# Federal Register Monitor: US Rules, Proposed Rules & Notices (`frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor`) Actor

Monitor the official US Federal Register: final rules, proposed rules open for comment, notices and presidential documents by keyword, agency, type and date, with comment deadlines, effective dates, dockets and CFR parts. No 10,000-result cap; daily alerts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [French Data lab](https://apify.com/frenchdatalab) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 documents

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Federal Register Monitor: US Rules, Proposed Rules & Notices

Monitor the official **US Federal Register**: **final rules, proposed rules open for comment, agency notices and presidential documents**, with what compliance and policy teams need: **comment deadlines, effective dates, dockets, CFR parts, regulations.gov comment links** and the official PDF.

Search by **keyword, agency, document type and date**, or schedule it as a **daily regulatory alert**.

### What can you do with it?

- ⚖️ **Regulatory compliance**: *"every EPA proposed rule open for comment"*, *"all FDA final rules this month"*.
- 🗣️ **Public affairs & lobbying**: catch proposed rules early and comment before the deadline.
- 🔔 **Daily alerts**: schedule with `onlyNewSinceLastRun` and receive only new documents on your topics (AI, PFAS, crypto, Medicare…).
- 📚 **Research**: full history since 1994, beyond the API's 10,000-document limit.

### Why this Actor?

| | This Actor | Typical Federal Register tools |
|---|---|---|
| More than 10,000 documents | ✅ the period is split automatically (the API stops at 10,000) | ❌ silently truncated |
| Several keywords in one run | ✅ merged, no duplicates | ❌ |
| Open-for-comment and significant filters | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Agencies by name | ✅ "Environmental Protection Agency" works | ⚠️ identifiers only |
| Compliance fields | ✅ comment deadline, effective date, dockets, RINs, CFR parts, comment link, official PDF | ⚠️ |
| Daily monitoring | ✅ only new documents, nothing charged when there is nothing new | ❌ |

### Input

| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `keywords` | Words searched in the documents | `["artificial intelligence"]` |
| `documentTypes` | `RULE`, `PRORULE`, `NOTICE`, `PRESDOCU` | `["PRORULE"]` |
| `agencies` | Agency names or identifiers | `["Environmental Protection Agency"]` |
| `openForComment` | Comment period still open | `true` |
| `significantOnly` | Significant under EO 12866 | `false` |
| `withinDays` / `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | Publication period (default 7 days) | `30` |
| `onlyNewSinceLastRun` | Monitoring mode | `true` |
| `maxResults` | Maximum documents (newest first) | `500` |

### Output

Real example (shortened):

```json
{
    "documentNumber": "2026-20374",
    "title": "Section 3 Benchmarks for Creating Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons and Eligible Businesses",
    "type": "Rule",
    "action": "Notification of benchmark updates and request for comments.",
    "publicationDate": "2026-10-05",
    "agencies": ["Housing and Urban Development Department"],
    "commentsCloseOn": "2026-12-04",
    "effectiveOn": "2026-11-04",
    "docketIds": ["Docket No. FR-6622-N-01"],
    "cfrReferences": ["24 CFR 75"],
    "citation": "91 FR 63146",
    "commentUrl": "http://www.regulations.gov/commenton/HUD-2026-1651-0001",
    "pdfUrl": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-05/pdf/2026-20374.pdf"
}
```

Other fields: `abstract`, `agencySlugs`, `dates` (text), `regulationIdNumbers`, `significant`, `topics`, `pageLength`, `htmlUrl`, `president`, `executiveOrderNumber`, `signingDate`.

### Notes

- FederalRegister.gov is not the official legal edition of the Federal Register: the official edition is the PDF on govinfo.gov, given in `pdfUrl` for every document.

### Pricing

You only pay for the results returned. No subscription.

| Results | Price |
|---|---|
| 1 document | $0.003 |
| 100 documents | $0.30 |
| 1,000 documents | $3.00 |

A start fee of a fraction of a cent applies per run. Set a **maximum cost per run** and the Actor stops exactly at your budget.

### Use it in your tools

- **No code**: run it from the Apify Console, download the results as Excel, CSV or JSON, and **schedule** it (daily, weekly…).
- **Integrations**: send the results to Google Sheets, Slack, email, webhooks, Make, Zapier or n8n with Apify's integrations.
- **API**: start runs and read the results with the Apify API or the official Python and JavaScript clients.
- **AI agents**: assistants and agents that support MCP can call this Actor as a tool through Apify's MCP server (mcp.apify.com).

### Related Actors

- [Grants.gov Search: US Federal Grant Opportunities](https://apify.com/frenchdatalab/us-federal-grants): US federal grant opportunities (Grants.gov)
- [USAspending Federal Awards: Contract & Grant Winners](https://apify.com/frenchdatalab/usaspending-federal-awards): Who wins US federal contracts and grants (USAspending)
- [ClinicalTrials.gov Search: Trials, Sponsors & Sites](https://apify.com/frenchdatalab/clinical-trials-search): Clinical trials, sponsors and trial sites (ClinicalTrials.gov)

### Source

**Federal Register** (Office of the Federal Register, National Archives, and U.S. Government Publishing Office): U.S. Government public domain. This Actor is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

One search per keyword, results merged without duplicates: e.g. "artificial intelligence", "PFAS", "medicare", "cryptocurrency". Leave empty for all documents.

## `documentTypes` (type: `array`):

Leave empty for all.

## `agencies` (type: `array`):

Names or identifiers: "Environmental Protection Agency", "Food and Drug Administration", "securities-and-exchange-commission".

## `openForComment` (type: `boolean`):

Only documents whose comment period has not closed yet.

## `significantOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Documents deemed significant under Executive Order 12866.

## `withinDays` (type: `integer`):

Default 7. Ignored when "From date" is set.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD (1994 at the earliest).

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

YYYY-MM-DD (default: today).

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Monitoring: schedule the Actor (e.g. every morning) and receive only new documents.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of documents (newest first). No 10,000 cap.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "openForComment": false,
  "significantOnly": false,
  "withinDays": 7,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `documents` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxResults": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxResults": 50 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxResults": 50
}' |
apify call frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,frenchdatalab/federal-register-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/vByUqBfI6V3iCkQUa/builds/c4CE9HcIZXcRrKCNx/openapi.json