Written Laws

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Written Laws

• Statues and Regulations

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Statues

• Power from Constitution
• Article I, Section 1
• All legislative powers herein granted shall be
  vested in a Congress of the United States which
  shall consist of a House and Senate.
• US Code
• Laws

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Administrative LawsRegulations

• Rule making
• Published first in Federal Register
• Then Codified in Code of Federal Regulations CFR
• Difference between CFR and USC
• USGS guide to Federal laws and regulations

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Steps in Legislative Process

• See Maryland state handout
• Federal overview at THOMAS http//thomas.loc.gov/
  home/lawsmade.toc.html
• Bill
• Introduced by member could be written by
  lobbyists
• Sent to committee
• Hearings
• Marked up
• Voted on in committee
• Congressional Quarterly
• Congressional Record http//thomas.loc.gov/

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• If out of committee
• Possible amendments
• Different versions from House and Senate
• Senate-House Conference Committee
• Both houses must vote affirmative
• To President
• Sign
• Veto 2/3 to override
• Pocket veto
• Becomes law after 10 days of no action if
  Congress is still in session
• Ben guide from GPO

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Slip Laws

• The first official publication of the statute is
  in the form generally known as the "slip law". In
  this form, each law is published separately as an
  unbound pamphlet.

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Slip Law
Page number
Volume number
Bill number in sequence
Session of Congress
Where in the code it will be placed
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Statutes at Large

• The United States Statutes at Large, prepared by
  the Office of the Federal Register, National
  Archives and Records Administration, provide a
  permanent collection of the laws of each session
  of Congress in bound volumes. The latest volume
  containing the laws of the first session of the
  105th Congress is number 111 in the series. Each
  volume contains a complete index and a table of
  contents. A legislative history appears at the
  end of each law. There are extensive marginal
  notes referring to laws in earlier volumes and to
  earlier and later matters in the same volume.
• Under the provisions of a statute originally
  enacted in 1895, these volumes are legal evidence
  of the laws contained in them and will be
  accepted as proof of those laws in any court in
  the United States.
• The Statutes at Large are a chronological
  arrangement of the laws exactly as they have been
  enacted. There is no attempt to arrange the laws
  according to their subject matter or to show the
  present status of an earlier law that has been
  amended on one or more occasions. The code of
  laws serves that purpose.

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Page number
Volume number
Session of Congress
Bill number
Official name
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United States CodeUSC

• contains a consolidation and codification of the
  general and permanent laws of the United States
  arranged according to subject matter under 50
  title headings.
• It sets out the current status of the laws, as
  amended, without repeating all the language of
  the amendatory acts except where necessary.
• Its purpose is to present the laws in a concise
  and usable form without requiring recourse to the
  many volumes of the Statutes at Large containing
  the individual amendments.

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U.S. Code Titles

• 50 titles organized by topic
• Organization
• Title
• Section
• 14 USC 1225
• Popular Names
• Cornell U.S. Code Site
• Title 16 Conservation

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Start on Environmental Statues and USC Laws

• Cornell home page
• Property and Environment
• Clean Water Act
• Statue find in Notes
• Parallel authorities
• connection between US Code and regulations
• each regulation must be based on Statute passed
  by Congress
• CFR (regulations from Agencies)
• How to cite section on permit for dredge and fill
  into wetlands

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Statue

• Page with section 404
• Where is section 404 in the USC?
• Parallel authorities

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Administrative LawsRegulations

• Rule making
• Published first in Federal Register
• Then Codified in Code of Federal Regulations CFR
• Difference between CFR and USC

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CFR

• Organization by issuing agency
• Codified regulations
• Regulations start from agency
• Printed in Federal Register
• Contains notices, rules, EIS status, etc from
  Federal agencies
• Then codified in CFR

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Content page example
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Federal Register

• GPO access
• Current issue
• Back issues
• HTML linked to page
• Go to page and then browse
• EPA
• Federal Register - Environmental DocumentsFull
  text of all Federal Register documents issued by
  EPA, and of selected documents issued by other
  Departments and Agencies. Notices, meetings,
  proposed rules, and regulations are divided into
  twelve topical categories for easy access (eg.
  air, water, pesticides, toxics, waste).

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CFR

• CRF from GPO access
• Show
• PARALLEL TABLE OF AUTHORITIES AND RULES
• Browse CFR

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Sites for starting looking for possible laws of
interest

• FedLaw
• USGS guide to Environmental laws
• Federal Laws

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Assignment

• Pick a bill that has been submitted in the House
  or Senate (Or change in rules (check NRDC site
  for rules currently being changed))
• From Thomas find out current status
• From google search find pro and con on the piece
  of legislation
• Write letter or e-mail in support or against the
  bill to your Senator or Representative
• Suggestions on writing

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Comment on proposed rule

• Find notice in Federal Register, give date page,
  title of notice
• Provide cover sheet with information from Federal
  register
• And
• Copy of letter sent
• Example look at Sierra Club and NRDC for road
  less rule changes then visit GPO Federal Register
  or EPA Federal Register page

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Example current energy bill

• THOMAS U.S. Congress

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Example energy bill

• Conference committee members and staff continue
  working to resolve differences between the House
  and Senate versions of the comprehensive energy
  bill (H.R. 6, S. 14). Environmentalists oppose
  both versions of the bill because they would fail
  to reduce dependence on foreign oil, open fragile
  lands to oil and gas drilling, raise nuclear
  proliferation risks, threaten drinking water
  safety, and provide billions to polluting
  industries while lacking significant energy
  efficiency and renewable energy incentives.
  Republicans control the conference committee and
  Democrats have publicly complained of being shut
  out of the conference process. Conference
  Republicans have begun releasing portions of the
  bill, including sections that would allow
  offshore oil and gas surveys and drilling in the
  Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In some cases,
  the sections include measures that were not in
  either the original House or Senate versions of
  the bill, such as subsidies for the coal
  industry. On 10/17, Rep. Barton (R-TX) added
  language to the conference report that would
  delay the deadline for large cities to meet air
  quality standards for ozone as required by the
  Clean Air Act. On 10/16, the House voted 229-182
  to instruct energy bill conferees to leave out
  language that was added in conference requiring
  damaging offshore oil and gas exploration. Sen.
  Domenici (R-NM), Energy and Natural Resources
  Committee chair, hopes to hold a vote on the
  final energy bill conference report before the
  end of October. Senate Democrats have stated that
  the addition of the Arctic drilling language will
  draw intense opposition, including a possible
  filibuster.

NRDC
Google search for
comprehensive energy bill
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Sites for Current legislation and regulations

• NRDC
• Sierra Club
• National Wildlife Federation
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Defenders of Wildlife