level, final regulations and Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, are published in a five-day-a-week publication called the Federal Register, which is available in all federal Depository libraries; from the local, regional, or national office of the agency affected; and on the Internet from the National Archives and Records Administration

States may issue final regulations through a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, or some other office. States also publish proposed regulations, but usually on a monthly or weekly basis. It is important to learn which office publishes draft and final regulations in your state, and the library or Internet sources for them. A state library, or Secretary of State's office is a good place to start.

But few people are likely to go visit a library or web site every week just to read through the latest government regulations, and even if they did, regulations are sometimes hard to understand. That is another reason for linking up with a good advocacy group. Advocacy groups - state and national - not only get copies of the regulations important to their issues, they analyze them, clarify them, and notify the people on their mailing lists when comment letters are needed. Best of all, they are likely to alert you to key issues to look out for, and may offer sample comment letters to get you started. But the basic process is pretty straightforward.

Each Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes information that makes it easy for citizens to comment: the name of the agency issuing the regulation, a summary of the action being taken, the date by which comment letters are needed, a person and telephone number to contact with any questions, where to address your comments, and an explanation of what the regulation contains.

Then the full text of the proposed regulation follows. (This part maybe less understandable because it is written to meet legal standards.)

• Briefly describe your group, note any expertise you have (personal experience counts), and why you are interested in the proposed regulation;
  
• Acknowledge points you agree with, and identify points you disagree with;
  
• Describe factual situations that would be affected by the regulation, and if possible, suggest alternative language.

Since each letter is counted separately, it is best to ask every member of your group to send one, rather than have a single letter with multiple signa tures. Personalizing each letter heightens their impact. It also helps to send a copy of your comment letter to your senators and representatives. Increasingly agencies are taking comments via e-mail.

And if your organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, work on regulations does not count toward the lobbying limits under federal IRS law. (However in some states, work on regulations does count as lobbying and must be disclosed - although there is no limit placed. Check the rules in your state.)

Do not forget. At every step, policy advocacy has a role for everyone: people to write letters, make phone calls, get facts, draft comments, issue reports, work with the media, develop strategy, lobby, discuss, think, show up, care. Some of that is sure to describe you.