48. Source of rulemaking power

Generally, Congress will pass a statute which (a) requires enforcing regulations and (b) instructs some agency to make and enforce those rules. Often the same statute will make general rules on a subject, create a commission to promulgate and enforce more specific rules, and indicate how to appeal from any adverse decisions. This functions as a "constitution" for the agency.

49. Rulemaking procedures

After investigation and reports by the research arm of the agency and submissions by interested parties, the agency will draft rules implementing the congressional mandate. These proposed rules are then published as a "notice of rulemaking" in the Federal Register. A period allotted for public comment is specified, which may be from 30 to 120 days. Hearings can also be held during this period. After redrafting (if necessary) the final rule is published in the Federal Register with a notice that it is to go into effect in a specified number of days. At this point the rule has all the powers of a piece of congressional legislation. The Federal Register is published daily.

50. Codification of agency rules

In a close parallel to the creation of the United States Code, the final rules are codified into the Code of Federal Regulations, known as the CFR. The CFR also has 50 titles, but the are not an exact match to the USC. Each volume is re-codified annually, on a quarterly schedule, and the whole set is indexed. There is also a "List of Sections Affected" which has tables to show which CFRsections have been changed by later actions in the Federal Register. Within each Federal Register, there is a list of "parts" affected which shows how rules in that issue will change the CFR. Whenever a rule is published in either the Federal Register or the CFR, the statute which is the source of the power to make that rule is listed at the beginning of the text.