If you have found a regulation and are trying to learn why it was passed, the agency's motivations for creating the rule or whether the agency took into consideration certain issues when considering the rule, look in past issues of the Federal Register. This process is similar to researching the legislative history of a statute. The CFR includes only the text of a regulation once it becomes final. The Federal Register, however, includes a lengthy preamble that describes the background of the rule and reasons for agency action. The key documents from the Federal Register are the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Final Rulemaking.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes information from the agency about the purpose of the rule and what the agency hopes to accomplish by its promulgation. The Notice of Final Rulemaking includes information about the purpose of the rule, as well as a summary of the comments it received during the notice and comment period. Agencies may include a section called “analysis of comments and changes” that explains how the department changed the language of the rule as a result of the comments it received.
To find these documents, locate the text of your rule in the CFR. Then look for the Federal Register (FR) citations at the end of the rule text.The first citation provided is the volume and page of the Federal Register issue in which the final rule was first published. Any later citations refer to later amendments to the rule. The preamble that accompanies the final rule will refer to earlier notices published in the Federal Register relating to the rule. By tracking the rule's progress via its publication in the Federal Register, you can assemble a complete regulatory history of the rule you are researching.
 |
The example to the left is an excerpt of 14 CFR 129.101. Note the citation to 67 FR 79824 where the rule was first published and 68 FR 42882 where the notice of amendment was published. |