F&W ECOL 515: Natural Resources Policy (Spring 2021) : Federal laws
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How federal laws are made
The U.S. government has created several guides explaining (briefly) how laws are made:
- How Laws Are Made and How to Research Them, from USA.gov: includes a straightforward infographic.
- How Laws Are Made (aka Tracking a Bill From Beginning to End) from Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government: a bit more detailed description of the process.
- Ben's Guide also has a glossary called How Laws are Made: The Language of the Law.
Federal laws--spotting and retrieving them
In Regulatory Insight or Legislative Insight...
In regulatory histories in Regulatory Insight and legislative histories in Legislative Insight, there will likely be links to the laws in their "slip law" forms.
When Congress passes a law, it is first published in “slip” form, as a stand-alone publication.
A citation to a slip law looks like this: P.L.95-632
Component of the citation | P.L. | 95- | 632 |
Component means | Public Law |
Congress that passed that law |
Chronological numbering of law (632nd law passed by the 95th Congress) |
Other places to find public laws (slip laws)
If you don't see a link to a public law in Regulatory Insight or Legislative Insight, you can check...
"Public and Private Laws" collection in Govinfo.gov
- Available FOR FREE to the general public.
- Official electronic version, from the Government Publishing Office.
- Covers 104th Congress (1995-96) to present day.
- "Public and Private Laws" is one collection in the larger Govinfo.gov database. To search just Public and Private Laws, from the Govinfo.gov main page:
- Click the advanced tab.
- Click the box next to Public and Private Laws under Refine by Collection You will have to scroll down the list a ways.
- Type a search term in the second box under Search In.
- Click Search.
- You can also search by citation. To start:
- Click the citation tab.
- Click Select Collection and select Public and Private Laws.
- Help for using the Public and Private Laws from Govinfo.gov
Statutes at Large
A few years after each congressional session, the slip laws are accumulated chronologically in the Statutes at Large. Statutes at Large contains the text of all public and private laws, joint and concurrent resolutions passed during each single-year congressional session.
A citation to a law in the Statutes at Large looks like this: 92 Stat 3752.
Component of the citation | 92 | Stat | 3752 |
What the component means | Volume number | Statutes at Large | Page number |
Where to find statutes
Hein Online U.S. Statutes at Large
- Subscription database; available on- and off-campus to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff.
- Can search the full text of laws (use the box at the top of the screen) or browse by volume, public law number, or popular name.
- Covers 1789-2011 (112th Congress).
"Statutes at Large" collection in Govinfo.gov
- Available FOR FREE to the general public.
- Official electronic version, from the Government Publishing Office.
- Covers 1951-2011 (112th Congress).
- Statutes at Large is one title/collection in the larger Govinfo.gov database. To search just Statutes at Large, from the Govinfo.gov main page:
- Click the advanced tab.
- Click the box next to Statutes at Large under Refine by Collection. You will have to scroll down the list a ways.
- Type a search term in the second box under Search In.
- Click Search.
- You can also search by citation. To start:
- Click the citation tab.
- Click Select Collection and select Statutes at Large.
- Help for using the Statutes at Large from Govinfo.gov
United States Code
Eventually, a statute gets incorporated into the current body of law, the U.S. Code (USC), which is published every six years. The process is called codification.
A citation to the United States Code looks like this: 16 USC 1532(16)
Component of the citation | 16 | USC | 1532 | (16) |
What the component means | Title (the USC is divided into topical areas called "titles;" each title is assigned a number). A title can be published across several volumes. | United States Code | Section | Subsection |
Not all versions of the Code list the sections right away; they may include chapter numbers.
Where to find the U.S. Code
- Subscription database; available on- and off-campus to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff.
- Contains all editions, from 1925-26 to 2018.
- Can search by citation, browse by title or edition, or search the text by keyword (need to select an edition to search).
"United States Code" collection in Govinfo.gov
- Available FOR FREE to the general public.
- Contains editions of the Code from 1994 to present.
- The US Code is one title/collection in the larger Govinfo.gov database. To search just the US Code, from the Govinfo.gov main page:
- Click the advanced tab.
- Click the box next to United States Code under Refine by Collection. You will have to scroll down the list a ways.
- Type a search term in the second box under Search In.
- Click Search.
- You can also search by citation. To start:
- Click the citation tab.
- Click Select Collection and select United States Code.
- Help for using the United States from Govinfo.gov
How laws and regulations differ
Librarian
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Science & Engineering Libraries (SEL)
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