Code of Federal Regulations

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation. The CFR annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published by the Office of the Federal Register (part of the National Archives and Records Administration) and the Government Publishing Office. In addition to this annual edition, the CFR is published in an unofficial format online on the Electronic CFR website, which is updated daily. Under the nondelegation doctrine, federal agencies are authorized by 'enabling legislation' to promulgate regulations (rulemaking). The process of rulemaking is governed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA): generally, the APA requires a process that includes publication of the proposed rules in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), a period for comments and participation in the decisionmaking, and adoption and publication of the final rule, via the Federal Register. The rules and regulations are first promulgated or published in the Federal Register. The CFR is structured into 50 subject matter titles. Agencies are assigned chapters within these titles. The titles are broken down into chapters, parts, sections and paragraphs. For example, 42 CFR 260.11(a)(1) would be read as 'title 42, part 260, section 11, paragraph (a)(1).'