Code of Federal Regulations / CFR (CongressionalGlossary.com)

From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms

Code of Federal Regulations / CFR

Palatul CFR / Romanian Railways Palace, by cod_gabriel
Palatul CFR / Romanian Railways Palace, by cod_gabriel

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. It is divided into fifty titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation; the CFR and U.S. Code titles, however, do not correspond to each other. Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year. Each Title is divided into chapters that are assigned to agencies issuing regulations pertaining to that broad subject area. Each chapter is divided into parts and each part is then divided into sections — the basic unit of the CFR.

Items in the CFR are typically cited by title and section, with year; 34 C.F.R. § 1100.2 (2003), and 20 C.F.R. 404.1520, indicating Title 20, part 404, and section 1520.

The purpose of the CFR is to present the official and complete text of agency regulations in one organized publication and to provide a comprehensive and convenient reference for all those who may need to know the text of general and permanent Federal regulations.

 


Master the CFR: Intro to the Code of Federal Regulations

 

The CFR is keyed to and kept up-to-date by the daily Federal Register. These two publications must be used together to determine the latest version of any given rule. When a federal agency publishes a regulation in the Federal Register, that regulation usually is an amendment to the existing CFR in the form of a change, an addition, or a removal.

Title 3 of the CFR cumulates executive orders, proclamations, and other presidential administrative orders.

The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis. The annual update cycle is as follows: titles 1-16 are revised as of January 1; titles 17-27 are revised as of April 1; titles 28-41 are revised as of July 1; and titles 42-50 are revised as of October 1. Each title is divided into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas. Large parts may be subdivided into subparts. All parts are organized in sections, and most citations to the CFR refer to material at the section level.

 


Visualizing the growth of federal regulation since 1950

 

To assist the user between revisions, there is the List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA), which shows amendments published in the Federal Register and not yet incorporated into the appropriate, revised CFR title. The LSA is published quarterly and cumulates amendments to a title until that title is next revised. Available online at Govinfo.gov.

CFR – Govinfo.gov

A full set of the CFR consists of approximately 200 volumes. The approximately 200 CFR volumes are revised at least once a year on a quarterly basis.

  • Titles 1–16 are updated on January 1
  • Titles 17–27 are updated on April 1
  • Titles 28–41 are updated on July 1
  • Titles 42–50 are updated on October 1
  • Title 1 – General Provisions
  • Title 2 – Grants and Agreements
  • Title 3 – The President
  • Title 4 – Accounts
  • Title 5 – Administrative Personnel
  • Title 6 – Domestic Security
  • Title 7 – Agriculture
  • Title 8 – Aliens and Nationality
  • Title 9 – Animals and Animal Products
  • Title 10 – Energy
  • Title 11 – Federal Elections
  • Title 12 – Banks and Banking
  • Title 13 – Business Credit and Assistance
  • Title 14 – Aeronautics and Space
  • Title 15 – Commerce and Foreign Trade
  • Title 16 – Commercial Practices
  • Title 17 – Commodity and Securities Exchange
  • Title 18 – Conservation of Power and Water Resources
  • Title 19 – Customs Duties
  • Title 20 – Employees’ Benefits
  • Title 21 – Food and Drugs
  • Title 22 – Foreign Relations
  • Title 23 – Highways
  • Title 24 – Housing and Urban Development
  • Title 25 – Indians
  • Title 26 – Internal Revenue
  • Title 27 – Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms
  • Title 28 – Judicial Administration
  • Title 29 – Labor
  • Title 30 – Mineral Resources
  • Title 31 – Money and Finance: Treasury
  • Title 32 – National Defense
  • Title 33 – Navigation and Navigable Waters
  • Title 34 – Education
  • Title 35 – [RESERVED]
  • Title 36 – Parks, Forests, and Public Property
  • Title 37 – Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
  • Title 38 – Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans’ Relief
  • Title 39 – Postal Service
  • Title 40 – Protection of Environment
  • Title 41 – Public Contracts and Property Management
  • Title 42 – Public Health
  • Title 43 – Public Lands: Interior
  • Title 44 – Emergency Management and Assistance
  • Title 45 – Public Welfare
  • Title 46 – Shipping
  • Title 47 – Telecommunication
  • Title 48 – Federal Acquisition Regulations System
  • Title 49 – Transportation
  • Title 50 – Wildlife and Fisheries
  •  


    Code of Federal Regulations (2014)

     

    Also see Committee Veto / Congressional Veto; Federal Register; Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA); Public Law (Pub. L.); Statutes at Large; U.S. Code; § 5.40 Federal Regulations, § 5.44 Code of Federal Regulations, in Real World Research Skills; § 9.70 Laws and Their Codification, in Congressional Deskbook.

     

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