Finding and Updating Administrative Regulations

Contents

Introduction

Administrative regulations are crucial in many areas of law. Because they are primary legal authority (no less than statutes and cases), it is essential to be able to find applicable regulations and to determine their status. Here is an overview of the process. For advice specific to your research, ask a reference librarian.

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Federal Regulations: Finding and Updating

A. What and Where They Are

Federal regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). (Internal agency policies and procedures are usually not in the CFR but are often published separately in other sources such as agency manuals or bulletins. Although these guidelines do not have the force of law, they can often be quite important.)

In the Zief Law Library, the CFR can be found at call number KF 70 .A3 LAW STACKS.

A free official version of the CFR (including prior years, beginning with 1996) is online at the Government Printing Office website at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/. This official online version is only as current as the print version. (An unofficial, continuously-updated "Electronic" CFR is in beta test.) Cornell's Legal Information Institute also offers an online CFR at http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/. Only the current year is available.

The CFR is on Lexis in the Code of Federal Regulations (GENFED;CFR) source and on Westlaw in the CFR database.

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B. Finding Applicable Federal Regulations

1. Subject Approach

   1. Search an Index.

      Code of Federal Regulations. CFR Index and Finding Aids, KF 70 .A3 C63 LAW STACKS. Published as part of the CFR. Not very detailed.

      Index to the Code of Federal Regulations, KF 70 .A412 LAW STACKS. Published by Congressional Information Service. Very detailed.

   2. Consult a comprehensive secondary source (e.g., a detailed treatise or looseleaf service) dealing with your topic. Such sources generally discuss (and sometimes even reprint) relevant regulations.

2. Code Section Approach

   If you know an applicable section of the United States Code, you can sometimes use that code section to find regulations. Note, however, that the sources mentioned here are selective, not comprehensive. If you don't find anything, try another approach.

   1. Annotated Codes (USCA or USCS)

      Look up your code section in West's United States Code Annotated or LexisNexis's United States Code Service. Check the annotations for references to regulations.

   2. CFR Index "Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules"

      This table matches U.S. Code sections with regulations relating to those sections.

3. Keyword Searching

   Most online versions of the CFR allow some form of keyword searching. Keyword searches of regulations can, however, be unproductive and disappointing because regulations addressing an issue can be and are sometimes are drafted without using any distinctive words describing that issue. If your keyword search is not successful, try another approach.

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C. Updating Federal Regulations

The LSA shows which CFR sections have been affected by final or proposed regulations. It is organized by title and section of the CFR. The Federal Register is a daily publication that alerts readers to any final or proposed changes in regulations.

Here are the steps to take to update the CFR using the LSA:

1. Determine the cut-off date from which you must begin updating.

   This is the date on the cover of the CFR volume containing your regulation, or on the list of "Available CFR Titles" on the GPO's online version of the CFR.

2. Find the LSA issue(s) containing changes since the cut-off date.

   Check the most recent LSA issue in the library or on the list of LSA issues on the GPO site. Find the page(s) or portions updating your CFR title and code section, and check the date range at the top of the page or display. Do those dates go all the way back to the cut-off date? If not, also check earlier LSA issues until you find one that does report changes all the way back to the cut-off date.

3. Check those issues of the LSA for changes to your regulation.

   If there are changes, the LSA will refer you to the exact page of the Federal Register where the changes are printed.

4. Continue updating in the Federal Register.

   The most recent information in the LSA is generally several months old. To cover the gap between the newest LSA volume and the present, use the Federal Register. Follow these steps to update using the print tools:

   1. Determine the cut-off date from which you must begin updating.

      Take the most recent LSA issue and go to the page(s) dealing with the your CFR title and code section. Check the dates at the top of the page. The later date is your cut-off date.

   2. Pull the last Federal Register issue of the month for each month since the cut-off date.

      (For the current month, pull the latest available issue of the Federal Register.)

   3. Check the "List of CFR Parts Affected During [Month]" in the back of each issue of the Federal Register that you pulled.

      This list tells if a "Part" (a range of related sections) of the CFR was affected by any new or proposed regulations. If you find out that the CFR "Part" containing your regulation was affected, you then need to turn to the Federal Register page citation that is given to find out if your specific regulation was changed in any way.

   To update using the GPO's online tools:

   Check all available "lists of CFR Parts Affected" on GPO's online LSA. Typically you will find "Last Month's List of CFR Parts Affected," a "Current List of CFR Parts Affected", and a "List of CFR Parts Affected Today".

   If the CFR "Part" containing your regulation was affected, the Federal Register page citation will be given. You can use this page number to search GPO's online Federal Register

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California Regulations: Finding and Updating

A. Finding California Regulations

California regulations are codified in Barclay's Official California Code of Regulations ("CCR"), KFC 35 1990 .A22 LAW STACKS. A free official version of the CCR is online at http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/ or http://www.calregs.com/. The CCR is also on Lexis in the "CA - Barclays Official California Code of Regulations" source (CAL;CAADMN) and on Westlaw in the CA-ADC database. To find relevant regulations, take one of these approaches:

1. Subject Approach

   1. Search an Index

      "Master Index" in volume 1 of the CCR, KFC 35 1990 .A22 LAW STACKS

   2. Consult a comprehensive secondary source (e.g., a detailed treatise or looseleaf service) dealing with your topic.

      Such a source may discuss or even reprint regulations.

2. Code Section Approach

   If you know an applicable section of the California codes, you can sometimes use that code section to find regulations by consulting the following table. This approach is not guaranteed to be comprehensive, so if you don't find anything, try another approach.

   "Table of Statutes to Regulations" in volume 1 of the CCR, KFC 35 1990 .A22 LAW STACKS

3. Keyword Searching

   The online versions of the CCR all allow some form of keyword searching. Keyword searches of regulations can, however, be unproductive and disappointing because regulations addressing an issue can be and are sometimes are drafted without using any distinctive words describing that issue. If your keyword search is not successful, try another approach.

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B. Updating California Regulations

Changes to regulations are incorporated weekly into the print and online Barclay's CCR. The changes generally appear in the CCR only a few weeks after they are become effective.

For more recent developments, contact the agency responsible for issuing the regulations. Some sources are:

[For "Proposed Action on Regulations," consult the California Regulatory Notice Register (sometimes also known as the "Z Register"), KFC 36 .C35 LAW STACKS.]

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