Congress (or the state legislature) delegates the authority to make laws to the agency by giving them statutory authorization. Where the authorizing statute is silent, the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 500 - 596) governs the process. The agency must publish proposed rules, allow a public comment period, consider those comments and make revisions to the rule as necessary, and then publish the final rule.
The proposed and final rules can be found in three places: the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and at Regulations.gov.
Proposed regulations and final regulations are published in the Federal Register, which is a newspaper published every federal workday. It also publishes presidential executive orders and proclamations, agency activities, announcements of public agency hearings, grant opportunities, and future rulemaking notices. In order for any administrative regulation to be legally effective, it must be published in the Federal Register. (The National Archives provides an in-depth tutorial if you desire more information.)
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Govinfo.gov (1936 - ) FederalRegister.gov (1994 - ) |
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Online (Subscription required) |
HeinOnline Federal Register (1936 - ) |
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Lexis Federal Register (1936 - ) |
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Westlaw Federal Register (1936 - ) |
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Back wall of Reserve Room |
Rule 14.2 of the Bluebook provides the proper form for citing to the Federal Register. It should include any commonly used name, the volume number, Fed. Reg., the page number, the date published in the Federal Register, and where it will be codified if that information is included in the Federal Register. The following is an example of a citation to the Federal Register : Federal Acquisiton Regulations for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 55 Fed. Reg. 52,782 (Dec. 21, 1990)(to be codified at 48 C.F.R. pt.1)
The Code of Federal Regulations is the annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register, similar to the United States Code. The C.F.R. is divided into 50 titles that contain similar topical material. The title numbers of the C.F.R. do not align with the U.S. Code titles. Title 3 of the C.F.R. contains presidential proclamations, executive orders, and other presidential documents which are required to be published in the Federal Register. Each title is updated on a rolling basis annually.
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Online (Free) |
Govinfo.gov (1996 - ) e-CFR (current) |
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Online (Subscription required) |
Code of Federal Regulations (1938 - ) |
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Online (Subscription required) |
Lexis CFR - Code of Federal Regulations (1981 - ) |
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Westlaw Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (current); Code of Federal Regulations - Historical (back to 1984) |
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Back wall of Reserve Room. |
Rule 14.2 of the Bluebook provides the proper form for citing to the Code of Federal Regulations. It should include the title number, C.F.R., section symbol and number, and the year the copy being used was published. The following is an example of a citation to the Code of Federal Regulations: 7 C.F.R. § 319.76(1999).
Regulations.gov is another tool to keep up with proposed regulations. It posts proposed rules and final rules, along with notices first printed in the Federal Register. It often includes supporting materials related to the regulations. Regulations.gov is also where an user can search, comment on, and read other's comments on proposed rules and final rules.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs publishes a Unified Agenda every spring and fall that lists the regulatory actions that the administrative agencies plan to issue in the near and long term future.