Environmental Law Research Guide: Primary Law
Research Guides
Research Guides
Note well
Many of your primary federal and state sources will reference each other. Make note of these references, and always be sure to update any citations to be sure they are good law.
Federal Legislative Branch Materials
Federal Bills, and
Congressional Hearings, Reports, & Documents
- Congress.govHave a bill or public law number? Use Congress.gov, provided by the Library of Congress, to locate bills and public laws back to 1952. You can also search by keyword.
- FDSYSIn the Federal Digital System (FDSYS), you can search various congressional bills and hearings from the last three decades.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowLegislative documents (U.S. Congress). More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new windowCongressional documents, legislative histories, and historical background. More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- Congressional RecordAvailable Online.
A record of Congressional activities from the floor of the U.S. House and Senate.
Federal Legislative Branch Materials
Congressional Committees with Environmental Foci
For a complete committee list, see GovTrack.us or Govinfo.gov.
- Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- House Committee on Agriculture
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- House Committee on Natural Resources
- House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
- House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
- House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
Federal Legislative Branch Materials
Public Laws & Codified Laws
Laws Published Chronologically - Public Laws
These laws are generically known as "session laws," or laws arranged by legislative session.
- U.S. Statutes at Large (official) (GovInfo.gov)Includes 1951-2014
"The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) .
Under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 112, the printed edition of the Statutes at Large is legal evidence of the laws, concurrent resolutions, proclamations by the President, and proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution" - U.S. Statutes at Large (official) (HeinOnline)1789-2014 (with access to the more recent public laws not yet published in the Statutes at Large).
Search, or browse the Public Laws by popular name or Public Law number. - U.S. Public Laws (Westlaw Campus Research)Session Laws passed during the current legislative session.
Enrolled bills that have been assigned Public Law numbers by the Office of the Federal Register. Public Laws are contained in this database whether or not they are classified to the United States Code. To retrieve laws from prior terms of Congress, access United States Public Laws 1973 to 2018. - United States Statutes at Large (Westlaw Edge)Covers 1789-1972
"Historical enactments passed during past sessions of Congress and Presidential Proclamations, beginning with the first session of First Congress through the second session of the 92nd Congress in PDF format. Coverage includes Public Laws passed by Congress. Statutes at Large volumes 6, 7, and 8, which contain treaties and Private Laws, are not included. The Westlaw search query will search the citation, date, and summary information of the content. The full-text of the content is found in the attached PDF file and is not searched by the Westlaw search query." - USCS- Public Laws (Lexis+)Covers 1988 through current legislative session as received. This file contains the full text of the enrolled version of all enacted Public Laws (Acts and Joint Resolutions). Links from a public law will jump to the related bill tracking report where you can see the path bill took through the legislative process.
- U.S. Statutes at Large (official) (print format)Law Library - Federal Core KF50 .U5
Print collection in the UB Law library includes 1873-2014 (or most current available)
Laws Organized by Subject - U.S. Code
Official, Unannotated United States Code
- United States Code (official) (GovInfo.gov)Covers 1994-2020 editions. "The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.
...While every effort has been made to ensure that the U.S. Code on this site is accurate, those using it for legal research should verify their results against the printed version of the U.S. Code available through the Government Publishing Office" - United States Code (official) (HeinOnline)Official United States Code--includes all editions (1925-26 Edition through 2018 Edition). This official edition is recompiled every 6 years. It is unannotated. Annual Supplements and Indexes are included.
- United States Code (official) (print format)Law Library Federal Core KF61 .U55
1926-2018 (or most current)
Unofficial, Annotated United States Code
- United States Code Annotated (USCA)(Westlaw Campus Research)Searchable and browsable. Includes USCA Index, USCA Popular Name Table, and USCA Tables (allowing one to locate USCA sections that correspond to sections of the Statutes at Large...)
Historical United States Code Annotated (USCA) (Westlaw Campus Research) is available for 1990-2022.
- United States Code Annotated (USCA) (Westlaw Edge)United States Code Annotated has all 54 titles and includes the Constitution, court rules and appendixes. Annotated materials include notes of decisions, cross references, research references, and more.
Includes USCA Index, USCA Popular Name Table, and USCA Tables (allowing one to locte USCA sections that correspond to sections of the Statutes at Large...)
Also available: Historical United States Code Annotated (USCA) (Westlaw Edge) Includes USCA for 1990-2022.
- United States Code Service (USCS) (Lexis+)"This file contains the statutory code for the United States of America as published in the compilation entitled United States Code Service. It includes all laws of a general and permanent nature, as enacted by the United States Congress. United States Code Service archives are available from 1992....[I]f an archived version of a code section is available, then a link will appear under About This Document, followed by the number of archived versions in parentheses."
Annotated with historical notes, research references and practice aids, and citing decisions.
Executive Branch
Federal Administrative Process
Each agency must publish its rules in the Code of Federal Regulations. Before that publication, any changes or additions to any rules must be included for a certain time period (usually 90 days) in the Federal Register.
Federal Register
The Federal Register is a daily publication (not including weekends or holidays) which includes notices of proposed rules or amendments, final rules, executive orders, and agency notices.
There are many ways to access the Federal Register:
- Federal RegisterA selection of online and in-print collections available at UB
- Federal Register (National Archive)This is a government website that organizes the Register a little differently than FDSYS. The website organizes the Register by popular topics, and allows you to browse or search through a particular agency's activities.
- Federal Register (print format)Law Library Federal Core KF70 .A2
The last year and a half of the Register is available in print on the main floor of the library. Feel free to browse. - Federal Register (Westlaw Campus Research)1936 to present.
Documents published in the Federal Register provided by U.S. government agencies, with full text coverage beginning January, 1981; documents with citation, name of document, agency, and summary information, and pdf images representing pages of the Federal Register corresponding to each document beginning March, 1936 through December, 1980. [Note: 40 FR 13280 - 13995 not available at this time.] - Federal Register (Westlaw Edge)"Documents published in the Federal Register provided by U.S. government agencies, with full text coverage beginning January, 1981; documents with citation, name of document, agency, and summary information, and pdf images representing pages of the Federal Register corresponding to each document beginning March, 1936 through December, 1980. [Note: 40 FR 13280 - 13995 not available at this time.]"
- Federal Register (Lexis)1936-present This version does not preserve the tables and statistical data as it was printed in the original.
- Regulations.gov"Regulations.gov is a source for information on the development of Federal regulations and other related documents issued by the U.S. government. Through this site, you can find, read and comment on regulatory issues that are important to you."
The Code of Federal Regulations
After a rule is finalized, it is published in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is organized by "title," or subject. The CFR is the playbook of the administrative agencies, and it outlines procedures and definitions used by the agency.
- Code of Federal Regulations (Westlaw Edge)
Current CFR.
Historical versions (starting with 1984) also available. - Code of Federal Regulations (Lexis)Current CFR.
CFR archives are available from 1981. If an archived version of a CFR section is available, then a link will appear under About This Document, followed by the number of archived versions in parentheses. See Lexis Help for more information. - eCFRThe Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a continuously updated online version of the CFR. It is not an official legal edition of the CFR.
- Code of Federal Regulations (Westlaw Campus Research)Current CFR. Search, or browse the table of contents
Historical CFR editions starting with 1984 through last year
Administrative Decisions
Federal Administrative Decisions
Federal Administrative Decisions & Guidance (Westlaw Campus Research)
Includes materials covering various time periods including:
Administrative Review Board Decisions
Board of Contract Appeals (BCA) Decisions
Congressional Accountability Office of Compliance
Department of the Interior - Solicitor's Opinions
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Employees Compensation Appeals Board
FAA Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition Decisions
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission
Federal Travel Regulations & Joint Federal Travel Regulations
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Manual of Patent Examining Procedure
Merit Systems Protection Board
National Labor Relations Board & ALJ Decisions
National Mediation Board
NLRB General Counsel Memoranda
Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission
Office of Personnel Management
Sarbanes Oxley Administrative Decisions
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure
United States Postal Service
Wage & Hour Opinion Letters
Federal Administrative Decisions & Guidance (Westlaw Edge) 
Coverage varies by agency and document type and includes:
Department of the Interior (DOI) Federal Administrative Decisions & Guidance (Westlaw Edge)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement
Federal Environmental Law News Releases
Gower Federal Service
Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act
Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA)
Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA)
Royalties Management Service
Secretary of the Interior
Solicitor's Opinions
Department of Energy (DOE) (Westlaw Edge)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Orders, Notices & Releases
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Westlaw Edge)
Administrative Law Judge Decisions
Environmental Appeals Board Decisions
Federal Environmental Law News Releases
General Counsel Memoranda
Office of Grants & Debarment Decisions
Office of Solid Waste & Emergency Response
Regional Decisions
Title V Final Orders
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Westlaw Edge)
Documents released by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission. Coverage begins with 1956. Contents include:
Atomic Energy Commission Reports: 1956 - 1975
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances:1975+
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Enforcement Actions:1979+
Federal Administrative Materials (Lexis+) 
Administrative opinions and other materials from: Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and many other agencies.
- Civil and Cleanup Enforcement Cases and Settlements: 1998+
- Summary of Criminal Prosecutions: 1983+
- Filings, Procedures, Orders and Decisions from EPA's Administrative Law Judges: 2004+
- Environmental Appeals Board - decisions, orders, and more
Judicial Branch & More
Environmental Law Cases and More
- Environmental Law Resources (Lexis+)Search or browse federal and state resources. Includes: Cases; Statutes and Legislation; Administrative Materials, Codes and Regulations ; Secondary Materials ; Forms ; News and Reference ; and Case Related Materials
- Energy & Utilities Law Resources (Lexis+)Includes: Secondary Materials ; Forms; News and Reference ; Cases; Statutes and Legislation ; Administrative Materials, Codes, and Regulations ; Case-Related Materials
Energy & Environment Resources(State and Federal) (Westlaw Edge)
Including:
Cases
Trial Court Orders
Statutes & Court Rules
Regulations
Administrative Decisions & Guidance
Secondary Sources
Forms
Briefs
Trial Court Documents
Expert Materials
Jury Verdicts & Settlements
Proposed & Enacted Legislation
Proposed & Adopted Regulations
Energy & Environment Analysis
Environmental Data Resources (Westlaw Edge)
All EDR materials currently available on Westlaw, including records of decision, consent agreements and the civil enforcement docket. Coverage varies by source. Search or browse the materials (by type, by state...)
Environmental Law Cases (Westlaw Campus Research)
Contains reported and unreported case law from the state and federal courts that relate to environmental protection and conservation.
Coverage begins with 1850. Includes state and federal court cases.