The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the
official journal
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
of the
federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...
that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on
federal holidays
Federal holidays in the United States are the eleven calendar dates that are designated by the U.S. government as holidays. On U.S. federal holidays, non-essential federal government offices are closed and federal government employees are pa ...
. The final rules promulgated by a federal agency and published in the ''Federal Register'' are ultimately reorganized by topic or subject matter and
codified in the ''
Code of Federal Regulations'' (CFR), which is updated annually.
The ''Federal Register'' is compiled by the
Office of the Federal Register
The Office of the Federal Register is an office of the United States government within the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Office publishes the ''Federal Register'', ''Code of Federal Regulations'', ''Public Papers of the Presid ...
(within the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
) and is printed by the
Government Publishing Office. There are no
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
restrictions on the ''Federal Register''; as a
work of the U.S. government, it is in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
.
Contents
The ''Federal Register'' provides a means for the government to announce to the public changes to government requirements, policies, and guidance.
* Proposed new rules and regulations
* Final rules
* Changes to existing rules
* Notices of meetings and adjudicatory proceedings
* Presidential documents including
executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
s, proclamations and administrative orders.
Both proposed and final government rules are published in the ''Federal Register''. A
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is a public notice that is issued by law when an independent agency of the US government wishes to add, remove, or change a rule or regulation as part of the rulemaking process. The notice is an important ...
(or "NPRM") typically requests public comment on a proposed rule and provides notice of any public meetings where a proposed rule will be discussed. The public comments are considered by the issuing
government agency, and the text of a final rule along with a discussion of the comments is published in the ''Federal Register''. Any agency proposing a rule in the ''Federal Register'' must provide contact information for people and organizations interested in making comments to the agencies and the agencies are required to address these concerns when it publishes its final rule on the subject.
The notice and comment process, as outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act, gives the people a chance to participate in agency
rulemaking. Publication of documents in the ''Federal Register'' also constitutes
constructive notice Constructive notice is the legal fictionThe phrase "legal fiction" should not be construed to mean that the concept of constructive notice is legally invalid. that signifies that a person or entity should have known, as a reasonable person would hav ...
, and its contents are
judicially noticed.
The ''
United States Government Manual'' is published as a special edition of the ''Federal Register''. Its focus is on programs and activities.
Format
Each daily issue of the printed ''Federal Register'' is organized into four categories:
* Presidential Documents (
executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
s and
proclamations
A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...
)
* Rules and Regulations (including policy statements and interpretations of rules by federal agencies)
* Proposed Rules (including petitions to agencies from the public)
* Notices (such as scheduled hearings and meetings open to the public and grant applications)
Citations from the ''Federal Register'' are
olumeFR
age number
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
(
ate
Ate or ATE may refer to:
Organizations
* Active Training and Education Trust, a not-for-profit organization providing "Superweeks", holidays for children in the United Kingdom
* Association of Technical Employees, a trade union, now called the Nat ...
, ''e.g.'', 71 FR 24924 (April 7, 2006).
The final rules promulgated by a federal agency and published in the ''Federal Register'' are ultimately reorganized by topic or subject matter and re-published (or "codified") in the ''
Code of Federal Regulations'' (CFR), which is updated annually.
Availability
Copies of the ''Federal Register'' may be obtained from the U.S. Government Publishing Office. Most
law libraries
A law library is a special library used by law students, lawyers, judges and their law clerks, historians and other scholars of legal history in order to research the law. Law libraries are also used by people who draft or advocate for ne ...
associated with an
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
–accredited law school will also have a set, as will
federal depository libraries.
Free sources
The ''Federal Register'' has been available online since 1994.
Federal depository libraries within the U.S. also receive copies of the text, either in paper or
microfiche
Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...
format. Outside the U.S., some major libraries may also carry the ''Federal Register''.
As part of the Federal E-Government eRulemaking Initiative, the web site
Regulations.gov was established in 2003 to enable easy public access to agency dockets on rulemaking projects including the published ''Federal Register'' document. The public can use Regulations.gov to access entire rulemaking dockets from participating Federal agencies to include providing on-line comments directly to those responsible for drafting the rulemakings. To help federal agencies manage their dockets, the
Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) was launched in 2005 and is the agency side of regulations.gov.
In April 2009, Citation Technologies created a free, searchable website for ''Federal Register'' articles dating from 1996 to the present.
GovPulse.us, a finalist in the Sunlight Foundation's Apps for America 2, provides a web 2.0 interface to the ''Federal Register'', including sparklines of agency activity and maps of current rules.
On July 25, 2010, the Federal Register 2.0 website went live. The new website is a collaboration between the developers who created GovPulse.us, the
Government Publishing Office and the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
.
On August 1, 2011, the Federal Register announced a new
application programming interface (API) to facilitate programmatic access to the Federal Register content. The API is fully
RESTful, utilizing the
HATEOAS
Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State (HATEOAS) is a constraint of the REST application architecture that distinguishes it from other network application architectures.
With HATEOAS, a client interacts with a network application whose ap ...
architecture with results delivered in the
JSON format. Details are available at the developers page and
Ruby
A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called ...
and
Python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
client
libraries
A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
are available.
Paid sources
In addition to purchasing printed copies or subscriptions, the contents of the ''Federal Register'' can be acquired via several commercial databases:
* Citation Technologies offers the complete Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) through subscription-based web portals such as
CyberRegs.
*
HeinOnline
HeinOnline (HOL) is a commercial internet database service launched in 2000 by William S. Hein & Co., Inc. (WSH Co), a Buffalo, New York publisher specializing in legal materials. The company began in Buffalo, New York, in 1961 and is currently b ...
(1936–): Full coverage available dating back to 1936 in an image-based searchable PDF format.
*
LexisNexis
LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer info ...
(July 1, 1980–): Searchable text format since .
*
Westlaw
Westlaw is an online legal research service and proprietary database for lawyers and legal professionals available in over 60 countries. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statu ...
(January 1, 1981–): Searchable text format since . The Unified Agenda and the official English text of the 1980
, which became effective January 1, 1988, are included. Sunshine Act Meeting Notices are not available prior to 1991. Unified Agenda documents are not available prior to October 1989.
History
The ''Federal Register'' system of publication was created on July 26, 1935, under the Federal Register Act. The first issue of the ''Federal Register'' was published on March 16, 1936. In 1946 the
Administrative Procedure Act required agencies to publish more information related to their rulemaking documents in the ''Federal Register''.
On March 11, 2014, Rep.
Darrell Issa
Darrell Edward Issa ( ; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 50th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...
introduced the
Federal Register Modernization Act (H.R. 4195), a bill that would require the ''Federal Register'' to be published (e.g., by electronic means), rather than printed, and that documents in the ''Federal Register'' be made available for sale or distribution to the public in published form.
The
American Association of Law Libraries
The American Association of Law Libraries "is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the professio ...
(AALL) strongly opposed the bill, arguing that the bill undermines citizens' right to be informed by making it more difficult for citizens to find their government's regulations.
According to AALL, a survey they conducted "revealed that members of the public, librarians, researchers, students, attorneys, and small business owners continue to rely on the print" version of the ''Federal Register''.
AALL also argued that the lack of print versions of the ''Federal Register'' and ''CFR'' would mean the 15 percent of Americans who don't use the Internet would lose their access to that material.
The House voted on July 14, 2014, to pass the bill 386–0.
See also
* ''
Emergency Federal Register
The ''Emergency Federal Register'' is the planned replacement for the ''Federal Register'', the official journal of the United States government, in the event publication of the ''Federal Register'' is suspended by presidential decree following t ...
''
*
Government gazette
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
– for other similar government publications in other countries
*
Regulations.gov
* ''
California Regulatory Notice Register
The ''California Regulatory Notice Register'' (Notice Register or ''Z Register'') contains notices of proposed regulatory actions by California state agencies to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations contained in the ''California Code of Regulation ...
''
* ''
Florida Administrative Register
The ''Florida Administrative Register'' (FAR) is the daily publication containing proposed rules and notices of state agencies of Florida.
See also
* '' Florida Administrative Code''
* Law of Florida
* ''Federal Register''
References
Exte ...
''
* ''
Illinois Register
The ''Illinois Register'' (Ill. Reg.) is the official weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules of Illinois state agencies. It is published online every Friday by the Illinois Secretary of State.
Citation format
References to ...
''
* ''
New York State Register
The ''New York State Register'' is the official journal of the New York state government that contains information on proposed regulations and rulemaking activities. The ''New York State Register'' is published weekly by the New York State Depar ...
''
* ''
Pennsylvania Bulletin
The ''Pennsylvania Bulletin'' is a weekly journal produced by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Created on a weekly basis by staff in the Legislative Reference Bureau of Pennsylvania, which is housed at the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in ...
''
* ''
United States Reports
The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, orders, case tables (list of every case decided), in alphabetical order both by the name of the petitioner ...
''
* ''
United States Statutes at Large
The ''United States Statutes at Large'', commonly referred to as the ''Statutes at Large'' and abbreviated Stat., are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress. Each act and resolut ...
''
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
* from the
Office of the Federal Register
The Office of the Federal Register is an office of the United States government within the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Office publishes the ''Federal Register'', ''Code of Federal Regulations'', ''Public Papers of the Presid ...
''Federal Register''(official) on
GovInfo GovInfo is an official website of the United States government that houses U.S. government information. GovInfo replaces the Federal Digital System (FDsys), which in turn replaces GPOAccess, an information storage system to house electronic governme ...
from the
Government Publishing OfficeFederal Register 2.0(official but not authoritative) from the Office of the Federal Register
List of CFR Sections Affectedon GovInfo from the Government Publishing Office
Office of the Federal Registerin the ''Federal Register''
Administrative Committee of the Federal Registerin the ''Federal Register''
Sources and Tools to the Federal Registerfree and commercial from LLSDC.org
{{Authority control
Publications of the United States government
United States administrative law
Government gazettes
Publications established in 1935
United States official journals