Administrative

Federal Register

 The Federal Register

Introduction

The Federal Register is the official daily publication for the Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive Orders, Proclamations and other Presidential Documents. Publication of a document in the Federal Register is sufficient to give notice of its contents to a person subject to or affected by it. The words rule and regulation have the same meaning in the Federal Register system. See About the Federal Register for more information.

Contents: The Federal Register

Locating the Federal Register:

  • The Federal Register in pdf format
  • The Federal Register on LexisNexis & Westlaw
  • The Federal Register in the Library
  • Federal Register Index and Daily Table of Contents

Finding Documents Published in the Federal Register:

  • when you have a Federal Register citation
  • when you have a topic or keyword

The first issue of the Federal Register was published on Saturday, March 14, 1936. Each year’s output of the Federal Register constitutes a separate continuously paginated volume. The Federal Register is published daily, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays, by the Office of the Federal Register under The Federal Register Act, ch. 417, 49 Stat. 500 (1935), as amended, 44 U.S.C. §§ 1501, et seq., and the regulations of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, 1 C.F.R. Ch. I. See Federal Register Laws Index for additional laws affecting Federal Register publications.

The legislation creating the Federal Register system was enacted in response to Dean Griswold’s Harvard Law Review article “Government in Ignorance of the Law—A Plea for Better Publication of Executive Legislation”, 48 Harv. L. Rev. 198 (1934).See A Research Guide to the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations for more information on the historical development and use of the Federal Register. See The Federal Register: What It is and How to Use It(KF 240 .F5 1992x) and the Federal Register Tutorial for detailed information on the Federal Register system. See For Federal Agencies for resources designed to helprule writers meet Federal Register publication requirements and create understandable, enforceable regulations.

Each issue of the modern Federal Register contains these sections:

  • Contents and Preliminary Pages: includes a comprehensive alphabetical listing by agency name of all documents in the issue; under each agency, the documents are arranged by type: Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices
  • CFR Parts Affected In This Issue: under each CFR title the parts affected by the rules and proposed rules in the issue are listed along with the page numbers where relevant documents begin
  • Final Rules & Regulations: contains final rules and regulations which are regulatory documents having general applicability and legal effect; each document begins with a heading that includes the name of the issuing agency (and subagency if appropriate), the CFR title and part(s) affected, and a brief description of the specific subject of the document; also containsinterim rules that are issued without prior notice and are effective immediately; may also include documents that have no regulatory text and do not amend the CFR, but either affect the agency’s handling of its regulations or are of continuing interest to the public in dealing with an agency such as general policy statements and interpretations of agency regulations
  • Proposed rules: contains notices of proposed of rules and regulations and requests for public comment and documents relating to previously published proposed rules
  • Notices: of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, issuances or revocation of licenses, filing of petitions and applications, and notices of meetings published under the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552b
  • Presidential Documents: includes Executive Orders and Proclamations; compiled annually in title 3 of the CFR
  • Reader Aids: includes Federal Register Pages and Dates, a table of the inclusive page numbers and corresponding dates for the current month’s Federal Register and CFR Parts Affected During the Current Month, a cumulative list of CFR parts affected by rules and proposed rules published in the Federal Register during the current month
  • Corrections

See Federal Register: Sections for more information.

a.  Locating the Federal Register

The Federal Register is available in pdf format in an official version produced by the National Archives (NARA) and the Government Printing Office (GPO Access) and in a digital collection from HeinOnline. You may both browse and search the GPO Access and HeinOnline versions of the Federal Register. The Federal Register is available on LexisNexis and Westlaw in plain, but highly searchable text. Current issues of the Federal Register are available in the library in paper; back issues are available on microform.

i.  The Federal Register in pdf format

ii  The Federal Register on LexisNexis & Westlaw

  • LexisNexis Federal Register (LexisNexis; volume 45, July 1980 to present; star paging, full-text, plain text)
  • Westlaw Federal Register (Westlaw; volume 46, 1981 to present; star paging, full-text, plain text)
  • Westlaw Federal Register Archive (Westlaw; volume 1-45, 1936-1980; no star paging; full-text, plain text)
  • Westlaw Federal Register All (Westlaw; volume 1, 1936 to present; star paging volume 46, 1981 to present; full-text, plain text)
  • Westlaw Federal Register Organized by Area of Practice (Westlaw; volume 46, 1981 to present; star paging, full-text, plain text)

iii.  The Federal Register in the Library

  • Federal Register (Reading Room and Reference KF 70 .A2 and Microform Room Drawers 697-698, 727-731; current two years in Langdell Reading Room and Reference; volumes 1-35, 1936-1970 on microfilm in drawers 697-698; volume 36, 1971 to present on microfiche in drawers 727-731)

iv.  Federal Register Index and Daily Table of Contents

  • Federal Register Index (NARA; Annual Indexes volume 59, 1994 to present; full-text, pdf)
  • HeinOnline Federal Register Index (HeinOnline; volume 1, 1936 to near present; full-text, pdf) (Harvard University ID and PIN required.)
  • Federal Register Index (Reading Room and Reference KF 70 .A2 and Microform Room Drawers 697-698, 727-731; Index pamphlets for current two years in Langdell Reading Room and Reference; Bound Annual Indexes for volumes 40, 1975 to most current in Microform Reference Collection; Indexes for volumes 1-35, 1936-1970 on microfilm in drawers 697-698; Indexes for volume 36, 1971 to present on microfiche in drawers 727-731)
  • CIS Federal Register Index (Reading Room KF 70 .A2 Suppl.; provides in-depth coverage of Federal Register volumes 49-63, 1984-1998 only)
  • Federal Register Daily Tables of Contents (NARA; volume 63, 1998 to present; full-text, pdf)
  • Westlaw Federal Register Table of Contents (Westlaw; volume 58, 1993 to present; full-text, plain text; Tables of Contents for current week appear automatically when accessing database; click Edit Search to change date range or to conduct a search)

b.  Finding Documents Published in the Federal Register

Locating documents by citation in the Federal Register is a straight forward process both online and in print. Use a keyword search to locate documents on a particular topic. Use the Federal Register Index to locate documents issued by an agency. Once you locate a rule or proposed rule in the Federal Register, use the Regulation Identification Number (RIN) to track the rule in the Federal Register. The RIN appears in the document’s heading information.

i.  …when you have a Federal Register citation

A typical citation to a document in the Federal Register includes the volume, page number and date (sometimes only the year) of the issue in which it appeared and looks like: 71 Fed. Reg. 45,964 (August 10, 2006).

  • Federal Register: Retrieve an FR Page (NARA, GPO Access). Select volume and year and then enter the page number without a comma or any other punctuation. Use the arrows or input box to go to another page. Printing limited to current page only.
  • Federal Register: Advanced Search (NARA, GPO Access). Select volume and year and then enter in the search box the page number in this format with the quotes: “page 45964”. Retrieves the entire document in html and pdf formats.
  • Federal Register (NARA, GPO Access). For the current volume and year, enter in the quick search box the page number in this format with the quotes: “page 45964”. Retrieves the entire document in html and pdf formats. Use Advanced Search to locate documents from prior volumes and years.
  • HeinOnline Federal Register (HeinOnline). Using the Citation Navigator tab located in the upper left corner of the screen, select volume and year and then enter the page number without a comma or any other punctuation. Select a date to locate a particular issue. Retrieves the entire document in pdf format. Print or download in up to 75 page segments only. (Harvard University ID and PIN required.)
  • LexisNexis Federal Register (LexisNexis). Sign on to LexisNexis, select the Get a Document tab, and enter your citation in a format like: 71 fed reg 45964. Retrieves the entire document in star paginated plain text.
  • Westlaw Federal Register (Westlaw). Sign on to Westlaw, select the Find & Print service, and enter your citation in a format like: 71 fed reg 45964; or, when available, use the Find by Citationtemplate by clicking the link located in the upper right of the search screen and enter the page and volume information in the appropriate boxes. Retrieves the entire document in star paginated plain text.
  • Federal Register (Print and microform). In print, locating a Federal Register document by citation may involve first locating the appropriate issue. What if only the volume number and year but no month, day or issue number is given in the citation information. Unfortunately, the date but not the page range is given on an issue’s spine and cover. How would you know which of the 250+ issues in a volume or year to pull? You can guess, hunt and peck, or you can go to the Federal Register Issue Dates and Page Numbers table at the back of the Federal Register Index.

ii.  …when you have a topic or keyword

Each of the online versions of the Federal Register provide a search function with LexisNexis and Westlaw offering the most advanced features. The Federal Register Index lists rules, proposed rules and notices by agency name, but unfortunately, not by subject, topic or keyword.

  • Federal Register: Advanced Search (NARA, GPO Access). Select the volumes and years to be searched; next, select the sections to be searched (if no sections are selected then all sections will be searched); next, enter date range or specific date information (optional); and then in the search box enter your search terms. Phrases must be in quotation marks (” “). Connect search terms using the operators ADJ (adjacent), AND, OR and NOT. For example: “canada geese” and permit. CFR parts should be searched as phrases; for example: “50 CFR part 21”. Word roots can be searched using an asterisk (*) following the word stem. For example: regulat* will retrieve regulate, regulating, regulation, etc. See Search Tips. Search retrieves the entire document in html and pdf formats.
  • HeinOnline Federal Register (HeinOnline). Use the Search tab located in the upper left corner of the screen to conduct a simple keyword or phrase search. Click the Field Search link to search by particular fields; click the Advanced Search link to conduct an advanced full-text search using theLucene search engine. Search retrieves the entire document in pdf format. Print or download in up to 75 page segments only. (Harvard University ID and PIN required.)
  • LexisNexis Federal Register (LexisNexis). LexisNexis offers three search modes, terms and connectors, natural language and easy search as well as many advanced features including suggested search terms and spell checking. See Search Tips for more information. See alsoConnectors & Commands. Use LexisNexis Federal Register segment searches to restrict your search to specific sections of a Federal Register document. See the LexisNexis Federal RegisterSource Information for a description of available segments. See also Help with Restrict by Document Segment and Help with Restrict by Date. See the LexisNexis Administrative Law Tutorialfor more information on searching the LexisNexis Federal Register. Search retrieves the entire document in star paginated plain text.
  • Westlaw Federal Register (Westlaw). Westlaw offers two search modes, terms and connectors and natural language as well as advanced features such as the thesaurus. See the Westlaw Help Center Search Basics topics Selecting a Search Method and Using Connectors in Terms and Connectors Searches for more information. Use Westlaw Federal Register field searches to restrict your search to specific sections of a Federal Register document. See the Westlaw Federal RegisterScope note for a description of available fields. See also the Westlaw Help Center Search Basicstopic Adding Restrictions to Terms and Connectors Searches. Use the Federal Agency Tracking Service to receive email updates of new agency publications in the Federal Register. Search retrieves the entire document in star paginated plain text.
  • Federal Register Index, published monthly by the Office of the Federal Register, is cumulative so that the January-December issue constitutes an annual index; rules, proposed rules and notices are listed by agency name only not by subject, topic or keyword; citation is to Federal Register page number. The CIS Federal Register Index, covering only Federal Register volumes 49-63, 1984-1998, provides access by subject, agency name, and, in separate tables, by CFR section number and agency docket number with citation to issuing agency, issue date, document type, and Federal Register page number.

Note: We linked the resources to archive.org in an effort to decrease the number of broken links cited.

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