Final regulations promulgated by Federal administrative agencies are first published in the Federal Register and then codified in the multi-volume Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
The GPO posts an electronic edition of the official CFR, as well as an unofficial but more current e-CFR. The official CFR is also accessible through Cornell's Legal Information Institute and FindLaw. Fee-based providers include Lexis (GENFED;CFR), Westlaw (CFR), Loislaw and Versuslaw.
To pull a CFR section off Lexis or Westlaw, use the format: 47 CFR 22.137.
One quarter of the print CFR is updated in each quarter of the year. The official electronic version provided by the GPO follow this pattern too. However, Westlaw, Lexis and the free e-CFR integrate new Final regulations into the text of their CFR editions throughout the year, so the e-CFR is usually just a day or two shy of current; the the Westlaw and Lexis versions are usually just a little behind that.
Updating the CFR: To update the CFR, look through the Federal Register issues published since the relevant section (i.e., "part") of the CFR was last updated. You can do this using the "List of CFR Sections Affected in this Issue" section of the print edition or the electronic List on FDsys. To make things easier, run a KeyCite on the relevant section in Westlaw, and the KeyCite will link you to any relevant pages in the CFR. Alternatively, you can search the Federal Register on Lexis (GENFED;FEDREG) or Westlaw (FR).
Finding sections by subject matter: There is a fairly poor Index volume at the end of the print CFR. Westlaw publishes a better multi-volume index, which is available in print or through the RegulationsPlus feature on Westlaw. Alternatively, you can search for a subject using key terms on any of the online CFR editions discussed above.
Relation to the U.S. Code: To find out which CFR sections were passed to interpret a given section of the United States Code, you can:
- Search the GPO's e-CFR using the format "__ U.S.C. __" with the pull-down menu switched to the "Authority" field. I have found this to be fast, free and generally aeffective.
- Search for the USC section in a CFR database on Lexis (GENFED;FEDREG) or Westlaw (CFR), LOIS, Versuslaw, Quicklaw America or any other good CFR database.
- Pull up the USC section on Westlaw and look in the ResultsPlus column for Administrative Code.
- Use the GPO's Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules, which is also published in the "Index and Finding Aids to Code of Federal Regulations" volume at the end of the United States Code Service. This is the most official tool, but it does not necessarily get all the related CFR sections.
- Call the relevant administrative agency, because the USCS & CFR Tables, even keyword searching, may not be comprehensive and are always at least a little behind the times. Do this in addition to the ideas above when you have to be 100% accurate.
Relation to Case Law: To get cases related to a particular section of the CFR, Shepardize it, using hard copy or Lexis or use KeyCite on Westlaw. Also, if you bring up a section on Westlaw, you can see case annotations in the "Regulations Plus" column.
Old Editions: The GPO posts historical editions of the CFR on its Web site back to the 1997; some sections go back to 1996. Lexis has an CFR Archive database going back to 1981 (CODES;CFRARC). Westlaw has databases for old CFRs back to 1984 (CFRxx, with the Xs being the last two digits of the year), and "Results Plus" lets you pull up a version as it existed on a particular date. HeinOnline has historical editions covering 1938 to 1983. Also, many law libraries keep outdated CFRs, either in hard copy or on microfiche or microfilm. Finally, you can buy superseded volumes of the CFR from William S. Hein & Co.
Proposed Regulations: To find the text of a proposed regulation, search the Federal Register (see "Federal Register"). If you know the final version is already in the CFR, check the preamble of the final reg. This should have a Federal Register cite where the proposed reg. was published.
For further discussion of Federal regulations see Jacobstein and Mersky's Fundamentals of Legal Research (New York, Foundation Press).
See also entries for individual agencies.
