Federal Regulatory Tracker is a research tool for monitoring changes to U.S. federal regulations. It provides longitudinal tracking of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and Federal Register documents, enabling researchers to study how regulations evolve over time.
The system is designed for:
Legal researchers studying administrative law and regulatory change
All data comes from official U.S. government sources:
eCFR (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations) — The authoritative online version of the CFR, updated daily by the National Archives
Federal Register — The official daily journal of the U.S. government via federalregister.gov API
We fetch data programmatically from these sources using their official APIs and bulk data exports. No scraping or unofficial data sources are used.
CFR Change Detection
Version Snapshots
For monitored CFR parts, we capture periodic snapshots of the regulatory text. Each snapshot includes:
Full XML content from eCFR
Content hash (SHA-256) for integrity verification
Timestamp of observation
Amendment date when available
Change Analysis
When a new version is detected, we compute:
Word-level diff — Precise identification of additions, deletions, and modifications
Section-level changes — Which regulatory sections were affected
Magnitude metrics — Words added/removed, sections modified
Federal Register Analysis
Document Types
We track the full range of Federal Register document types:
Proposed Rules — Notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs)
Final Rules — Binding regulations with effective dates
Notices — Agency announcements and guidance
Presidential Documents — Executive orders and proclamations
Proposed-to-Final Tracking
A key feature is tracking the evolution from proposed rule to final rule:
Automatic linking of related FR documents (NPRMs to final rules)
Comparison of proposed vs. final regulatory text
Analysis of what changed between public comment and implementation
Comment period tracking with open/closed status
Citation & Permanence
All resources have permanent, citable URLs:
/cfr/{title}/{part} — CFR part overview
/cfr/{title}/{part}/diff/{id} — Specific change comparison
/fr/{doc_number} — Federal Register document
These URLs are designed for use in academic papers, legal briefs, and policy documents. They will not change or break.
Content Verification
All snapshots include SHA-256 content hashes. Researchers can verify that archived content matches what was originally captured by recomputing the hash.
Limitations
Users should be aware of the following:
Coverage — Not all CFR parts are actively monitored; we prioritize high-activity regulatory areas
Latency — Changes are detected within hours to days, not real-time
Historical depth — Coverage begins from when tracking started; historical versions before that point may be limited
Interpretation — We present changes factually; legal interpretation requires professional judgment
Contact
For research inquiries or methodology questions, contact @andrew@esq.social.