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Public Inspection Documents

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About Public Inspection Documents

The List of Documents on Public Inspection shows the following information for documents that will appear in the next day's Federal Register as well as selected documents for later issues:

Available for Review
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Regular Filing Documents are routinely placed on file at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time, for publication in the next day's Federal Register. Regular Filing documents are posted on the Electronic Public Inspection Desk.

Special Filing Documents are filed at other times and/or dates prior to publication. Special Filing documents are not yet available in electronic form.

  • The agency that issued the document
  • Whether it is a Rule, Proposed Rule, Notice, or Presidential Document
  • A short descriptive title
  • Its Federal Register Document Number
  • The date and time it was filed
  • The date it will appear in the Federal Register

Availability of Documents

We post a new list every morning, as soon after 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time as possible. We may post updated lists during the day as we add or remove documents from public inspection.

We file a document for public inspection by placing a certified copy, stamped with date and time of filing, on the public inspection table at our office in Washington DC. We remove it from inspection on the morning it appears in the Federal Register.

The Federal Register Public Inspection Documents are a preview required by law for the public to review before they appear in the Federal Register.
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Any person may visit our office during business hours to read documents on public inspection.

Types of Filing

The public inspection list is divided into "Special Filing" and "Regular Filing" sections.

Regular Filing
We placed these documents on file at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time, for publication in the next day's Federal Register.

Special Filing
Under "Special Filing" you will find documents for the next Federal Register, as well as for later issues. They appear under "Special Filing" because we filed them other than 8:45 a.m., the day before publication.

"Special Filing" documents include those which, by agency request, we filed immediately after scheduling for publication, all Sunshine Act meeting notices, and emergency documents.

Federal Register >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272

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