Note:  The Federal Register (located on shelf 332 of the Law Library's Third Floor), is published every government business day (except holidays), and  initially announces federal regulations in force. The codification of these regulations is found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This article will show how both print resources should be used together in order to update the needed regulation.⁽¹⁾
 

After finding a regulation in a current CFR volume, it is then necessary to update this information by finding any subsequent revisions impacting that regulation; these revisions will be published in the Federal Register. Given the mind-boggling amount of information contained in a month's worth of Federal Register issues, how does the researcher find any applicable updated regulations, with only a CFR citation in hand? Consulting List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA) is the answer! The LSA can be found in the Law Library shelved just above the CFR volumes on shelf 332. The LSA lists, by title, the CFR citations which have been updated and the corresponding citations in the Federal Register which update them.

In reviewing LSA, you will notice that the date span coverage (noted at the top of each page) will vary, depending upon the title. Taking a look at the cover page for the April 2004 issue, you will notice that the LSA provides coverage for Titles 1 through 16 starting January 2, 2004 while coverage for titles 42 through 50 begins on October 1, 2003. Why the difference? It is because the two series of titles were revised in the CFR at different times of the year. Titles 1 through 16 are revised January 1 each year while titles 42 through 50 are brought up-to-date October 1.

Because most titles are not revised at the beginning of the calendar year, the LSA tables must provide date span coverage for parts of two calendar years. As a result, a problem exists of determining the volume or year for a particular Federal Register page number listed in the LSA tables. The LSA makes a volume/year differentiation by printing in boldface type the page entries of the previous volume/year when there are entries for two calendar years in that title's listing. (If all updates under a title's listing will be in the same calendar year, there will be no boldface type entries).

After having consulted the latest LSA, you will still need to update your regulatory research for the period after its publication. The "Reader Aids" section, found in the last few pages of each Federal Register, will further update your research for any possible changes for the month up to that issue's date of publication; if the latest LSA is several months old, you will need to check the last issue available for EACH month after the latest LSA's date. The table needed is entitled "C.F.R. Parts Affected During..." However, this table is not as specific as the LSA because it does not give CFR section numbers in its listing; it provides only CFR title and part numbers.

In using these resources, it is very important that you check the coverage dates of each publication to make sure that no time period has been missed in your updating.

Please bear in mind that the above information only concerns the updating of the agency regulations themselves. The regulations' current status can, of course, be affected by rulings of various courts. Therefore, a final step should be to consult Shepard's Code of Federal Regulations (First Floor, shelf 165).

1. This article is limited to a discussion of manual updating, using hard copy resources. LEXIS, WESTLAW and various CD-ROM products should be considered as an option for updating as well.
(back to top)

From: Check It Out, January 1997

Revised: June 2004