How
does a bill affect regulations? What groups are responsible
for the oversight and evaluation of legislative initiatives?
Following
the passage of a law, government regulations may be issued
to enforce it. Laws must be implemented by an executive branch
agency. The President makes and agency responsible for putting
a law into effect. The agency will then issue an administrative
regulation which states how the agency plans to implement
the law. The regulatory process is governed by the Administrative
Procedure Act of 1946. There is only one official source
which reports all phases of the regulatory process and that
is the daily Federal Register. The following
steps are the procedures that an agency folows to alert the
public that a regulation is being proposed. However, please
note that the agency does not have to do this. First,
the agency publishes in the Federal Register an advance
notice of proposed rule making (ANPRM). This is the intent
to issue a regulation. Next, is the notice of proposed
rule making (NPRM)), which contains the proposed rule
and asks for public comment. The public is allowed to make
comments for a certain amount of time. After reviewing comments,
the agency will issue a final rule making. This may
include a summary or analysis of comments received with the
final edition of the regulation. Reglations in effect are
codified annually and issued quarterly in the Code of
Federal Regulations which is organized by subject.
Where
can I find records of regulatory activity,
such
as the Federal Register?
- Federal
Register, AE 2.106:, 1936 to date, Government Documents
Collection, Level 1. Proposed regulations are printed here
first, and once approved, they are printed in the Federal
Register again. . For new regulations, background information
and a summary of public comments are given as well.
- Federal
Register via LexisNexis Congressional (Emory
only) - Full text since 1980. New regulations, proposed
regulations, and notices of grants and agency hearings.
Background information on new and proposed hearings. New
regulations summarize public comments.
- Federal
Register via Lexis Nexis Academic (Emory only)
- Full text since 07/01/1980. Offers same as above.
- Federal
Register via GPO Access - This is the best public
source for the Federal Register. Offers same as above. 1995,
vol. 60 to date.
From
here, the regulations are codified and listed in:
- Code
of Federal Regulations, AE 2.106/3:, Government
Documents Collection, Level 1. Library has in paper current
year only, previous issues in microfiche. Macmillan Law
Library collection has previous issues in paper. As with
the U.S. Code, regulations are codified (arranged by subject)
and printed in the Code of Federal Regulations, or CFR.
- Index
to Code of Federal Regulations, Congressional Information
Service, 1979 to date, AE 2.106/3-3/X.
- CFR
via LexisNexis Congressional (Emory only) -
Indexes current Executive Branch and independent agency
regulations in force by keyword, agency, and statutory authority.
Is updated every 2 weeks. Full Text coverage is 1981 to
date.
- CFR
via GPO Access - April 1996 to date. Links go
to list of CFR Titles, chapters, subchapters and parts.
Text can be browsed by title and searchable by subject,
title or section number.
Where
can I find reports and statements regarding the oversight
and evalution of government activities?
Committee
Oversight--Below are portals to various House and
Senate committees. Most committees have homepages with membership
rosters, responsibilities, etc. Also a great place to see
what policies and issues that they oversee.
House
Committees--http://www.house.gov/house/CommitteeWWW.shtml
Senate
Committees--http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.htm
You
can also look in LexisNexis
Congressional for reports and publications of different
committees. To look for oversight reports, type in name of
committee and "oversight" into search terms (on
advanced search screen) or tthe topic and the word "oversight."
You'll also find a number of Government Accountability Office/General
Accounting Office in LexisNexis Congressional (see below).
- General
Accounting Office (now, Government Accountability Office)--commonly
called the investigative arm of Congress or the Congressional
watchdog. Studies and evaluates federal programs and activities.
Reports on their website are available back to 1971 in PDF
format. You can also search EUCLID
for print and electronic copies of these reports. Perform
a complex search--use "general accounting office"
or "government accountability office" as the author
and then your term as a word or phrase.
- Congressional
Budget Office--"The Congressional Budget Office
is a small, nonpartisan agency that produces policy analyses,
cost estimates of legislation, and budget and economic projections
that serve as a basis for the Congress's decisions about
spending and taxes." Reports and publications since
2001 are available online. Go under the publications tab
and choose the "search" option. Again, many print
editions of CBS reports are available at Emory. Perform
a complex search in EUCLID
and use "Congressional Budget Office" as an
author and the search term of your choice in the word or
phrase box.
- CRS
Reports--CRS reports are also great resources for
evaluation and oversight analysis. Quick online resources
are University
of North Texas and OpenCRS.
See the page on
news/commentary/analysis for more CRS resources.
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