Federal Administrative Law

Updating the e-CFR, Lexis CFR, and Westlaw CFR for Amendments

Online sources are usually more current than the official print sources.  Be sure and check the currency of your online CFR source. The differing dates may mean that you can skip traditional updating steps. For example, you likely will be able to skip checking the Monthly List of CFR Sections Affected and just look at the "Reader Aids" section," CFR Sections Affected during [month]" of the latest issue of the Federal Register.

Example:

The eCFR was last updated February 14, 2023.  Today is February 16, 2023.  Look at the "CFR Parts Affected during February in the "Reader Aids" section of the February 16, 2023 issue of the Federal Register.

Updating the CFR for Proposed and Final Rules Using Federalregister.gov

1. Go to Federalregistergov and go to the Advanced Document Search (under the Search drop-down menu at the top of the screen)
2. Select Rule and Proposed Rule under Document Category
3. Type in your CFR title and part in the boxes for Affecting CFR Part
4. Click Search

You will end up with a results list of any rule or proposed rule that affects your title and part.

Updating the CFR for Proposed and Final Rules Using HeinOnline

1. Go to the CFR on HeinOnline
2. Find the CFR Sections Affected Locator and put in your title and part
3. Click Get CFR Sections Affected

You will end up with a results list of rules or proposed rules that affect your title and part. Note that it takes this information from the last LSA so you may need to do further updating using the .

Updating the Official CFR (in print or online)

1. Note date of revision on the cover of the CFR volume that contains your regulation. Remember that the CFR is updated yearly on a quarterly schedule.
2. Consult the LSA -- List of CFR Sections Affected.
3. If the revision date of the volume of the CFR used is less than one year out-of-date, use only the most recent issue of the LSA (check the coverage statement on the title page of the LSA to make sure there are no gaps in coverage). 
4. If the revision date of the CFR volume is more than one year out-of-date, you may need to use two issues of the LSA: the annual issue for that title and the most recent issue.
5. If the regulation has been updated, flip to the "Table of Federal Register Issue Pages and Dates," located at the back of the LSA.  Look up the page number reference given in the LSA to determine which issue of the Federal Register contains the revisions or changes.
6. Consult the Federal Register.
7. Look at the issue for the last day of each month since the last LSA pamphlet. There will be a section in the back under “Reader Aids” called "CFR Parts Affected during [month]." Also check the last day of the current month.

Shepardizing & KeyCiting

You can Shepardize and KeyCite administrative regulations.  This will help you find proposed regulations, judicial treatment and interpretation of regulations; and locate secondary sources citing regulations. 

RegInfo.gov (back to Fall 1995)

• Contains the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The Unified Agenda, published every spring and fall, includes regulatory agendas from all Federal entities that currently have regulations under development or review. Agencies of the United States Congress are not included. Fall editions of the Unified Agenda include The Regulatory Plan, which presents agency statements of regulatory priorities and additional information about the most significant regulatory activities planned for the coming year.
• Also provides various breakdowns of pending agency action, allowing users to view pending actions by rule stage or by agency.

Regulations.Gov

• A centralized site for online access to proposed and final regulations, and submission and review of public comments.
• Users can sign up for e-mail alerts on a specific regulation or subscribe to RSS feeds for agency notices.

Justia's Regulation Tracker: http://regulations.justia.com/ (back to 2005)

• Search or browse regulations
• Subscribe to an RSS feed