Federal Register and CFR

What is the Federal Register?

The Federal Register is a legal newspaper published every business day by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It contains federal agency regulations; proposed rules and notices; and Executive orders, proclamations, and other Presidential documents. The Federal Register informs citizens of their rights and obligations and provides access to a wide range of federal benefits and opportunities for funding. NARA's Office of the Federal Register prepares the Federal Register for publication in partnership with the Government Printing Office (GPO), which distributes it in paper and on the World Wide Web.

NOAA organizations should contact their Federal Register Liaison or servicing Office of General Counsel for information and assistance in the preparation of material for publishing in the Federal Register. Guidance and policy for NOAA's use of these publications are in NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 205-11, Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register. The NAO includes a list of NOAA officials authorized to sign material for publication in the Federal Register. Signing authority may not be redelegated except as specified in the Order.

What is the Code of Federal Regulations?

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation. Each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis. An electronic version of the CFR also is available on the World Wide Web.

NOAA's materials are published in two "titles" of the CFR series:

• title 15 Chapter IX contains codified materials covering all
NOAA organizations

• title 50 Chapters II, IV, and VI contain codified materials specific to
NOAA Fisheries

The GPO links to the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations are on the web at GPO Access*.

Payment of Costs for Publishing in the Federal Register and the CFR

Each office is responsible for providing the funds required for publication of its material in the Federal Register and the CFR. This is accomplished by use of the appropriate Billing Address Code (BAC).
 
Prior to the beginning of each Fiscal Year, contact will be initiated with each NOAA Line Office to establish an 'open requisition' with the Government Printing Office (GPO) for the use of one or more unique BACs to be used by the organization when submitting its material for publication in the Federal Register. Costs for published items are then billed directly to the organization's appropriate account by GPO. In NOAA Headquarters, AMES maintains an open requisition for submissions by organizations other than Line Offices; however, AMES also monitors use of this 'NOAA-generic' BAC and coordinates with the publishing organization in order to have the costs redirected to that its account.

When publishing material in the Federal Register, NOAA entities must use the appropriate BAC for their organization. The BAC is entered as the 'Billing Code' on the signed Federal Register document prior to its submission for publication. The invoice will be generated by GPO two to three months after the item's publication.

For the CFR, open requisitions are established annually by NOAA Fisheries and AMES. While NOAA Fisheries covers the costs for its CFR title 50 material, all Line Offices (and some specific NOAA Headquarters organizations) are responsible for their proportionate share of the costs for publishing CFR title 15 material. Once the GPO invoice is received for title 15, staff in AMES will calculate each Line Office's and Headquarters organization's proportionate cost and coordinate with appropriate staff to obtain accounting information for redirection of each entity's share of the invoiced amount.

For additional guidance, contact of the Administrative Management staff at 301-713-3530 x180.

Other Useful Resources

Administrative Management and Executive Secretariat

NOAA Administrative Orders

NARA's Federal Register*