Introduction
 Regulation: An authoritative requirement issued by a federal
agency that implements a statute and has the force of law.
 Regulations are issued under authority delegated by a federal
statute or by a Presidential executive order.
 Regulations implement, interpret, or enforce a law.
 Regulations have the same legal effect as statutes.
Highly Regulated Areas of
Law
 Banking
 Immigration
 Environmental
 Government Contracts
 Health
 Labor and Employment
 Securities
Federal Register
 The Federal Register provides a uniform system
for publishing Presidential documents;
regulatory documents with general
applicability and legal effect; proposed and
final regulations; notices; and documents that
are required by statute to be published.
 Proposed and final regulations appear first in
the Federal Register. In order for any
administrative regulation to be legally
effective, it must be published in the Federal
Register.
Code of Federal
Regulations
 The Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”)is
an annual codification of the general and
permanent rules published in the Federal
Register.
 The CFR is divided into fifty titles that
represent broad areas of law that are
subject to federal regulation.
 Each title undergoes annual revision and
contains the regulations in force at the
time of publication.
Finding Regulations
 Most often, research into federal regulations will begin with the
Code of Federal Regulations. There are three basic methods for
locating federal regulations:
 Searching the full text online using Lexis, Westlaw, or the Web;
 Using a looseleaf service; or,
 Using printed indexes to the CFR and the Federal Register.
 The National Archives and Records Administration Web site
includes a detailed Federal Register tutorial.
Online Services
 Both the CFR and Federal Register are online in full text on
Lexis, Westlaw, and the Web, which means that full text
searching is available.
 New issues of the Federal Register are online the day that they
are published.
Online Services, Federal
Register
Web (Free):
Federal Register Online via GPO FDsys , (1994 - present )
Regulations.gov (current) provides access to proposed
regulations by agency, by topic, or by keyword.
Web (Subscription): Hein Online, (1936 - present)
Lexis
Westlaw
FR - Federal Register database, (1936 - )
FR database, (1936 - )
Online Services, CFR
Web (Free)
Web (Free)
Official Text, from the Government Printing Office
Previous Years: 1996 (selected titles); 1997 - present (all titles)
e-CFR: Editorial compilation from the National Archives and
Records Administration with the full, updated text of the CFR
Web (Subscription) Hein Online, (1938 - )
Lexis
Current CFR: CFR database
Previous Years (back to 1981): Archived Code of Federal
Regulations
Westlaw
Current CFR: CFR database
Previous Years (back to 1984): CFR-yy databases
Looseleaf Services
 Another way to find relevant regulations is to use a
looseleaf service, which collects and reprints agency
regulations in a particular subject area; for instance, the
Federal Tax Reporter (CCH)
 These topical looseleaf services focus on the work of one
of the major agencies and provide up-to-date, annotated
texts of federal regulations in their subject areas.
 Note, however, that not all regulations are covered by a
looseleaf service
West’s CFR Index & CIS
Index
 The CFR is accompanied by a volume entitled "Index and
Finding Aids," most of which consists of an index of broad
subject headings and agency names.
 In addition, West publishes a multi-volume index to the CFR that
offers more detailed indexing: West's Code of Federal Regulations:
General Index, which appears alongside the CFR in the Law
Library Reading Room.
 For historical research, a good place to start is Congressional
Information Service's Index to the Code of Federal Regulations .
West’s Federal Register
Index and CIS Index
 The official Federal Register Index is published monthly and
cumulated annually. It offers a consolidation of the entries
in each issue's table of contents. Arrangement of entries is
by agency, and not by subject. Each agency's listing, rules,
proposed rules, and notices are listed alphabetically by
subject.
 There is an annual subject index for the years 1936-1975. A
more thorough index to the Federal Register was published
between 1984 and 1998 by Congressional Information
Service.
Updating Regulations
Because some regulations undergo frequent revision, once you
have found relevant regulations, it is critical to update your
research.
Online Services
 Westlaw does not follow the same quarterly revision schedule as the
printed CFR. If you are citing to a CFR section, then you must use the
date of the printed volumes.
 On Westlaw, the preliminary title information at the top of the screen
will indicate how current the text of the regulation is. If a section has
been amended since that date, then there will be a note at the top of the
screen indicating an update to the section. To reach the full text of the
amending section in the Federal Register, click the KeyCite link.
 On Lexis, the full text of the CFR sections is updated more frequently
than on Westlaw; however, there still may be a period of two or more
weeks that you will need to check for amendments. To update
regulations on Lexis, click the "Retrieve Regulatory Impact" link.
Online Services, Cont.
 To update regulations on the Web, you will need to search the Federal
Register site from the date of the last revision of your title to the present.
 Another option for updating on the Web is the e-CFR from the
National Archives and Records Administration. On this site, the text of
the CFR is updated regularly with information from the Federal Register.
The text is much more current than what is on the official CFR site or
in the books, and is even more current than Lexis, Westlaw, and the
looseleaf services.
 As amendments become effective, the changes are integrated directly
into the e-CFR database. For amendments that have not yet become
effective, there are links in the e-CFR database to the relevant
amendments.
CFR List of Sections
Affected (LSA)
 Regulations can also be updated using printed sources. Most researchers,
however, will prefer to use one of the online or looseleaf services. If you
still choose to update using print sources, then the following steps will
provide the current text of a regulation:
 1. Find the text of the regulation in the CFR; note the revision date on the
cover of the volume
 2. Check the most recent pamphlet entitled LSA: List of CFR Sections
Affected). References in the LSA are to Federal Register page numbers


Compare the date on your CFR volume to the inclusive dates listed on the title
page of the LSA
If there is a time gap between the date on your CFR volume and the coverage
of the latest LSA, then check the annual cumulation of the LSA for your title
CFR List of Sections
Affected (LSA), Con’t
 3. Check the list of "CFR Parts Affected during [month]" in
the Federal Register issue for the last day of each full month
not covered by step 2.
 4. Check the cumulative list of "CFR Parts Affected" in the
last issue of the Federal Register for the current month
 5. Using the citations found in steps 2-4, if any, check the
Federal Register issues cited to see the text of the changes
Citators For Administrative
Materials
 A. Code of Federal Regulations
To discover whether there are any cases that discuss a CFR
section, use Shepard's on Lexis or KeyCite on Westlaw.
 B. Administrative Decisions
Many, but not all, administrative decisions can also be updated
using Shepard's on Lexis or KeyCite on Westlaw.