Helping Enforce Laws, Rules, Regulations, and Standards

"Some may rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." --Woody Guthrie

These tools are useful in bringing violations of federal laws, regulations, and standards to the attention of the agencies and officials responsible for enforcing them. They also include tools to help in registering complaints about inconsiderate, unhelpful, or otherwise inferior government services with the appropriate offices. This toolkit is not exhaustive, and other tools useful for these purposes may be available from government and nongovernment sites on the internet. The collection was selected primarily from federal executive agencies, independent agencies, and quasi-independent agencies. Because group pressure is more effective than individual pressure, several nongovernment organizations and guides to organizations are also listed here. It is organized by general subjects for enforcement, complaint, or grievance.

Contents:

1. General Sources
2. Law Enforcement
3. Work and the Workplace
4. Consumer Protection
5. Finance and Business
6. Civil Rights
7. Environmental Protection
8. Miscellaneous,
9. Complaints

General Sources

Presidential E-Mail

Go right to the top! This provides links for e-mail addresses for the President, First Lady, Vice President, and others.
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/couples.html)

U.S. House Membership Directory

This directory lists members of the House by name and by state, and gives each one's address, phone, email (if any), legislation sponsored and cosponsored, and committee memberships. Complaining to your congressional representative about poor government service or a gap in federal law enforcement is always an option.
(http://www.house.gov/mbr_dir/membr_dir.html)

U.S. Senate Membership Directory

This directory of Senators is arranged by name, but it is also available by state; an e-mail directory is here, too. For additional directories, see our Making Contact section in the Legislative Tools drawer.
(http://www.senate.gov/senator/members.html)

Federal Information Center

If you can't find it elsewhere, the FIC provides toll-free and other phone numbers for getting information about the Federal Government, including how to contact specific agencies. A fuller description is available.
(http://www.gsa.gov/et/fic-firs/fichome.htm)

Federal Web Locator

Maintained by the Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy, this site is a user-friendly, regularly updated directory to federal government web sites. A fuller description is available.
(http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Agency/fedwebloc.html)

U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library Code of Federal Regulations

This site contains the text of federal regulations of general applicability currently in effect, and with its user-friendly search capabilities, it can help you find out about all the rules.
(http://www.pls.com:8001/his/cfr.html)

Federal Register

This site also offers the full text of federal rules; it gives access to the 1994, 1995, and 1996 Federal Registers by date, agency, words in captions, and words in titles. For alternative access to the Federal Register, see the Regulatory Tools drawer.
(gopher://gopher.legislate.com:70/hh/Regulations)

Full-Text Sources of Federal Regulations on the Internet

This directory provides links to federal regulation information at government and nongovernment web sites.
(http://asa.ugl.lib.umich.edu/chdocs/federalregs/fulltext.html#fullcfr)

WebActive

This nongovernment directory of websites for progressive political activism has listings (with links) ranging from the ACLU, to the Sierra Club, to some government and politicians' sites, and is revised weekly.
(http://www.webactive.com/webactive/home.html)

Public Citizen

This organization serves as a general advocate for the public.
(http://www.citizen.org/)

Institute for Global Communications

Maintained by another nongovernment organization, this progressive directory contains links to organizations and networks related to Peace, Ecology, Labor, and Women's Issues.
(http://www.igc.apc.org/info/)

Public Interest Research Groups

This site has links to state and national PIRGs--activist groups concerned about the environment, the political system, consumer issues, and the like. For additional lists of advocacy groups, see the advocacy group section of the Legislative Tools drawer.
(http://www.igc.apc.org/pirg/)

Government Accountability Project

This nongovernment site offers information about whistleblowing, government wrongdoing, official misconduct, and how to fight them, including links to other internet sites with useful information.
(http://www.halcyon.com/tomcgap/welcome.html)

Law Enforcement

Inspector General Hotlines

This has toll-free and other numbers to report fraud, abuse, and waste in many government agencies.
(http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/gopher/ignet/hotlines.txt)

Department of Justice Home Page

This offers links to the Department's subdivisions, and to an alphabetical list of its organizations, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency .
(http://www.usdoj.gov/)

FBI Field Offices

Addresses and phone numbers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's field offices around the country are here.
(http://www.fbi.gov/fo.htm)

ATF Regulatory Enforcement Area Offices

A listing of addresses and phone numbers, alphabetically by city, of enforcement offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, in ASCII. It is also available in Wordperfect.
(ftp://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/tel/t03off.txt)

U.S. Custom's Office of Investigations

This site links you to Custom's web sites containing a toll-free hotline for reporting information--and maybe receiving rewards--useful in the Office's fight against Child Pornography, Drugs, Money Laundering, Fraud in Imports, Vehicle and Cargo Thefts, and High Tech Smuggling.
(http://www.gate.net/~customs/)

U.S. Custom's 10 Most Wanted List

Just what it says, along with a toll-free hotline to call to report information about the wanted suspects.
(http://www.gate.net/~customs/custwant.htm)

Field Offices of South Florida Area Customs

Phone numbers for contacting this office are found here.
(http://www.gate.net/~customs/fieldoff.htm)

Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Hotline

This toll-free hotline to the Health and Human Services Inspector General is useful for reporting Medicare and Medicaid frauds regarding drug-marketing, the provision of medical supplies, clinical laboratory services, or just plain cheating.
(http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/gopher/ignet/ignews/prs/hotline.txt)

HUD Hotline

Address and phone numbers (including a toll-free one) for lodging complaints about waste, fraud, abuse, or gross mismanagement by Housing and Urban Development employees or in HUD programs are given here.
(http://www.hud.gov/oig/oighot.html)

Work and the Workplace

Key Personnel, Dept. of Labor Office of the Inspector General

If you want to report labor racketeering, or fraud or abuse in Department of Labor programs, this list has phone numbers (including a confidential, toll-free hotline) of persons to contact.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/oig/public/contacts/main.htm)

Office Directory of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

This site has links to addresses and phone numbers of OSHA offices at the regional, national, area, and district levels, as well as to How to File an OSHA complaint, a hotline number for OSHA emergencies, and links to a few state labor department web sites
(http://www.osha.gov/oshdir/)

Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices

Here is the address of the office (part of the Department of Justice's Executive Office of Immigration Review) for lodging complaints or charges about immigration-related discrimination in employment.
(gopher://justice2.usdoj.gov:70/00/crt/osc/shldknow.txt)

Key Program Personnel, Office of Workers' Compensation Program

These officials are charged with handling and enforcing the terms of the Federal Black Lung Program, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Program, and the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/cotacts/owcp/owcpkeyp.htm)

Wage and Hour Division

This description of the Division's mandate--regarding compliance with Federal regulations of minimum wages, overtime pay, child labor, and other similar matters--is handy for use with the Division's list of Key Personnel of national and regional offices, along with their addresses and phone numbers.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/aboutesa/mission/whd/whdmiss.htm)

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program

This description of the mission of the agency--enforcing regulations pertaining to federal contracts, including affirmative action and nondiscrimination requirements--is good to use with their list of Key Personnel of national and regional offices of OFCCP, with addresses and phone numbers.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/aboutesa/mission/ofccp/ofcpinfo.htm)

Mine Safety and Health Filing Section 105

As well as telling how miners may file complaints regarding unfair or discriminatory acts by mine operators, this offers the name and phone number of the head of the agency's Compliance and Investigation Division.
(gopher://gopher.msha.gov:70/00/US/MSHA/Statutory_and_Regulatory_Information/MSHA_Policies_and_Information_Bulletins/Program_Information_Bulletins/PIB94-02)

Information about the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration

Both PWBA's mission statement and links to its Senior PWBA Contacts and its Customer Service Standards site (with information on how to file a complaint regarding the handling of pensions, health plans, or other employee benefits) are found here.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/pwba/public/aboutpwba/main.htm)

Consumer Protection

Consumer Assistance Directory

This is probably the SINGLE MOST VALUABLE resource for consumer problems and complaints, with over 650 corporate addresses (many with names of persons to contact and toll-free numbers), as well as numerous state, county, and federal agencies concerned with consumer assistance and complaints. But BE WARNED: with a size of 354 K, this document may require an expansion of your web browser's memory.
(gopher://gopher.gsa.gov:70/00/staff/pa/cic/misc/other/crh96ii.txt)

Buying Smart

This is not about enforcement, but has useful information on how to handle consumer complaints on one's own.
(gopher://gopher.gsa.gov:70/00/staff/pa/cic/misc/other/crh96i.txt)

Reporting Problem Products to FDA

If you want to file a report or complaint about a problem product with the Food and Drug Administration, this tells you what, where, and how to do it.
(http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/probfda.html)

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

This site offers numerous links to other FDA information and sites.
(http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html)

FDA and Cosmetics

This has links to information on numerous sorts of products to beautify people, as well as on the FDA's authority to regulate cosmetics, and how to report a problem product.
(http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-toc.html)

Consumer Product Safety Commission Hotline Information

Toll-free phone numbers (including for the hearing-impaired) and regular and e-mail addresses for reporting unsafe consumer products and for receiving information about unsafe products are here. See the next item, too.
(gopher://cpsc.gov:70/00/broch.txt)

Reporting Product-Related Injuries and Deaths to CPSC

This contains more detailed information about what to include in a complaint about a consumer product than the preceding site.
(gopher://cpsc.gov:70/00/Haz_Report.txt)

Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

This site offers links to pages which describe the mandates and issues of concern for the five Divisions of the Bureau (Advertising Practices, Credit Practices, Enforcement, Marketing Practices, and Service Industry Practices).
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/bcp.htm)

Where to go for More Information

Here are addresses for complaints on issues covered by the FTC, arranged by Divisions.
(http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/moreinfo.htm)

Straight Talk about Telemarketing

This site contains information about illegal activities associated with telemarketing, with addresses and phone numbers for reporting suspected telemarketing scams.
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/FFCTSRPM.htm)

Reporting Complaints about Fraud

Here is a description of the National Fraud Information Hotline, its toll-free phone number, and a link to its online site.
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/fraud.htm)

Como Quejar Sobre Engaños

La información está en inglés, pero el numero de teléfono es gratis y tiene operadores quienes hablan español.
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/fraud.htm)

FTC Regional Offices

Addresses and phone numbers for regional offices of the FTC are here.
(http://www.ftc.gov/ro/ro2.htm)

Consumer Rights (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

Here find consumers' rights in relation to dealings with financial institutions, and a guide to the agencies and addresses to contact to file different sorts of complaints about financial institutions.
(http://www.fdic.gov/fdiccr.html)

Office of Inspector General of the FTC

Phone the hotline number given here to report fraud, waste, abuse of authority, or gross mismanagement within the FTC.
(http://www.ftc.gov/oig/oighome.htm)

Office of Consumer Affairs (Department of Commerce)

The Consumer Bulletin here tells you how to get free publications on avoiding problems and resolving complaints as a consumer.
(http://www.doc.gov/resources/oca/cb8rev.html)

How to File a Complaint with the Federal Communications Commission

This provides addresses, phone numbers, and instructions regarding the filing of complaints about radio, television, telephone, wireless, and cable television services. It also has information about various telecommunication problems relevant to consumers.
(http://www.fcc.gov/Consumer_Week.html#How)

Consumer Help

This contains several links to non-federal consumer assistance web sites.
(http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/links.htm#Consumer Help)

Information Services and Other Sites Related to the FTC

This site contains links to the Better Business Bureau and the National Fraud Information Center, and the latter's toll-free hotline number.
(http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/jump.htm)

Finance and Business

Consumer Rights (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

Here find consumers' rights in relation to dealings with financial institutions, and a guide to the agencies and addresses to contact to file different sorts of complaints about financial institutions.
(http://www.fdic.gov/fdiccr.html)

Franchise or Business Opportunity Seller Wrongdoing

These instructions about filing a complaint with the FTC about sellers of franchises or business opportunities include the address of where to send it.
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/franchise/faq1.htm#03)

FTC Regional Offices

Addresses and phone numbers for regional offices of the FTC are here.
(http://www.ftc.gov/ro/ro2.htm)

Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice

This site has links to antitrust information and enforcement, including one with how to contact Field Offices to file a complaint or ask a question about antitrust violations.
(http://gopher.usdoj.gov/atr/atr.htm)

Office of Thrift Supervision

The oversight of Thrift Savings and Loan institutions falls to this office, as outlined in this site. Contacts for the OTS can be found in the FDIC Consumer Rights site.
(http://www.ustreas.gov/treasury/bureaus/ots/ots.html)

Anuncios Fraudulentes y Engañosos

Aquí hay amenazas sobre charlatanes y mentiras sobre Seguro Social y Medicare, y información sobre como quejar al gobierno.
(http://www.ssa.gov/espanol/span_mislead.html)

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice

This site provides links to particularly important resources regarding civil rights, such as the Civil Rights Gopher, which itself links to both a wealth of information about civil rights and a list of contacts for the Civil Rights Division.
(http://gopher.usdoj.gov/crt/crt-home.html)

Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice

The mission of this agency is to prevent and resolve community conflicts and reduce community tensions arising from actions, policies, and practices preceived to be discriminatory on the basis of race, color, or national origin. This site includes phone numbers and addresses of its regional offices.
(http://gopher.usdoj.gov/offices/crs.html)

Civil Rights Division of the Office of the Attorney General

This site describes the sorts of anti-discrimination rules enforced by various sections of this Division, and provides addresses and phone and fax numbers for contacting them.
(http://gopher.usdoj.gov/crt/crt.html)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The EEOC does not have its own web site yet, but this one gives a brief description of its mandate-- to enforce regulations against workplace discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age in hiring --along with its main office address and phone numbers.
(http://www.lcp.com/The-Legal-List/Federal/2.1.3.09.html)

Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (H.U.D.)

This site outlines unfair practices in housing, and provides address and toll-free phone numbers (including one for the hearing-impaired) for filing complaints.
(http://www.hud.gov/fheo.html)

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program

This description of the mission of the agency-- enforcing regulations pertaining to federal contracts, including affirmative action and nondiscrimination requirements--is good to use with their list of Key Personnel of national and regional offices of OFCCP, with addresses and phone numbers.
(http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/aboutesa/mission/ofccp/ofcpinfo.htm)

Know Your Rights to Health and Human Services

Provided by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, this site outlines people's rights and includes toll-free (and TDD) hotline numbers, and instructions on how to file a complaint of discrimination. It also has links to a Discrimination Complaint Form for printing or use on-line, and Office of Civil Rights Headquarters and Regional Office addresses.
(http://www.os.dhhs.gov/progorg/ocr/rights.html)

HHS Office of Civil Rights: How to File a Complaint

This site has links to outlines of rights to health and human services pertinent to individuals with handicaps, the Age Discrimination Act, the Community Service Assurance Act, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, each with its own link to instructions on filing a complaint of discrimination by health care and human service providers.
(http://www.os.dhhs.gov/progorg/ocr/regmail.html)

Americans with Disabilities Act Telephone Information Services

Toll-free and TDD phone numbers for many federal agencies charged with enforcing the ADA are provided here.
(gopher://justice2.usdoj.gov:70/00/crt/ada/infoline.txt)

Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices

Here is the address of the office (part of the Department of Justice's Executive Office of Immigration Review) for lodging complaints or charges about immigration-related discrimination in employment.
(gopher://justice2.usdoj.gov:70/00/crt/osc/shldknow.txt)

WebActive's Civil Rights Index

This nongovernment directory lists and provides links to web sites of organizations dedicated to a wide range of civil rights, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Immigrants' Rights Action Network.
(http://www.webactive.com/webactive/cgi-bin/wniadirsearch?Civil+Rights)

Bill of Rights

Here is The Bill of Rights in all its simple elegance, plus excerpts from a few other important rights amendments.
(http://www.aclu.org/library/thebill.html)

Environmental Protection

Environmental Protection Agency Regions

This is a map of the country showing EPA regions, plus a list of regions and the states comprising them. Some of the regions' links include further information useful for filing complaints or reporting problems pertaining to the environment.
(http://www.epa.gov/epahome/Regions.html)

Hazardous Waste Ombudsman Program

This program accepts complaints regarding hazardous wastes, and this site provides its national address and phone numbers (one is toll-free), as well as regional phone numbers.
(http://www.epa.gov/Access/chapter3/s1-16.html)

Asbestos Ombudsman Program

This site offers phone numbers (one is toll-free) and an address for lodging complaints concerning asbestos.
(http://www.epa.gov/Access/chapter3/s3-1.html)

Inspector General Hotline, EPA

The address, toll-free phone number, and fax number for reporting fraud, abuse, mismanagement, or waste within the EPA are given here.
(http://www.epa.gov/Access/chapter3/s3-26.html)

Resource Use and Protection, Bureau of Land Management

This outline of the agency's responsibilities has a link to phone numbers for contacting officials in charge of various departments, including the enforcement of relevant regulations. BLM officials can also be found listed by subject.
(http://www.blm.gov/nhp/resup/resup.html)

Laws Enforced by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

This list of various laws enforced by USF&W (presented in simple language) is valuable when used with the list of Principal Offices of the Service.
(http://www.r1.fws.gov/law/law5.html)

Pollution Response of U.S. Coast Guard

A toll-free phone number for reporting spills of oil or other hazardous substances in U.S. waters is provided here.
(http://www.dot.gov/dotinfo/uscg/factfile/environ.htm)

EcoNet: Environmental Organizations

This nongovernment directory (with links) to environmental organizations' web sites includes Green Peace International, the Rainforest Action Network, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and many others.
(http://www.igc.apc.org/econet/en.orgs.html)

Miscellaneous

Filing a Complaint with the Federal Election Commission

This explains how to file a complaint regarding suspected violations of the Federal Campaign Financing Law. An outline of legal limits on campaign contributions is also available, as are the FEC address and toll-free phone number.
(http://www.fec.gov/pages/citn0011.htm)

Investigative and Enforcement Procedures of the FAA

This outlines how to file a complaint regarding a violation of provisions of the Federal Aviation Act and related regulations, which are also available.
(ftp://ftp.faa.gov/pub/files/avr/afs/fars/far_13.txt)

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

This phone directory of key APHIS offices contains the phone numbers of the Deputy Administrator, Regulatory Enforcement and Animal Care, and regional enforcement offices.
(http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/whoswho.html)

Compaints and Grievances:
Bad Service and Other Problems

Customer Service

This site has links to the Customer Service offices of several government agencies, all awaiting your grievances, comments, or praise.
(http://www.info.gov/Info/html/customer_service.htm)

Office of Human Radiation Experiments

This site contains links to information on the experiments, and a phone number for people who think they were involved in radiation experiments.
(http://www.ohre.doe.gov/)

Putting Customers First (Social Security Administration)

Here is an outline of SSA's customer service standards, and regular and e-mail addresses (including an e-mail link) for filing complaints about that service.
(http://www.ssa.gov/customer/service_standards.html)

Sección de Communicaciones

Aquí se presentan el numero de teléfono y nombre del jefe de Oficina de Communicaciones en Español de Seguro Social. Se puede contactarle para cualquiera asunte, incluyendo quejas.
(http://www.ssa.gov/staff/jb.htm)

Customer Service, Veterans' Administration

This site provides e-mail and regular addresses, and phone numbers,for communicating complaints, concerns, compliments, and questions to the VA. Specific issues within the VA include the VA Health Care, the VA Canteen Service , VA Benefits Administration, National Cemetery System, and the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
(http://www.va.gov/customer/consumer.htm)