Primary Definitions - Federal

The Law - generically can refer to statutory requirements, regulations, and agency policy and guidance, e.g. reference to a law such as RCRA can mean the entire program implemented under the law - not just the law itself.

Laws/Public Laws/Statutes/Acts - all four terms generally refer to the same thing, i.e. legislative action that results in a signed bill. Laws provide the authority and framework to promulgate regulations. The following is an example citation: PL 94-580 is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - the 580th law of the 94th Congress.

Some laws may essentially replace a predecessor law, and other laws may be entirely amendments to one or more laws. Also some revisions to a current law may "break-off" into a new law. What becomes an "Act" (as a result of a separate legislative action) versus a statutory amendment is not always clear.

The general sequence is bill, public law, statutes, and code.

U.S. Code - laws are codified to U.S. Code (USC) in a set of books (e.g. 42 USC 6901 et seq. - Title 42, Section 6901 and subsequent, RCRA). USC Annotated and USC Service provide a good source for additional information. See Special Note at the end of this section.

Regulations/Rules - these two terms generally refer to the same thing, i.e. detailed requirements written and enforced by administrative/regulatory agencies (e.g. EPA) according to the authority and intent of a law. Put another way, regulations are legal mechanisms that define how a law's broad policy directives are to be implemented. The term "rule" can also specifically refer to procedural requirements. Regulations include standards and criteria, and often reference test methods. They are revised frequently.

Rule Making - regulations are promulgated through a process that includes drafts, comment periods and public hearings, and finals. Publication of this process occurs in the Federal Register.

Federal Register (FR) - a legal newspaper in which the Executive branch of the U.S. Government publishes proposed and final regulations/rules written by federal regulatory agencies; presidential documents including proclamations and executive orders; federal policies; decisions of fact-finding bodies; and notices, such as scheduled hearings and meetings open to the public (especially for commenting on proposed rules). The FR informs citizens of their rights, obligations, and the benefits of their Government.

The FR contains "preambles" to proposed and final regulations. Preambles provide the agency's rationale for the regulatory approach and an explanation of the technical basis for the proposed regulation, and they include useful interpretations and responses to comments. When a final regulation is published in the FR it is "promulgated". The FR is keyed to, and is a daily supplement to, the CFR. Use of the FR provides the best way to keep up-to-date.

The FR is issued weekdays by the Office of the Federal Register; advance information is available through this office. Subscriptions to the FR as well as individual issues are sold by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

The CFR Parts Affected In This Issue section of the FR tells you what parts in the CFR have been affected for the day the FR is published (see the LSA defined below for a cumulative list).

An example reference is 41 FR 49810 - which is volume 41 of the Federal Register at page 49810.

Federal Register Index - this index is based on a consolidation of the "Contents" entries in the daily Federal Register.

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - the CFR is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The CFR does not contain the "preambles" found in the Federal Register. The CFR is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

LSA - is the List of CFR Sections Affected (published monthly in cumulative form). The LSA is a numerical listing which helps readers track changes to the CFR which are published in the Federal Register.

CFR Hierarchy - the CFR is divided into 50 Titles which represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation, e.g. Title 40 is Protection of the Environment. Each Title is divided into Chapters which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each Chapter is further subdivided into Parts covering specific regulatory areas. The full hierarchy is: Titles (and Subtitles), Chapters (and Subchapters), Parts (and Subparts), Sections, and Paragraphs (which can be further subdivided).

Example Regulatory Citation - 40 CFR 110 is Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 110.

Consent Decrees/Orders - usually spell out compliance activities, schedules, and noncompliance penalties for a particular site, facility, or owner. Consent decrees are judicial documents approved by a court, whereas consent orders originate from administrative agencies (e.g. EPA).

Published Court Opinions - are often called "common law" or "case law". They require legal research skills of analysis and interpretation. Applicability varies greatly.

Attorney General Opinions - the U.S. Attorney General or a state attorney general can render an opinion concerning interpretation or question of law.

Permits - specify terms and conditions to be enforced by a regulatory agency. A permit may specify requirements that are in addition to statutory and regulatory requirements (and actually may not specify all the requirements of such).

Guidance - issued by regulatory agencies to clarify and elaborate on statutory and regulatory requirements; generally provides the "how to". Guidance does not have the status of regulations.

Policy/Memoranda - are administrative procedures for how agencies deal with issues, i.e. they are statements of what "should" be followed. In most cases, policy statements are addressed to the staff working on regulatory program implementation. Includes "memoranda of understanding" and "memoranda of agreement" between agencies.

Executive Order - an order or regulation put forth by the President or an administrative authority under the President's direction.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) - is the statistical classification standard underlying all establishment-based federal economic statistics classified by industry. See the Standard Industrial Classification Manual.

Enforcement Mechanisms - include Administrative, Judicial Orders, Civil Penalties, and Criminal Penalties.

Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) - are documents required of federal agencies by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for major projects or legislative proposals significantly affecting the environment. Tools for decision making, they describe the positive and negative effects of the undertaking and they list alternative actions. EISs are reported and available for public comment through the Federal Register.

Primary Definitions - State

Administrative Code or Rules - generally refers to regulations compiled for all the agencies in a particular state.

Ordinances - are similar to laws and regulations but are enacted at the local level, such as city and county. They must be considered with state and federal laws and regulations.

Primacy - this designation provides states with the authority to administer federal environmental statutory programs; delegation to the states is provided in federal statutes. However, the federal government can override state decisions and retains the authority to take back primacy. States may have only limited authority for a particular regulatory program.

State EPA - industry language used to refer to a state agency that manages state programs which are similar to those managed on the federal level by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - i.e. programs that deal with air quality, water quality, toxic substances, and waste management.

State Register - a document published by state governments with the same general scope as the Federal Register.

Special Note: The word "code" is used in many different contexts - it generally means codified into a set of books (which can be of different types). For example federal statutes become the U.S. Code (USC) and state statutes become the "state code". As another example, federal regulations become the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and state regulations become the "state administrative code". Used on its own, "code" generally refers to statutes.