# Regulations.gov Federal Register Intelligence (`wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer`) Actor

Search Regulations.gov for federal rules, comments, dockets. Regulatory research, compliance monitoring, public policy analysis.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer.md
- **Developed by:** [Chris Wakefield](https://apify.com/wakey7dev) (community)
- **Categories:** Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

![Chris The Dev](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chriswakefield87/appstore-screenshot-translator/main/assets/actor-banner.png)

## US Federal Regulations Normalizer — regulations.gov Search & Enrichment

Search the US federal rulemaking database (regulations.gov) for **proposed rules, final rules, notices and supporting materials**, and get back clean, enriched, ready-to-use records — with agency names resolved to full names, documents grouped into dockets, and open comment periods flagged with days-to-deadline.

Built for compliance teams, law firms, government-affairs and lobbying professionals, and policy analysts who need to track US rulemaking without hand-cleaning messy government data.

### What it does

- 🔍 **Live keyword search** across 700,000+ federal rulemaking documents
- 🏛️ **Agency name resolution** — `EPA` → *Environmental Protection Agency*, `FDA` → *Food and Drug Administration* (331 agencies mapped)
- 📁 **Docket grouping** — clusters related documents into dockets with per-docket document and open-comment counts
- ⏰ **Comment-period analysis** — flags which documents are open for public comment and how many days remain until the deadline
- 🧹 **Title normalization** — strips file-number prefixes (e.g. `117_`, `139_UIC_`) and HTML entities
- 📅 **Date normalization** — ISO `YYYY-MM-DD` dates across the board
- 🔗 **Direct links** to each document on regulations.gov

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchTerm` | string | ✅ | Keyword/phrase to search (e.g. `PFAS`, `climate disclosure`, `telehealth`) |
| `agencyId` | string | — | Optional agency acronym filter (e.g. `EPA`, `FDA`, `FAA`, `SEC`) |
| `documentType` | select | — | `Rule` / `Proposed Rule` / `Notice` / `Supporting & Related Material` / `Other` |
| `maxResults` | integer | — | Max documents to return (1–250, default 50) |
| `apiKey` | string | — | Optional regulations.gov API key. Defaults to the free `DEMO_KEY` (~10 req/hr); register free at api.data.gov for 1,000 req/hr |

### Example input

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "PFAS",
  "agencyId": "EPA",
  "documentType": "Proposed Rule",
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

### Example output (dataset item)

```json
{
  "documentId": "EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0549-0001",
  "docketId": "EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0549",
  "title": "Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Toxic Substances Control Act",
  "agencyId": "EPA",
  "agencyName": "Environmental Protection Agency",
  "documentType": "Proposed Rule",
  "documentTypeNormalized": "Proposed Rule",
  "postedDate": "2025-03-12",
  "commentEndDate": "2025-06-10",
  "commentStatus": "Open (45 days left)",
  "commentDaysRemaining": 45,
  "openForComment": true,
  "withinCommentPeriod": true,
  "withdrawn": false,
  "frDocNum": "2025-05123",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0549-0001"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Compliance monitoring** — track proposed and final rules affecting your industry
- **Public-comment tracking** — find open comment periods before deadlines close
- **Government affairs** — build a pipeline of rulemaking activity by agency
- **Competitive intelligence** — watch regulatory pressure signals in a sector
- **Legal research** — locate Federal Register citations and supporting material

### Data source

Data is fetched live from the [regulations.gov API v4](https://www.regulations.gov) (US Government, public domain). This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the US Government or regulations.gov.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerm` (type: `string`):

Keyword or phrase to search across federal rulemaking documents (e.g. 'climate disclosure', 'PFAS', 'telehealth').

## `agencyId` (type: `string`):

Optional: filter by federal agency acronym (e.g. 'EPA', 'FDA', 'FAA', 'SEC', 'FTC'). Leave empty to search all agencies.

## `documentType` (type: `string`):

Optional: filter by rulemaking document type.

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

Maximum number of documents to return (1–250).

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. Defaults to the free DEMO\_KEY (~10 requests/hour). Register a free key at api.data.gov for 1,000 requests/hour.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "PFAS",
  "agencyId": "EPA",
  "documentType": "",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Complete dataset with all normalized, enriched document records.

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

Human-readable summary table of documents and dockets.

## `stats` (type: `string`):

Machine-readable run statistics.

# 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 = {
    "searchTerm": "PFAS",
    "agencyId": "EPA",
    "apiKey": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer").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 = {
    "searchTerm": "PFAS",
    "agencyId": "EPA",
    "apiKey": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer").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 '{
  "searchTerm": "PFAS",
  "agencyId": "EPA",
  "apiKey": ""
}' |
apify call wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wakey7dev/regulations-gov-normalizer"
        }
    }
}

```

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/95pdl1N1kbdsvaVLf/builds/Km8szLdCfgXkCClh0/openapi.json