RulesNews

National Archives Sponsors Salt Lake City Workshop on Use of Federal Register

The National Archives will offer a public workshop on the use of the Federal Register on Tuesday, September 19, 2006, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The workshop, entitled "The Federal Register: What It Is And How To Use It," will be held from 8:30 A.M. to approximately noon in the Auditorium of the Utah State Library located at 250 North 1950 West. The Utah State Library and the Utah Division of Administrative Rules are jointly hosting this workshop.

As the official source of information on the policies, regulations, and notices of the federal government, the Federal Register is of interest to all those affected by federal rules and policies, or to persons who use the Federal Register (FR) or the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

The hands-on workshop will cover the federal (or national) regulatory process, the role of the public, and the relationship between the FR and the CFR. Participants will learn how to obtain up-to-date regulatory information from the FR and the CFR, will go on a "Guided Tour" of a typical issue of the FR and a volume of the CFR, and will be introduced to FR/CFR finding aids and on-line resources for research.

The workshop also will include a demonstration of the e-CFR, the new on-line version of the 220 printed volumes of the CFR that is revised daily to reflect CFR amendments published in the daily Federal Register.

The workshop is free, but seating is limited so reservations are necessary. For reservations, please e-mail the Utah Division of Administrative Rules at rulesonline@utah.gov. You may also make reservations by calling (801) 538-3764. Please make your reservation before 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 14. Individuals requiring auxiliary communicative aids and services for the workshop need to notify the Division at the time they make their reservation. For additional information about the workshop, please call or e-mail the Office of the Federal Register at (202) 523-4534 or at fedreg.info@nara.gov.

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For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 501-5525.

11/8/2006 UPDATE: The slide presentation from the workshop is available online in three documents:

• Part 1 at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/fr-workshop/FRWorkshop-1.ppt (17.3 Mb),
• Part 2 at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/fr-workshop/FRWorkshop-2.ppt (4.4 Mb), and
• Part 3 at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/fr-workshop/FRWorkshop-3.ppt (3.4 Mb).

These files will be available online through November 30, 2006

Is Seven Ever Eight?

Well, . . . no. No matter what the Division of Administrative Rules' rule says, seven days is not the same as eight days.

During the 2006 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 316. Among other things, H.B. 316 inserted a comment consideration period between the end of the public comment period and the first possible effective date. Based on its initial reading of the law, the Division determined that this period must be seven complete days. Therefore, it wrote its rule (filed as an emergency rule effective 4/15/2006 through 8/13/2006) to permit an agency to make a rule effective on the eighth day following the end of the public comment period.

Subsequently, as the Division was making programming changes to its filing application, staff rechecked the statute. At that point, the Division determined that the statute permits a rule to be made effective on the seventh day following comment. The Division confirmed this interpretation with counsel.

This fall, the Division will file a proposed rule that will bring the rule into compliance with the statute. Questions or comments about the rule should be directed to Ken Hansen (801-538-3777).