Resources for Regulatory History -
Print and Electronic

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

The Code of Federal Regulations is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

The CFR is divided into 50 titles which represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Each title is divided into chapters which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is further subdivided into parts covering specific regulatory areas. Large parts may be subdivided into subparts. All parts are organized in sections, and most citations to the CFR will be to the section level.

Tips:

• After the outline for the CFR part, you will find, under "AUTHORITY," a citation to the statutory authority that promulgated the regulation.
  
  
• After the authority, under "SOURCE," will be listed the citation to the Federal Register where the regulations were originally published.
  
  
• Next, look at the end of the CFR section to find citations to statutory authority for an individual regulation, or to notices in the Federal Register, other than the Source, that created or amended that section.
  
  

Federal Register

The Federal Register is the official, daily publication reporting the regulatory actions of the executive branch. In addition to notices of rulemaking and final rulemakings, the Register may contain items from the president (such as Executive Orders and Proclamations), guidelines issued by an agency, legal notices, and other documents of general interest.

Tips:

• Look to the regulatory preamble, which is an introduction to the regulation, for the reasoning behind, and objectives of the rule. Both the proposed and final versions of a regulation will contain a preamble.
  
  
• To find the proposed version of a final rule, look in the "Background" section in the preamble of the final rule. There, you will find a Federal Register citation to a notice in which the proposed rule was published.
  
  

Agency Guidance Documents

An agency guidance document is a memo developed by an agency that provides explanation of its interpretation of a statute or regulation. Guidance documents are not routinely collected or published. Try searching the EPA's Website or Google UncleSam.

IU Law Library Holdings

For earlier years you will need to use the print and microform versions.

Federal Register

• Current issues (most recent 12 months)
• Reference (no call number)
• Index Holdings: Current, shelved at the end of the Federal Register

• v. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 1936) through v. 48, no. 40 (Feb. 28, 1983)
• U.S. Documents (4th floor) GS 4.107:
• Index Holdings: Shelved at the end of each year.

• v.1, no.1 (Mar. 1936) through v. 68, no. 6 (Jan. 9, 2003)
• Microfiche AE 2.106:
• Index Holdings: Filed at the end of each year.

Code of Federal Regulations

• Current Editions, Titles 1-50
• Reference (no call number)
• Index Holdings: Shelved at the end of the set

• Superseded Editions, Titles 1-50
• U.S. Documents (4th floor) pre-1985 editions shelved under GS 4.108:
  1985 forward, shelved under AE 2.106/3:
  Title 3 shelved in Reference.
• Index Holdings: pre-1985 U.S. Documents (4th floor) GS 4.108:index/
  1985 forward, U.S. Documents (4th floor) AE 2.106/3-2:

• 1978 forward, Titles 1-50
• Microfiche AE 2.106/3:
• Index Holdings: Filed at the end of each year.

• Index to the Code of Federal Regulations, Congressional Information Service [CIS].
• Current Edition: Multiple volumes, with supplements
• Reference (no call number) shelved at the end of the CFR
• Superseded editions: 1977 forward, Superseded volumes shelved with Third Floor Superseded Codes (no call number)

A guide to using the CFR and FR in print: Updating Federal Regulations by Joan Shear, Boston College law Library

Electronic

Use GPO Access to browse or search the Federal Register from 1994 to the present, and the Code of Federal Regulations, including Title 40 Protection of the Environment, from April 1996 forward.

Use LexisNexis™ Congressional (formerly Congressional Universe) to browse or search the Code of Federal Regulations from 1981 forward, and the Federal Register from 1980 to the present.

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a a frequently updated version of the CFR. (It is not an official legal edition of the CFR.) Use the e-CFR to browse or search current CFR titles and amendments.

The Federal Register is available from Hein Online, Vols. 35 (1970) through 45 (1980), in PDF format.

Code of Federal Regulation Searching Steps:

1. Search your choice of CFR books, available online
   
2. Retrieve available CFR sections by citation
   
3. Search the Federal Register for related documents
   
   

Federal Register Searching Steps:

1. Check the volumes to be searched.
   
2. In the Search Terms: box, type your citation inserting the term part before the section number, e.g., "40 CFR part 261.6"
   
3. Search the Unified Agenda to find out what proposed rules might affect your CFR section in the next six months.
   Note: do not include the term "part" in your entry, e.g., "40 CFR 799.5"