Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Dockets

There are a number of ways to learn about the regulations EPA is working on. This page describes several resources available to help you search for our regulations and supporting documents, including significant guidance.

Search for Environmental Regulations in the Federal Register

Browse or search Federal Register (FR) publications for EPA rules, proposed rules, and notices. This site also includes rules related to environmental protection that are published by other federal agencies. Documents are posted by date published. Also, you may subscribe to EPA's FR Listserv to receive daily email alerts about new FR publications regarding any of 12 environmental topics.

Find and Comment on EPA Regulations at Regulations.gov

Regulations.gov serves as a clearinghouse for materials related to EPA rulemakings, and is EPA's official on-line comment system. We have developed tips to help you search Regulations.gov based on the amount of information you already know.

Learn About the Regulations We Initiated This Month

Each month, we post summaries, proposed publication dates, contacts, and other information about recently initiated rules, giving you early notice of upcoming regulatory actions. These Action Initiation Lists augment our Semiannual Regulatory Agendas, which provide the public with updates every six months.

Get Updates on EPA Rules

There are a number of ways to keep up-to-date on EPA's regulatory activities. Many of them are automatically sent to you.

Search EPA’s Regulatory Agendas and Plans

Learn about EPA’s Semiannual Regulatory Agendas and Annual Regulatory Plans, which are published as part of the federal government’s Unified Agenda. Our Agendas and Plans describe most of the regulatory and deregulatory actions that we reasonably expect to issue in proposed or final form during the upcoming fiscal year. 

In addition, we publish monthly Action Initiation Lists to provide timely notice of new, Agenda-level regulations that have recently been initiated.

Look for Regulations by Business Sector

EPA has developed a number of Web pages that describe how specific business sectors are affected by our laws and regulations. Access these pages via our "Regulatory Information by Business Sector" page.

Look for Regulations by Environmental Topic

You will find a number of EPA Web pages that describe laws and regulations pertaining to a specific environmental topic (e.g., acid rain, mines, etc.).

Search EPA's Significant Guidance Documents

We have posted a list of EPA guidance documents that qualify as significant, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. You can search by the office that administers the guidance documents or by environmental topic.

Read Environmental Regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations

Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) directly pertains to EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. You may browse this title via the Electronic CRF.  The Government Printing Office frequently updates these sections based on amendments and new rules.

Access EPA's Regulatory Docket Centers

EPA's docket centers collect information related to EPA actions, such as background documentation and public comments about rulemakings. Also, learn about The EPA Public Reading Room in Washington, DC.