Federal Register - Format

Format

Each daily issue of the Federal Register is organized into four categories:

• Presidential Documents (executive orders and proclamations)
• Rules and Regulations (policy statements and interpretations of rules by federal agencies)
• Proposed Rules (petitions by agencies for assistance in rulemaking and other proposals)
• Notices (scheduled hearings and meetings open to the public, grant applications, and administrative orders)

The citation "44 FR 33,238" refers to "Federal Register, volume 44, page 33,238." The published notice, called a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (or "NPRM") typically requests public comment on a proposed rule, and provides notice of any public meetings where a proposed rule will be discussed. The public comments are considered by the issuing government agency, and the text of a final rule is published in the Federal Register.

The final rules promulgated by a federal agency and published in the Federal Register are ultimately reorganized by topic or subject matter and re-published (or "codified") in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which is updated annually.