SBA has redesigned its Regulations.gov site, the one-stop for reading and commenting on federal regulations. The site’s ease of use has been significantly improved.

Cass Sunstein, head of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Regulatory and Information Affairs, said the re-launch includes “innovative new search tools, social media connections, and better access to regulatory data.” The new look aims to help the public to engage with agencies and ultimately to improve the content of rules.

The site has more user-friendly sorting and filtering tools. Users can now sort by “Comment Due Date” and “newly posted regulations” and can filter by “Category.” The “Document Spotlight” allows users to hover their cursors over each document in their search results and see a quick overview of the document without going to the docket. That will tell you what the rule is about and whether the comment period is still open.

Users can browse regulations in 10 categories, such as Banking and Financial or Defense, Law Enforcement, and Security. According to the site, a new feature “coming soon” will allow users to save their recent searches and quickly find regulations in a particular category.

A test drive reveals a few glitches. A search for “SBA size standards” yielded the proposed new standard for healthcare and social assistance at the top of the list. Just two clicks will take you to the text of the proposed rule in the Federal Register. However, the other search results had nothing to do with SBA’s size standards. (If you want to see Locomotive Safety Standards, search for “SBA size standards.”)