Law

• Main Sources of Regulatory Law
• Some Specific Types of Regulatory Information

Main Sources of Regulatory Law

Regulations.gov

This U.S. Government Web site encourages public participation in the Federal rulemaking process by allowing you to view and comment on regulations and other actions for Federal agencies.

Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives and Records Administration)

Text of public regulations issued by the agencies of the Federal government. Includes background information, FAQ, user's guide, search engine, and links to other copies.

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a beta test site prototype of a currently updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Federal Register (GPO Access)

Searchable database for presidential documents and executive orders as well as notices, rules, and proposed rules from federal agencies and organizations.

Regulations.gov is an interactive site that allows you to find, review, and submit comments on federal documents that have been published in the Federal Register.

The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda (Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval)

• The Regulatory Plan identifies regulatory priorities and contains additional details on the most significant regulatory actions that agencies expect to take in the near future.
• The Unified Agenda is a comprehensive list of regulations that agencies are currently developing or have recently completed.

Regulatory Information Service Center (General Services Administration)

This agency gathers and publishes information on U.S. federal regulations and their effects on society. Their principal publication is the Unified Agenda.

Federal Administrative Decisions & Other Actions (University of Virginia)

Links to administrative actions that lie outside the scope of the Code of Federal Regulations or Federal Register. What information is available via the Internet varies from agency to agency.

Official US Executive Branch Web Sites (Library of Congress)

Other administrative and regulatory information, including rulings, orders, notices, reports, etc., can be found at the homepages of these individual agencies.

Some Specific Types of Regulatory Information

Executive Orders

Executive orders are presidential proclamations that have the force of law. They may be used to enforce the Constitution or treaties with foreign countries, implement legislative statutes, or direct bureaucratic agencies.

• The text of executive orders appears in the daily Federal Register as each executive order is signed by the President and received by the Office of the Federal Register. The text of executive orders beginning with Executive Order 7316 of March 13, 1936 also appears in the sequential editions of Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, available on the National Archives and Records Administration Web site, provides a subject arrangement of proclamations and executive orders that have general applicability and continuing effect. It covers April 13, 1945, through January 20, 1989, spanning the administrations of Harry S. Truman through Ronald Reagan.
• A List of Executive Orders from the Eisenhower administration to the present is available on the NARA Web site.
• Executive Orders and Proclamations issued by President Bush are available from the White House Web site. 

General Accounting Office (GAO) Reports (GPO Access)

The General Accounting Office audits and evaluates government programs and activities. All publicly released GAO reports from FY 1995 to the present, as well as approximately 85% of the publicly released reports for FY 1994 and 3% for FY 1993 are available online.

General Accounting Office (GAO) Comptroller General Decisions (GPO Access)

Decisions made by Comptroller General from 1995 to the present, in areas of federal law such as appropriations, bid protests, civilian or military pay and allowances, household goods and freight loss damage, and transportation rates. Searchable by full text, B-number, title, or issue date.

Privacy Act Issuances (GPO Access)

Descriptions of federal agency systems of records maintained on individuals and rules agencies follow to assist individuals who request information about their records. For updates to this 1993 compilation, see the Federal Register.