Legal Research

Tomorrow's Federal Regulations Available Today!

By Biddle Law Library

You’ve heard that a regulation is due any day now, and you can’t wait to see it.  Where do you turn? 

The Office of the Federal Register has created the Public Inspection Desk to provide online access to materials that will be published in the Federal Register.  Typescript copies are available as PDFs.  Many federal agencies have been doing this for some time (e.g., the SEC) and probably will remain sources for advance copies of rules, regs and notices that will be published in Federal Register materials.  However, one of the most useful features of the Public Inspection Desk is the target date of publication.  If you are going to work in a regulatory practice, you will want to save this link: http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx.

This is only part of the story.  Federal rules and regulations touch on all aspects of our lives.  We know that new rules appear in the Federal Register.  And we also know that those rules are codified as regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).  The Feds have even worked out how to help you find current regulations with nearly one-stop shopping – in the eCFR.

If you want to learn more about federal regulations and research in administrative law, I'll be conducting a presentation entitled "Administrative Law: Federal Rules and Regulations" at noon on February 23, 2009 in G-214.  Please contact me to sign up, as pizza will be provided.

Full post as published by Biddleblog on February 12, 2009 (boomark / email).