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BACKGROUND Administrative law exists because the United States Congress often Grant s broad authority to executive branch agencies to interpret the statutes in the United States Code (and in uncodified statutes) which the agencies are entrusted with enforcing. Congress may be too busy or congested to micromanage the jurisdiction of those agencies by writing statutes that cover every possible detail, or Congress may determine that the technical specialists at the agency are best equipped to develop detailed applications of statutes to particular fact patterns as they arise ( Executive ). Under the Administrative Procedure Act , the agencies are permitted to Promulgate detailed rules and regulations through a public " Rulemaking " process where the public is allowed to comment, known as public information. After a period of time, the rules and regulations are usually published in the '' Federal Register ''. EFFECT OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW The regulations are treated by the Court s as being as legally binding as Statutory Law , provided the regulations are a reasonable interpretation of the underlying Statute s. This "reasonable interpretation" test or '' Chevron '' doctrine was articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in a unanimous decision (6 voting, 3 recused) involving a challenge to new Clean Air Act regulations promulgated by the Reagan Administration in 1981. See '' Chevron U.S.A., Inc. V. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. ''.467 U.S. 837 (1984). For example, if Congress passed a Law that simply stated that there are not to be "excessive" levels of Mercury in any significant body of water in the United States (but defined things no further), an entity designated, as part of the law, to enforce it (probably the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)) could define in a scientific way what an excessive level of mercury is, as well as what constitutes a significant body of water. The Agency's definitions, and its plan of enforcement for what Congress intended (along with listed Penalties for Violation coming from Congress unless Congress specified otherwise) will all go into the CFR. Also, enabling legislation can be passed by Congress which gives a federal non-Congressional entity wide latitude in creating rules (law of bases). For example, the EPA could be designated by Congress to pass rules "that control harmful Pollutants "; the Agency could then pass broad rules (including definitions and enforcement provisions), in the absence of existing specific laws, to control Lead emissions, Radon emissions, Pesticide emissions, and so forth. Such rules, including any Congressional- or Agency-created definitions and enforcement provisions, will all go into the CFR. PUBLICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW The rules and regulations are first promulgated or published in the ''Federal Register'', and are later organized by topic or subject matter and are incorporated into the CFR. ORGANIZATION AND PRINTING SCHEDULE The CFR is a multi-volume set divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. While new regulations are continually becoming effective, the physical printing of the CFR is updated on a set schedule. Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis.
When finalized, new regulations are published in the ''Federal Register'' with CFR part numbers, such as 42 CFR 260.11(a), that can be cited immediately, without waiting for a page number from the physical copy. An Internet version of the CFR, known as e-CFR, is also maintained by NARA, and is normally current to within three days of the ''Federal Register''. LIST OF REGULATION TITLES
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