Regulations & statutes

Scope

Regulations and statutes apply to everyone in the United States.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• Statute: A law written and adopted by the legislative branch, such as the U.S. Congress or a state legislature. Before taking effect, statutes generally must be ratified by the highest executive, that is, the president or governor.
• Regulation: To enforce the laws of the legislative branch, the executive branch (usually through an administrative agency) writes regulations following a formal rulemaking process.

Summary of requirements

Statutes. Americans learn in civics class that the legislative branch of government makes the laws and the executive branch enforces them.

In the U.S. government, once Congress passes a new law, it presents the “enrolled bill” to the president for signature. Once signed and enacted, the law is published as a “slip law” and then annual volumes of the enacted laws are published as the “United States Statutes at Large.” Because the Statutes at Large are arranged in chronological order, legal research is difficult. For this reason, the statutes are reorganized by subject matter into the United State Code, which is divided into 50 volumes. Volumes, known as “titles,” may further be divided into subtitles, parts, subparts, chapters, and subchapters, with the “section” (§) being the smallest common unit. Transportation statutes are found under Title 49.

A typical example of a statutory reference is 49 U.S.C. 13902, Registration of motor carriers, which is found under Title 49, Subtitle IV, Part B, Chapter 139.

Though online versions are now available, the U.S. Code is still published on paper every six years, just as it has been since 1926. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.

Because U.S. statutes are codified by subject matter, a single named statute, like 2005’s Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), may or may not appear in a single place in the Code, because it may affect portions of the Code across several titles. For example, a transportation bill might affect Title 49 (Transportation), but also Title 26 (Tax). Notes accompanying sections of the Code often identify these named statutes, and cross-reference tables are available to identify which sections of the Code a particular statute has affected.

Most appropriations and budgeting laws are generally not codified because they usually apply for only a limited time.

One of the most important differences between statutes and regulations is in how they apply. In many cases, rather than writing the actual rules that individuals and companies must follow, Congress will delegate that role to the executive branch. For example, instead of writing specific rules for drivers’ hours of service, Congress gave that authority to the Department of Transportation (DOT) by writing a statute that says “the Secretary of Transportation may prescribe requirements for . . . maximum hours of service.” The DOT then created hours-of-service rules through its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) based on that authority.

However, Congress sometimes will write a statute that applies directly to an industry or class of individuals, so referring to the statutes is necessary in some cases. For example, 49 U.S.C. 14103 says shippers and receivers who require helpers to load or unload a vehicle have to furnish or pay for those helpers. There is no corresponding regulation containing the same requirement. As another example, SAFETEA-LU contains a provision that exempts utility service vehicles from the federal hours-of-service rules. The exemption took effect when the legislation was signed into law, and the FMCSA had no choice but to write that exemption into its regulations.

Regulations. As mentioned above, the authority to write regulations comes from the legislative branch. When the FMCSA or another agency writes a new regulation, it generally will disclose the legislative authority (granted through statutes) that allowed or required the agency to write the new rules. If the agency fails to comply with the legislature’s wishes or goes beyond its authority, it could face a lawsuit in the judicial branch (such as recent high-profile cases involving the FMCSA’s hours-of-service rules).

To find the statutory authority upon which a regulation is based, refer to the “authority” section that precedes the regulation — for example, the authority section for the hours-of-service rules in Part 395.

Regulations issued by executive branch agencies such as the FMCSA are printed annually in the Code of Federal Regulations. Proposed and recently adopted regulations are found in the Federal Register. Both publications are available online or in printed volumes.

Like the U.S. Code, federal regulations are organized into 50 titles by subject matter, mirroring the subject matter handled by each agency that issues them. For example, Title 49 contains regulations from the Department of Transportation, and Subtitle B of Title 49 contains regulations arranged by agency:

• Chapter 1 — Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
• Chapter 2 — Federal Railroad Administration
• Chapter 3 — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• Chapter 5 — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Chapter 11 — Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Within Chapter 3, Subchapter B is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, comprised of Parts 350-399. The Hazardous Materials Regulations are found under Chapter 1, Subchapter C, Parts 172-180.

Failure to comply with a regulation or statute can result in a sanction or fine. For example, in Appendix B to Part 386, the FMCSA lists the penalties for violating the motor carrier regulations and statues.