eCFR & Federal Register Change Report

Compliance and regulatory operations teams provide CFR watchlists and a stable monitor key. The actor compares official eCFR content and Federal Register publication metadata. It returns source-linked change alerts, a portfolio impact report, and an optional export for human review.

This actor is an unofficial research and triage tool. It does not determine legal effect, compliance status, effective dates, or required actions, and it is not legal advice.

Start with a low-cost paid trial

Use this capped input to verify the source and buyer-facing output before buying a full report. It disables the report and export events and caps the run at $1.00. It delivers both a source row (regulatory-change-row, $0.008) and a buyer-facing signal (obligation-impact-alert, $0.30) when the starter evidence matches. A zero-row run has zero event charge.

Open the maintained starter input if you prefer a standalone JSON file.

{
  "watchlists": [
    {
      "id": "electronic-records",
      "cfrTitle": 21,
      "part": "11",
      "keywords": [
        "electronic record"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "monitorKey": "starter-electronic-records",
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "generateReport": false,
  "emitRawRows": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "emitExport": false,
  "maxFederalRegisterDocuments": 1,
  "lookbackDays": 30,
  "maxChargeUsd": 1,
  "dryRun": false
}

When the result fits your workflow, enable the full regulatory-impact-report output ($12.00 per delivered report) and set a buyer-approved maxChargeUsd.

Store Quickstart

{
  "watchlists": [{
    "id": "electronic-records",
    "name": "Electronic records",
    "cfrTitle": 21,
    "part": "11",
    "keywords": ["electronic record", "electronic signature"],
    "federalRegisterTerms": ["electronic records"]
  }],
  "monitorKey": "qa-electronic-records",
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": false,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "emitExport": true,
  "maxChargeUsd": 25,
  "dryRun": false
}

Use emit_backfill for a source-linked first report. For scheduled monitoring, use baseline_only: the first successful run saves the comparison baseline with zero rows and zero charge. Every later unchanged run also produces zero rows and zero charge.

Agency portfolio

{
  "watchlists": [{
    "id": "privacy-rules",
    "cfrTitle": 16,
    "part": "314",
    "keywords": ["information security program", "customer information"],
    "agencySlugs": ["federal-trade-commission"]
  }],
  "monitorKey": "privacy-rules",
  "initialRunMode": "baseline_only",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": false,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "maxChargeUsd": 20,
  "dryRun": false
}

Section-level watch

{
  "watchlists": [{
    "id": "part-11-controls",
    "cfrTitle": 21,
    "part": "11",
    "sections": ["10", "30"],
    "obligationLabel": "Electronic record controls"
  }],
  "monitorKey": "part-11-controls",
  "initialRunMode": "baseline_only",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "emitExport": true,
  "maxChargeUsd": 30,
  "dryRun": false
}

Output

Report-first output uses four PAY_PER_EVENT rows:

Event	Price	Delivered when
regulatory-change-row	$0.008	A changed source observation is requested as a raw row
obligation-impact-alert	$0.30	A monitored obligation has a changed source observation
regulatory-impact-report	$12.00	A changed portfolio report is generated
regulatory-impact-export	$7.00	An export handoff row is generated

There is no start charge. Billing is preflighted against maxChargeUsd before the first row is delivered. Unknown billing events and missing chargedCount fail closed.

Key fields include rowType, billingEventName, stableKey, sourceUrls, watchlistId, obligationId, cfrCitation, changeKinds, watchTermHits, checkedAt, limitations, and prohibitedInterpretations.

Monitoring contract

• baseline_only first run: zero rows and zero charge.
• Unchanged run: zero rows and zero charge.
• State is committed only after complete official-source collection and successful delivery.
• A source error, delivery error, or state error fails closed.
• eCFR is an editorial compilation; linked Federal Register metadata must be reviewed by a qualified person.

Compliance

Only official public eCFR and Federal Register endpoints are used. The actor does not access private filings, login-only material, sealed records, or personal enrichment. Output must not be represented as agency-approved, legally binding, or a substitute for counsel.

See docs/source-compliance.md, docs/integration-guide.md, docs/sample-output.json, and docs/store-competitive-snapshot.md.

Run the next report

• Federal Register Digest for broad publication monitoring.
• eCFR Section Change Watch for lower-level section change alerts.