Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules in the United States

Introduction

The CFR Index and Finding Aids includes the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules. If the researcher knows which law authorized a particular agency to promulgate certain regulations, he / she will find the law in the Table, getting the citation to the regulations that followed.

More information about the content of the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules are available under the entry: Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules Index.

Legal Basis

According to the Liablility Memorandum, while the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules “and other ancillary finding aids published in the Index volume of the Code of Federal Regulations may only constitute prima facie evidence, the table is nonetheless sufficient to shift the burden of proof to the advocate who proposes a different application for any given section of …(any Title of the US Code)… than the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules prescribes. This is particularly the case where the department or agency responsible for administration is also responsible for maintaining accuracy of the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules. See Administrative Committee of the Federal Register regulation 1 CFR § 8.5.
Authority for publication of the Code of Federal Regulations and finding aids, along with stipulation that such publications constitute prima facie evidence, is codified at 44 U.S.C. § 1510.”

The § 1510. Code of Federal Regulations states:
(a) The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, with the approval of the President, may require, from time to time as it considers necessary, the preparation and publication in special or supplemental editions of the Federal Register of complete codifications of the documents of each agency of the Government having general applicability and legal effect, issued or promulgated by the agency by publication in the Federal Register or by filing with the Administrative Committee, and are relied upon by the agency as authority for, or are invoked or used by it in the discharge of, its activities or functions, and are in effect as to facts arising on or after dates specified by the Administrative Committee.
(b) A codification published under subsection (a) of this section shall be printed and bound in permanent form and shall be designated as the “Code of Federal Regulations.” The Administrative Committee shall regulate the binding of the printed codifications into separate books with a view to practical usefulness and economical manufacture. Each book shall contain an explanation of its coverage and other aids to users that the Administrative Committee may require. A general index to the entire Code of Federal Regulations shall be separately printed and bound.
(c) The Administrative Committee shall regulate the supplementation and the collation and republication of the printed codifications with a view to keeping the Code of Federal Regulations as current as practicable. Each book shall be either supplemented or collated and republished at least once each calendar year.
(d) The Office of the Federal Register shall prepare and publish the codifications, supplements, collations, and indexes authorized by this section.
(e) The codified documents of the several agencies published in the supplemental edition of the Federal Register under this section, as amended by documents subsequently filed with the Office and published in the daily issues of the Federal Register, shall be prima facie evidence of the text of the documents and of the fact that they are in effect on and after the date of publication.
(f) The Administrative Committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the President, regulations for carrying out this section.
(g) This section does not require codification of the text of Presidential documents published and periodically compiled in supplements to Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Liablility Memorandum observes that the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules, as happens with other resources aids published in the Index volume of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), are “intended to give people a reliable means for locating regulations that might be applicable to them. The purpose is to preclude imposition of secret law.
Congress first authorized publication of the Code of Federal Regulations after the Supreme Court of the United States took an uncompromising stand against what amounted to executive law.” It mentions that the pivotal case was Panama Refining Co., et al v. Ryan et al (1935)(see the cross-reference)

Thereafter -continues the Liablility Memorandum-, Congress enacted the Federal Register Act and within a few years the scheme for the Code of Federal Regulations and a comprehensive index were added to the legislation. However, the index was made more or less useless after 1967 amendments to the legislation. John Cervase addressed the matter via writ of mandamus, an attorney who believed the lack of comprehensive indexing compromised the American people. In Cervase v. Office of the Federal Register, 580 F.2d 1166 (1978), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the mandamus. The history of and purpose of the Code of Federal Regulations and comprehensive indexing was reviewed in the decision.” The entry about the Cervase v. Office of the Federal Registercase highlight the important sections about this issue.

In the opinion of the Memorandum, to “ignore ancillary finding aids such as the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules would be to treat legislation Congress enacted as nothing more than the creation of busy work to swell government bureaucracy. The truth of the matter is that the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules commands judicial notice. Where the advocate proposes application of any given Code section other than that verified by the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules, he bears the burden of proving a different application than the table prescribes. Presumption favors the defendant unless or until the advocate meets the burden of proof. The purpose of the comprehensive Index to the Code of Federal Regulations, including the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules, is intended to provide a reliable resource that assists people who need to know what regulation applies to whom and what liability or responsibility any given regulation imposes.
The burden of proof rule begins at the administrative due process level, as prescribed by 5 U.S.C. §§ 556(d) & (e):
(d) Except as otherwise provided by statute, the proponent of a rule or order has the burden of proof. Any oral or documentary evidence may be received, but the agency as a matter of policy shall provide for the exclusion of irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence. A sanction may not be imposed or rule or order issued except on consideration of the whole record or those parts thereof cited by a party and supported by and in accordance with the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence. The agency may, to the extent consistent with the interests of justice and the policy of the underlying statutes administered by the agency, consider a violation of section 557(d) of this title sufficient grounds for a decision adverse to a party who has knowingly committed such violation or knowingly caused such violation to occur. A party is entitled to present his case or defense by oral or documentary evidence, to submit rebuttal evidence, and to conduct such cross- examination as may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts. In rule making or determining claims for money or benefits or applications for initial licenses an agency may, when a party will not be prejudiced thereby, adopt procedures for the submission of all or part of the evidence in written form.
(e) The transcript of testimony and exhibits, together with all papers and requests filed in the proceeding, constitutes the exclusive record for decision in accordance with section 557 of this title and, on payment of lawfully prescribed costs, shall be made available to the parties. When an agency decision rests on official notice of a material fact not appearing in the evidence in the record, a party is entitled, on timely request, to an opportunity to show the contrary.
However, while fault demonstrated by the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules is significant in itself, it does not positively determine liability for the Chapter 1 normal tax and other species of income tax imposed by Subtitles A & B of the Internal Revenue Code, nor does it demonstrate the hard link between Subtitle A & C application.”
The Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules is also available on FDSys.

Official Text

“The following table lists rulemaking authority (except 5 U.S.C. 301) for regulations
codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. Also included are statutory citations
which are noted as being interpreted or applied by those regulations.
The table is divided into four segments: United States Code citations, United
States Statutes at Large citations, public law citations, and Presidential document
citations. Within each segment the citations are arranged in numerical
order:

For the United States Code, by title and section;
For the United States Statutes at Large, by volume and page number;
For public laws, by number; and
For Presidential documents (Proclamations, Executive orders, and Reorganization
plans), by document number.
Entries in the table are taken directly from the rulemaking authority citation
provided by Federal agencies in their regulations. Federal agencies are responsible
for keeping these citations current and accurate. Because Federal agencies
sometimes present these citations in an inconsistent manner, the table cannot be
considered all-inclusive.
The portion of the table listing the United States Code citations is the most
comprehensive, as these citations are entered into the table whenever they are
given in the authority citations provided by the agencies. United States Statutes
at Large and public law citations are carried in the table only when there are no
corresponding United States Code citations given.”