eCFR CFR Section Change Watch Scraper

Regulatory ops, legal ops, and compliance teams use this actor to watch selected CFR titles, parts, and sections from the official eCFR API. Provide CFR citations such as 21 CFR Part 11, 40 CFR Part 60, or 29 CFR 1910.1200. The actor returns source-linked digest rows with current-as-of evidence, watch-term hits, and no-change suppression for recurring runs.

Store Quickstart

{
  "feeds": [
    {
      "id": "21-cfr-11",
      "name": "21 CFR Part 11",
      "cfrTitle": 21,
      "part": "11",
      "keywords": "electronic records,electronic signatures"
    }
  ],
  "watchTerms": "validation,audit trail,signature",
  "datasetMode": "new_only",
  "notifyOnNoNew": false
}

Input Examples

{
  "feeds": [
    { "id": "medical-device-quality", "name": "21 CFR 820", "cfrTitle": 21, "part": "820", "keywords": "quality system" }
  ],
  "watchTerms": "corrective action,design controls"
}

{
  "feeds": [
    { "id": "air-emissions", "name": "40 CFR Part 60", "cfrTitle": 40, "part": "60", "keywords": "emissions,performance standards" },
    { "id": "hazcom", "name": "29 CFR 1910.1200", "cfrTitle": 29, "part": "1910", "section": "1200", "keywords": "hazard communication" }
  ],
  "datasetMode": "action_needed",
  "notifyOnNoNew": false
}

{
  "feeds": [
    { "id": "bank-compliance", "name": "12 CFR Part 1005", "cfrTitle": 12, "part": "1005", "keywords": "electronic fund transfer" }
  ],
  "delivery": "webhook",
  "webhookUrl": "https://example.com/regulatory-webhook",
  "snapshotKey": "bank-cfr-watch-prod"
}

Sample Output

{
  "actorName": "ecfr-cfr-section-change-watch-scraper",
  "rowType": "ecfr_digest",
  "feedId": "21-cfr-11",
  "feedName": "21 CFR Part 11",
  "checkedAt": "2026-05-07T00:00:00.000Z",
  "status": "action_needed",
  "newDocCount": 1,
  "totalDocCount": 1,
  "changedSinceLastRun": true,
  "actionNeeded": true,
  "recommendedAction": "Review documents matching watch terms: audit trail. Assess regulatory impact.",
  "signalTags": ["ecfr_version_seen", "new_document", "watch_term_hit"],
  "watchTermHits": [
    {
      "term": "audit trail",
      "docNumber": "21 CFR Part 11:8f3a1c2d4e5f6789",
      "title": "21 CFR Part 11 change watch",
      "docType": "CFR_SECTION",
      "primaryAgency": "Office of the Federal Register / eCFR",
      "publicationDate": "2026-05-01",
      "htmlUrl": "https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-11"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "docNumber": "21 CFR Part 11:8f3a1c2d4e5f6789",
      "docType": "CFR_SECTION",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.ecfr.gov/api/renderer/v1/content/enhanced/current/title-21?part=11",
      "currentAsOf": "2026-05-01",
      "officialLegalEdition": false,
      "limitations": ["Verify legal effect against the official CFR edition and Federal Register source documents."]
    }
  ]
}

Output Fields

• actorName, rowType: stable canary and downstream routing fields; rowType is ecfr_digest.
• feedId, feedName, checkedAt: watch target identity and run timestamp.
• status: stable, watch, action_needed, or error.
• changedSinceLastRun, newDocCount: snapshot comparison against the previous run.
• watchTermHits: matched terms and source-linked CFR evidence.
• documents[].sourceUrl, documents[].htmlUrl, documents[].currentAsOf: primary source traceability.
• documents[].officialLegalEdition: always false; eCFR is an editorial/current compilation and users should verify legal effect.

Pricing And No-Change Billing

Private Phase 8.6 build. Do not publish or count revenue until this actor's publication gate passes: active PPE pricing, chargedCount proof, no-change billing proof, source compliance, live canary, and demand gate.

Planned PPE shape, still private until active pricing is verified on Apify:

• apify-actor-start: $0.00005
• ecfr-change-alert: $0.06
• ecfr-digest: $0.35
• ecfr-report: $3.00 (reserved for future bundled report mode)

Runtime-charged event names are ecfr-change-alert for action-needed/watch-term rows and ecfr-digest for non-alert digest rows. Delivery must receive Apify chargedCount >= 1 before a billable row is considered delivered.

Recurring no-change polls should use datasetMode="new_only" and notifyOnNoNew=false, so unchanged feeds do not emit default dataset rows. Dataset and webhook delivery both push billable rows through Apify Actor.pushData(row, eventName) before delivery; webhook users do not bypass PPE billing.

Compliance Guardrails

• eCFR is informational/current and updated daily; it is not the official legal edition of the CFR.
• Do not present output as legal advice, compliance certification, or an official agency determination.
• Do not use official seals or imply agency endorsement.
• Keep sourceUrl, htmlUrl, and currentAsOf in downstream systems so users can verify the source.

See Also

• federal-register-digest for agency rules, proposed rules, and notices.
• sanctions-change-digest for sanctions-list change monitoring.
• cfpb-consumer-complaint-trend-watch-scraper for financial complaint trend monitoring.