The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in its paper form is a giant stack of books containing all of the permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the United States Federal Government. It is made up of 50 titles, most having several volumes, each representing a general subject area. Each title is revised at least once a year and issued on a quarterly basis (there's just too darn much to publish it all at once). The approximate date for publication of revisions is as follows:
Title 1 through Title 16--January 1
Title 17 through Title 27--April 1
Title 28 through Title 41--July 1
Title 42 through Title 50--October 1
References to the CFR take the form of xx CFR yy.zz, where xx is the title number, yy is the sub-part, and zz is the section. 21 CFR 11.100 would be a reference to:
Title 21--Food and Drugs
Chapter I--Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services
Part 11--Electronic Records, Electronic Signatures
Section 100--General Requirements
For some reason unknown to me, the chapter number does not appear in a CFR reference.
The 50 CFR titles are as follows:
- General Provisions
- (Reserved)
- The President
- Accounts
- Administrative Personnel
- Economic Stabalization (Reserved)
- Agriculture
- Aliens and Nationality
- Animals and Animal Products
- Energy
- Federal Elections
- Banks and Banking
- Business Credit and Assistance
- Aeronautics and Space
- Commerce and Foreign Trade
- Commercial Practices
- Commodity and Securites Exchanges
- Conservation of Power and Water Resources
- Customs Duties
- Employees' Benefits
- Food and Drugs
- Foreign Relations
- Highways
- Housing and Urban Development
- Indians
- Internal Revenue
- Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms
- Judicial Administration
- Labor
- Mineral Resources
- Money and Finance: Treasury
- National Defense
- Navigation and Navigable Waters
- Education
- Panama Canal
- Parks, Forests and Public Property
- Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights
- Pensions, Bonuses, and Veteran's Relief
- Postal Service
- Protection of Environment
- Public Contracts and Property Management
- Public Health
- Public Lands: Interior
- Emergency Management and Assistance
- Public Welfare
- Shipping
- Telecommunication
- Federal Acquisition Regulations System
- Transportation
- Wildlife and Fisheries
A searchable database of the CFR is maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration and is available online at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-retrieve.html