Federal Administrative Rules and Regulations

Regulations of administrative branch agencies, boards and commissions are issued under authority of statutes. Like statutes, treaties and the Constitution, regulations are considered a source of primary law for the United States. The publication scheme for administrative rules and regulations was established under the Federal Register Act of 1935, c. 417, 49 Stat. 500, as amended by the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. §551et seq.

For a brief description of departments, agencies, boards and commissions of the United States government, see theUnited States Government Organizations Manual. TheManualis published annually by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration Washington, D.C.; 1936-

The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) publishes: Presidential proclamations and executive orders of general interest; proposed and final rules and regulations of administrative agencies which affect the general public; notices, such as notices of meetings or agreements filed for approval by an agency; documents required to be published by an Act of Congress; and other documents as decided upon by the Director of the Federal Register. Court rules, Congressional rules, and internal operating procedures of administrative agencies are not published in the Federal Register. Federal Registers are cited by volume number, title and page followed by the year in parentheses, for example, 61 Fed. Reg. 63199 (1996).

Each issue of the Federal Register also contains a table of contents, a list of sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) affected by documents in that issue and an index. One issue per month also contains a cumulative list of the sections of the C.F.R. which were affected by the documents published in the preceding month of the Federal Register.

A cumulative Index is published monthly for each volume, with a final cumulative Index covering January through December. The Index also contains a guide, by agency, of Freedom of Information indexes that are required by statute.

Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration Washington, D.C.; 1938-

The Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) publishes final administrative rules and regulations of general applicability, in force at the time that the volume is published. Court rules, Congressional rules, and internal operating procedures of administrative agencies are not published in the C.F.R.

The C.F.R. is arranged by subject matter to correspond to the arrangement of the United States Code (U.S.C.). The first five titles cover general government organization, with title 2 reserved; the remaining titles are arranged alphabetically by subject, with title 6 reserved. For example, title 7 covers agriculture, title 26 deals with internal revenue for the Department of the Treasury and title 50 covers wildlife and fisheries. The C.F.R. is revised annually according to the following schedule: titles 1-16 as of January 1; titles 17-27 as of April 1; titles 28-41 as of July 1; and, titles 42-50 as of September 1.

A title of the C.F.R. is subdivided into chapters, parts and sections. Citations are to a title of the code and then to a section with the year included in parentheses. For example, 28 C.F.R. §2.2 (1996) refers to title 28 (Judicial Administration) and section 2.2 (Eligibility for parole; adult sentences) which was in force when the volume was published in 1996.

The Index, published annually in January, is a subject index to titles and sections of the C.F.R. The Index also contains a Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules, which lists the statutory rule-making authority for each section of the C.F.R. The Table is divided into information for U.S.C. by title and section, for Statutes at Large (Stat.) by volume and page, for public laws by number, and for Presidential documents by document number. The citations for Stat. and public laws are included only when there is no corresponding citation to U.S.C. The Index also includes an alphabetical list of agencies appearing in the C.F.R.

The cumulative List of Sections Affected (L.S.A.) refers to changes that are published in the Federal Register that affect sections of the C.F.R.; a one or two word description of the action taken is included with each entry. The L.S.A. is issued monthly with permanent cumulative issues published quarterly. The quarterly cumulations follow the same publication schedule as the publication schedule for titles of C.F.R. except that a quarterly cumulation is published in December for titles 1-16. The L.S.A. is also updated in daily issues and monthly cumulations of the Federal Register.

Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration Washington, D.C.

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1965- ) is published on Mondays. It covers Presidential proclamations, executive orders, press conferences, speeches, letters, and other memorandum. Each issue contains a cumulative index for the calendar quarter; cumulative quarterly indexes are also published separately.

Title 3 of the C.F.R., published annually, contains Presidential proclamations, executive orders and other documents issued the preceding year.

The Public Papers of the President series, which began with the Truman administration, contains all documents, verbatim, issued by the President. Volumes are published annually and include all proclamations and executive orders, State of the Union addresses, budget and economic messages, news conferences, other addresses and remarks, letters, public records of meetings with foreign leaders, and all statements by the President. Since 1977, the Public Papers have also included all nominations and announcements of Presidential appointments. Documents published in the Public Papers are first published in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.

The Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, 1945-1989, codifies those of "general applicability and continuing effect" from April 13, 1945 to January 20, 1989. The subject matter arrangement follows the same arrangement as found in U.S.C.