Administrative Law & Legislative History Research April 6, 2009

Learn These Terms Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Federal Register U.S. Government Manual Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Register of Ohio Ohio Monthly Record LexisNexis Congressional USCCAN Compiled legislative histories

Federal Administrative Law

What Is Admin Law? A third source of primary law. The output of federal and state admin bodies.

Three Hints for Researching 1. Know the agency, e.g. using United States Government Manual. This is really important! 2. Read the underlying legislation. This is really important! 3. Monitor the agency.

Agencies Make Regulations Regs are published in TWO formats. 1. Federal Register  Daily publication; chronological order  Publishes final regs and proposed regs.  Generally hard to find stuff in it updating the CFR  But essential for the most up-to-date regs & for updating the CFR. 2. Code of Federal Regulations  More accessible.  Arranged by issuing agency and subject.  Usually start here.

Where to Find the CFR? e-CFR, GPO Access, Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline Print version comes out quarterly.

Where to Find the Federal Register? GPO Access/FDsys, Regulations.gov, Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline Print version runs about 2 weeks behind.

Two Ways to Find Regs 1. In Annotations to US Code (USCA, USCS) 2. By searching the CFR

Baby Food Example 21 USCA 350a Infant formulas Notes: Code of Federal Regulations: Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services--Infant formula quality control procedures, 21 CFR Part 106. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services--Infant formula, 21 CFR Part 107. eCRF, browse to Title 21; search “infant formula”

Updating the CFR Search the Federal Register; restricting to last several days (based on CFR currency) KeyCite your reg (not Shepard’s) Lexis Regulatory Impact Print: List of Sections Affected (LSA) at end of CFR books lists page references in Federal Register

Beyond Regs: Other Types of Agency Materials Federal Agency Decisions, e.g. EEOC decisions Compliance Manuals, e.g. FDA Enforcement Guidelines, e.g. USDA Official Interpretations, IRS private letter rulings

Ohio Administrative Law

A Quick Comparison FederalOhio Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Federal RegisterRegister of Ohio (online) or Ohio Monthly Record (print)

Ohio Administrative Code Arranged by agency and subject matter Annotated version on Westlaw / Lexis Unannotated version online at

Ohio Monthly Record Print only Publishes new rules, proposed rules, notices of repealed rules Comes out …. monthly

Register of Ohio Online only Publishes new rules, proposed rules, notices of repealed rules Great source for news rules or recent changes – updates the OAC Purges old records – not good for older changes

Updating the OAC Register of Ohio Regulation tracking databases in Lexis & Westlaw KeyCite the reg (not Shepard’s)

Federal Legislative History

What is Legislative History? Figuring out what a statute “really means” by determining the “intent” of the law makers. A collection of all of the documents associated with the passage of a statute.

Top Docs Congressional bills Hearings Committee reports Congressional debates Presidential approval or veto

Where to Find the Docs #1 Source CIS/LexisNexis Congressional - #1 Source USCCAN (U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News) Compiled legislative histories (e.g. USA Patriot Act)

CIS/LexisNexis Congressional CIS (Congressional Information Service) started indexing Congressional publications in Online, the CIS Indexes are available on LexisNexis Congressional. Much of LexisNexis Congressional is full-text now, but not all.

USCCAN “Quick & dirty” precompiled legis history of every enacted federal law since Use to find especially reports – key docs. It is not a comprehensive legislative history. Good for the major documents.

Compiled Legislative Histories Let someone else do the work for you! If you’re researching a major act, check for these first. e.g. USA Patriot Act: A Legislative History Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories Union List of Legislative Histories Your library catalog.

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