Ukrainian Law Blog: ELECTRONIC CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS

The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a current, daily updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). It is not an official legal edition of the CFR. The e-CFR is an unofficial editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments.

The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (ACFR) has authorized the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) Office of the Federal Register(OFR) and the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to develop and maintain the e-CFR as an informational resource pending ACFR action to grant the e-CFR official legal status. While every effort has been made to ensure that the e-CFR is accurate, those relying on it for legal research should verify their results against the official editions of the CFR, Federal Register, and List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA), all available online at www.fdsys.gov. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the e-CFR editorial compilation does not provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts.

The OFR updates the material in the e-CFR on a daily basis. Generally, the e-CFR is current within two business days. The current update status is displayed at the top of all e-CFR web pages.

Starting on January 1, 2015, each update that is posted to the e-CFR by the OFR is captured and can be retrieved along with the most current e-CFR data. The previous e-CFR material is clearly identified and separated for the reader to avoid any confusion with current material.

The e-CFR consists of two linked databases: the "current Code" and "amendment files." The OFR updates the current Code database according to the effective dates of amendments published in the Federal Register.

As amendments become effective, the OFR integrates the changes into the current Code database to display the full text of the currently updated CFR.

For future-effective amendments, the OFR inserts hypertext links into the affected Code provisions so that users can review these amendments.

If the effective date of a regulation falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the amendments are integrated into the current Code within two Federal business days.

Publication of amendments and editorial information. The amendment files show each amendment as it appeared in the Federal Register with some additional information. The information provided includes the amendatory instruction, the text of the amendment (if any), the effective date(s), theFederal Register publication date and page citation, and a link to the Federal Register page (PDF format) where the amendment was published.

Exercise caution in researching amendment files. Future-effective amendments in the linked amendment files do not always become effective as originally stated in the Federal Register. Agencies may delay or withdraw future-effective amendments before the effective date of the regulations. We advise users to check the e-CFR the day after a regulation is scheduled to go into effect to be certain that the agency did not publish a delay or withdrawal document in the Federal Register.

Temporary rules and other un-codified rulemaking actions. The e-CFR (like the annual editions of the CFR) does not include, or link to "temporary rules" and other regulations that will be in effect for less than one year. The e-CFR also does not link to Federal Register documents that do not change the text or effective date of regulations. These include waivers, most interpretive rules, policy statements and clarifications, as well as documents that affect compliance dates and applicability dates. These types of documents are available in the Federal Register and are referenced in the LSA (List of CFR Sections Affected).

Amendments affected by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, certain material related to information collections is not effective until approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). For the convenience of users, an amendment published in the Federal Registerwith OMB approval pending is provisionally incorporated into the text of the current Code, along with an effective date note carried at the end of the section.

Partially effective CFR amendments. A new regulation may contain units of text with different effective dates. If a unit of text has a later effective date than the text in surrounding parallel units, the e-CFR includes the later-effective text in the current Code for the convenience of users. An effective date note carried at the end of the section alerts readers to the later effective date.

Changes to authority citations. If an authority citation is revised after publication of an amendment with future effectiveness, the e-CFR amendment file links to the changed authority citation until the amendment is incorporated into the current Code.

Inconsistent or erroneous amendments. An amendment that was stated erroneously or that is clearly inconsistent with the codification structure or effectiveness of the current Code or pending amendments is cited in an editorial note, either within the text of the section where the amendment would appear, or at the end of the section.