Finding Administrative Law Mary Horton, Wake Forest University Introduction The United States legal system is complex, being composed of three levels (local, state and federal) and containing three branches at each level (executive, legislative and judicial). At the federal level the legislative branch enacts legislation (Congress) and the federal courts and Supreme Court establish legal precedence through their rulings. Finding legislation and court cases are covered in other handouts. This handout covers the steps in finding administrative law. Administrative law is made by agencies and departments of the executive branch that are empowered by Congress with secondary-legislative power. This rule-making (or law-making) authority is intended for the agency to fill in specifics in relevant legislation. In addition to making these rules and regulations, agencies also make administrative decisions which range from informal procedural matters to complex judicial decisions. Another component of administrative law includes presidential proclamations, executive orders and reorganization plans. Information on Agencies Documents Desk AE 2.108/2:U.S. Government ManualDescribes the various agencies of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, including areas of focus, statutory authority and contact information.Documents DeskJK 6.F43Federal Yellow BookDirectory of key personnel in the Executive Office of the President, executive departments, and independent agencies, including addresses and phone numbers.Finding RegulationsThe Reynolds Library holds the official Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations, including online access via GPO ACCESS (http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html). Commercially produced indexes to these sources (e.g. CIS's Federal Register Index and Index to the Code of Federal Regulations) are available in the Professional Center Library and may make the search easier.. Federal Register (FR) AE 2.106: "The Federal Register provides a uniform system for making available to the public regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies. These include Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders and Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress and other Federal agency documents of public interest." Each issue of the Register is divided into the following sections: 1) Contents; 2) CFR Parts Affected in this Issue; 3) Presidential Documents; 4)Rules and Regulations; 5) Proposed Rules and Regulations; 6) Notices; 7) Notices of Sunshine Act Meetings; and 8) Reader Aids. New and proposed regulations are arranged by Code of Federal Regulations title number (see below). The Register is published Monday - Friday. The Reynolds Library retains the current two years. The Professional Center Library has more extensive holdings. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) AE 2.103/3: The CFR is an annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Register. The CFR is published in 50 volumes (or "titles") that cover a broad subject area. Each title is updated annually and contains rules in effect at that time. The schedule of publication is: Titles 1-16 January 1 Titles 17-27 April 1 Titles 28-41 July 1 Titles 42-50 October 1 Title 3 of the CFR contains all of the presidential proclamations, executive orders and other presidential items required to be published in the Federal Register. Finding Regulations Index and Finding Aids, CFR. Begin with this volume, which is an index of broad subject headings and agency names. Federal Register Index Published monthly, the Index is a consolidation of the month's tables of contents. Entries are arranged by agency; within each agency rules, proposed rules, and notices are listed alphabetically by subject. Updating Regulations It is critical to determine whether any updates have been made, since some rules and regulations are revised frequently. Use the following steps to find the current text of a regulation and any proposed changes: Find the text of the regulation in the CFR; note the revision date on the cover Check the LSA: List of CFR Sections Affected (references are to Federal Register page numbers) a) Check the annual cumulation of the LSA for your title b) Check the latest monthly LSA for changes occurring since the annual cumulation. Check the list of "CFR Parts Affected During . . ." in the Federal Register issue for the last day of each month not covered by step 2. Check the cumulative list of "CFR Parts Affected" in the latest issue of the Federal Register for the current month. Using the citations found in steps 2-4, if any, check the Federal Register for the revised language. "Shepardize" the regulation to determine whether there has been any judicial interpretation of the regulation (using Shepard's United States Administrative Citations or Shepard's Code of Federal Regulations Citations) available in the Professional Center Library. Administrative Decisions Administrative decisions may also be found in print publications and accessed online via various resources. Unfortunately, the administrative decisions of various agencies are not compiled in one resource such as the Federal Register. Use the OWL catalog to determine which sets of administrative decisions the Reynolds Library holds. Presidential Documents Executive Orders and Proclamations Executive Orders are issued by the President to govern and direct activities of executive agencies and have the effect of law. Proclamations may or may not have legal effect and are generally used for items of broad-based interest such as Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, etc. Executive Orders and Proclamations are first published in: AE 2.106:Federal RegisterAE 2.109:Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documentsand then compiled annually in:AE 2.106/3:3/Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3AE 2.114:Public Papers of the PresidentsAnother compilation is:AE 2.113:Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, April 13, 1945-January 20, 1989Reorganization Plans Reorganization plans deal with the combination, shifting or termination of agencies below the rank of department. Proposed plans are printed in: X/aCongressional RecordAE 2.109Weekly Compilation of Presidential DocumentsReorganization plans go into effect unless disapproved by either house of Congress within 60 days of being proposed. Approved plans are printed in the:AE 2.106:Federal RegisterAE 2.106/3:3/Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3AE 2.111:Statutes at Large Conversion Tables for Regulations and Presidential Documents Statute to Regulation To find what regulations have been promulgated under a specific U.S. Code or Statutes at Large section, use "Table 1 - Authorities" in the Finding Aids section of the CFR Index and Finding Aids. Statute to Executive Order, Proclamation or Reorganization Plan To find what presidential documents have been issued under a specific U.S. Code or Statutes at Large section, use "Table 5 - Statutes Cited as Authority for Presidential Documents" in Title 3 of the CFR. Executive Order, Presidential Proclamation, or Reorganization Plan to Regulation To find out what regulations have been promulgated under a specific presidential document, use "Table 1 - Authorities" in the Finding Aids section of the CFR Index and Find Aids. Executive Order, Presidential Proclamation, or Reorganization Plan to Statue To find out where a presidential document has been codified, use "Table IV - Executive Orders," "Table V - Proclamations," or "Table VI - Reorganization Plans" in the U.S. Code. Regulation to Statutory or Presidential Authority To find out what the statutory authority is for a particular regulation, look at the regulation in the CFR. The note before each section or subpart will list the Statutes at Large and U.S. Code authority and will also give the place of publication in the Federal Register. Some information in the handout is based on "Federal Administrative Law," Duke University Law Library, Research Guides Series. Administrative Law Mary Horton, Documents Department Z. Smith Reynolds Library Wake Forest University