General Legal & Policy Research
Federal
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
What: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) codifies the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the federal government. Divided into 50 titles, the CFR represents broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Each title divides into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency, then into parts, sub-parts and finally sections. Most citations to the CFR provide the title and section, for example: 42 CFR §441.17 represents Title 42 of the CFR at Section 441.17. This link connects researchers to a CFR research site jointly created by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Government Printing Office (GPO).
How to search: You may search the CFR site by Specific Title and Section; by Table of Titles which permits browsing by titles, chapters, parts, sections, and name of regulatory entities within a specific title (by date of issue) or by keyword searches within specific titles; by Complete CFR Search permits keyword search of the entire CFR; by the List of Sections Affected (LSA), which lists recent changes to the CFR and may be searched by recent changes of the day or past month.
Helpful hints: If unsure of the specific section or title, the Complete CFR Search function will help users start their research through keyword searches. However, once the general title(s) of focus are obtained, the Table of Titles tool refines the search. Another useful tool, The Tables of Parallel Authorities and Rules (in HTML Text and PDF format) lists the rulemaking authority from the USC for regulations codified in the CFR.
Last updated: CFR revisions occur quarterly, staggered by title. Any Title 42 revisions occur every October. Updates to the CFR website occur concurrently with the release of the new CFR paper editions, but prior versions of the CFR remain on the site as references. To research changes to the CFR Title since its revision date (for Title 42 October) check the List of Sections Affected (LSA).
Other Web sites: The CFR may be accessed through several sites on the web. Since preferences may vary, the below sites also prove useful in searching the CFR. However to ensure users obtain the most recent version of the CFR when searching other sites, users should check the GPO Access CFR site (linked above) for changes to the CFR section of interest on the List of Sections Affected page.
