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Decision: Display of rules and NPRMs in sidebar

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Britta edited this page Oct 18, 2021 · 14 revisions
Thing Info
Relevant features Supplemental content sidebar
Date started 2021-10-18
Date finished
Decision status
Summary of outcome

Background/context

We want to display relevant rules in the sidebar subpart-by-subpart and section-by-section, and we want those rules to be connected to their relevant NPRMs.

Core questions

How can we do this?

How far can we get to that goal in an automated fashion? What elements would need to be done by hand?

What are helpful intermediate steps in iterative development toward this goal?

What we know

FR documents cite relevant CFR parts and sections

Each Federal Register document (such as a rule or NPRM) includes unstructured information about which sections it amends. For example, for this proposed rule, it says:

  • In the Preamble: "we are proposing to amend § 447.502"
  • In the end part where it describes the specific proposed change: "Amend § 447.502 by revising the definitions of “States” and “United States” to read as follows"

Each Federal Register document also includes a structured list of the parts it is related to. For example, for that same rule, the right sidebar includes: 42 CFR 433 42 CFR 438 42 CFR 447 42 CFR 456. The Federal Register API includes this structured data for documents (cfr_references).

CFR parts, subparts, and sections cite relevant FR documents

CFR text includes semi-structured data about its relationship to FR documents:

  • Each part has a "Source" (FR document) statement at the beginning.

    • Example: Part 438 says "Source: 67 FR 41095, June 14, 2002, unless otherwise noted."

  • Some subparts: have a "Source" statement at the beginning.

    • Example: Part 438 Subpart A says "Source: 81 FR 27853, May 6, 2016, unless otherwise noted."

  • Most sections have footnotes that tell which FR documents established that section and updated it.

Things we need to decide + options for them

What do we need to learn before we can decide?

Consequences

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Overview

Data

Features

Decisions

User research

Usability studies

Design

Development

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