Federal Regulations
The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) allows Congress to delegate some of their authority to pass laws to the federal agencies. When Congress passes a law, they also often give the authority to an administrative agency to write the regulations necessary to implement that law. As long as the regulations the agency writes are withing certain limitations established by the APA, they have have the same legal authority as a statute passed by Congress.
The APA requires that the agency first publish a proposed regulation. Proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register along with the agency's justification and rationale for the regulation. After proposed rules are published, there is time for public comment. Once the public comment period is over and the agency has reviewed the proposed rule in light of the comments, the agency can then publish a final rule.
Regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). The C.F.R. is arranged by subject and within a subject by agency. |
Features & Research Tips
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50 titles, arranged by subject (but titles may be different than corresponding US Code titles).
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In print, start with the index.
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If you know the impelmenting legislation, start with the Index Table of Authorities.
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On Westlaw, select Code of Federal Regulations, do Natural Language keyword search OR use Table of Contents.
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On Westlaw, if you know the implementing legislation, click on Administrative Code at the bottom of the Links frame.
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