Last revised: July, 2007

Federal Regulatory Information

Scope: This is a guide to the regulatory process as well as a selective list of reference tools for finding federal regulatory publications in print and on the Web. Librarians and staff in U.S. Government Information, Maps & GIS Services look forward to working with you. Contact them at govdocs@umd.edu or 301.405.9165.

The Regulatory Process

The rulemaking process is a set of formal procedures through which a law--adopted by Congress and signed by the President--is translated into specific written requirements to be carried out and enforced by the executive branch and its federal agencies. These written requirements are called regulations. Federal agencies create itemized procedures in the form of an "agency document" which is published in the daily Federal Register and later codified annually in the Code of Federal Regulations. The primary function of the resultant Federal Register/Code of Federal Regulations system is to inform the public about rules set by federal agencies.

• Federal Register (FR)
  Daily publication of government agency announcements. Announcements are written in "plain-English" and divided into 1) proposed rules, where the public is invited to comment on drafted regulations, and 2) final rules, which have the force of a law, contain effective dates of the effected parties and the text of the actual rules. Regulations published in the Federal Register are cited by volume and page, with the date sometimes added in parenthesis (i.e., 46 FR 3566 (1981)).

  UMCP McKeldin Library, Government Documents:
  Dates:	Collection:	Call numbers:
  1994-present	Web	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/
  Current issues	Government Documents Reference	AE 2.106:
  1985-present	Government Documents Microfiche	AE 2.106:
  1982-1985	Government Documents Microfiche	GS 4.107:
  1936-1982	Government Documents Microfilm	J1.A2
  1936-present	Database available through Research Port	HeinOnline Federal Register Library

• The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
  The Federal Register is only the first stop on a regulation's journey. The final rules and presidential materials are funneled yearly into the Code of Federal Regulations. Here the general and permanent rules originally published in the Federal Register are systematically arranged under 50 subject titles. The 50 CFR titles are divided into chapters (one for each rule-issuing agency), parts (general topics of regulation), and sections (the actual text of the regulation), each with its own table of contents. Regulations published in the Code of Federal Regulations are cited by title and section numbers, with the date sometimes added in parenthesis (i.e., 40 CFR 211.10 (1978)).

  UMCP McKeldin Library, Government Documents:
  Dates:	Collection:	Call numbers:
  1996-present	Web	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/
  1999-present	Government Documents Reference	AE 2.106/3:
  1985-present	Government Documents Microfiche	GS 4.108:
  1975-1985	Government Documents Microfiche	GS 4.108:

  Note: Government Documents microfilm and microfiche are located in the U.S. Government Information, Maps & GIS Services computer room on the 4th floor of McKeldin Library.

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  Locating Regulatory Information

  This is a very selective list of tools; there are many more resources on the Web and in print especially for finding older materials.

  • HeinOnline Federal Register Library
    Full-text access to the Federal Register (1936 -), Federal Register Indexes (1939-1995), Compilation of Sections Affected (1949-2000), Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1965-2004), and the Administrative Procedure Act (1944-1946).

  • LexisNexis Congressional
    Well-organized and easy to use, LexisNexis Congressional allows you to search the full text of the Federal Register (1980 - present) and Code of Federal Regulations (1981-present).
    Congressional Indexes, 1789-1969, available through LexisNexis Congressional, indexes pre-1970 Congressional publications. It does not contain full text.

  • LexisNexis Academic
    Full-text database that offers a wide range of news, political, legal, business, and reference information in full-text format. Primary source of newspaper articles, including those from the Washington Post and the New York Times. Federal code, regulations, and case law, in addition, state codes and case law are also included.

  • GPO Access: Regulatory
    Federal regulatory information and publications including the Federal Register (1994-present) and the Code of Federal Regulations (1996-present).
    http://www.gpoaccess.gov/regulatory.html

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  Other Useful Resources

  • Cornell University Legal Information Institute
    Excellent for browsing or searching for regulations. There are also subject guides to legal issues.
    http://www.law.cornell.edu/

  • Regulation's.gov Home Page
    Find and read pending regulations posted in the Federal Register. Users may give comments on the proposed regulations.
    http://www.regulation.gov/index.cfm

  • Federal Legislative Information
    UM Libraries' guide to U.S. legislative information sources.
    http://www.lib.umd.edu/GOV/legs.html

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