Chair Language Has FCC Now Sitting With Numerous Agencies
The FCC's adoption of gender-neutral "chairperson" in its rules and regulations when referring to the agency's head (see 2301100009) makes it the latest regulatory agency to change word usage, regulatory experts told us. Agencies occasionally do updates like this to bring older language into conformity with modern language standards, though it's not clear how often they have gender-specific terms in their regulations to begin with, emailed Bridget Dooling, George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center research professor.
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To the extent the EPA's administrator is referenced in correspondence or rules, the agency uses "administrator," it told us. A spokesperson said EPA's correspondence manual is scheduled for revision in FY 2023, with gendered language "something that will be looked at." The guidance in the 2011 revision to the correspondence manual said gender-specific titles "should be used when referring to a specific individual whose gender is known. Gender-neutral titles, such as chairperson and salespeople, should be used only when the gender of a specific individual is not known; when not referring to a specific individual but rather to a position or title in general; or unless it is an organization's formal title." It also said, except when it's an individual's preference, "chair should not be used instead of chairperson as a gender-neutral alternative for chairman or chairwoman."
The language used in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the SEC, uses "chairman," but both that and "chair" have been used in the past, the agency said. It said current SEC head Gary Gensler uses "chair." It said terms like "chair," "chairman," "chairwoman" and "chairperson" are acceptable under SEC rules of organization. Under the FTC rules of practice, the head of the commission is called the chair. The FTC told us the chairs have discretion over what they're called, with Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter using "chairwoman" when she had the acting position and Lina Khan opting to be referred to as chair. An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission spokesperson said that agency uses “chair,” “vice-chair” and “commissioner” in its official documents.
Asked about the FCC order replacing the word "chairman" in agency rules with "chairperson," a spokesperson emailed: "The historic nature [of the FCC's first Senate-confirmed chairwoman] was the right time to take a comprehensive look at this outdated language.” The Communications Act of 1934, which established the FCC, repeatedly refers to "chairman" -- for example, saying the agency "shall be composed of five Commissioners appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom the President shall designate as chairman."