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Federal Administrative Law Research Guide

This guide is a starting point for research on Federal Administrative Law.
Code of Federal Regulations

 

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is where the final and permanent rules established by the agencies or executive departments of the federal government are published. The Code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad subject areas within federal regulation. Each title is updated annually. 

Annual editions of the CFR can be found on the GPO Govinfo website as PDF files. When CFR titles are revised the prior editions remain accessible on GovInfo. This website contains CFR titles all the way back to 1996. 

Did You Know?

Has a Regulation Been Updated?

 

If you want to find out if a CFR regulation has been updated start with your CFR citation in the E-CFR.

Note the currency of the information.  Currency will be noted as E-CFR data is current as of [date].  All final regulations as of the currency date are included.  Any regulations finalized after that date must be located in the Federal Register issues after that date.

Scan the Federal Register issues after the currency date of the E-CFR to find final regulations

OR

Use the List of CFR Parts Affected from the Federal Register select the dates you wish to browse by using the pull-down menu. Click GO and then scan the listed CFR titles and parts for those you are interested in.  This will provide you with any final regulations that appear in Federal Register issues since the currency date of the E-CFR.

OR

If you are interested in proposed changes to a CFR title and section as well as final regulations that affect that CFR title and section, use the List of CFR Sections Affected publication.

The List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) lists proposed, new, and amended Federal regulations that have been published in the Federal Register since the most recent revision date of a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) title.

To use the LSA, first note the CFR title that contains the regulation you are interested in.

Next, check the most recent revision date for the title. 

Titles 1-16 are revised as of January 1

Titles 17-27 are revised as of April 1

Titles 28-41 are revised as of July 1

Titles 42-50 are revised as of October 1

Check the latest monthly issue since the revision date of the CFR title by opening up the Monthly LSA issues and choosing the latest monthly issue from those listed. Issues of the LSA are cumulative so you only need to look in the most current monthly issue for changes.  Dates of coverage for changes will noted at top of LSA pages.

Choose the CFR title you are interested in (open up the PDF version)and scan the listed sections to see if the section you are interested in has any reported changes.  If the section has any changes, you will see the Federal Register page referenced where you will find the change reported.