# Federal Register Scraper - Rules & Comment Tracker (`maydit/us-federal-register-scraper`) Actor

Track proposed & final federal rules and comment deadlines by agency or topic. Scrape Federal Register data to CSV/JSON. Monitor new regulations on a schedule.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/maydit/us-federal-register-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Brandt May](https://apify.com/maydit) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.40 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 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

## Federal Register Scraper - Rules & Comment Tracker

> Never miss a comment deadline. Track proposed and final federal rules by agency or topic, on a schedule.

### What it does

This **Federal Register scraper** pulls structured rulemaking data straight from the official Federal Register API (federalregister.gov) - no API key required. Search or filter final rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents by keyword, agency, document type, and publication date range, then export clean **CSV or JSON**.

Where most tools stop at a one-time bulk dump, this actor is built for **recurring regulatory change monitoring**. It captures every rule's **comment close date** alongside its effective date, so you can run it on a schedule and get a live view of proposed rules whose comment windows are still open - by agency, by topic, or by search term. Use it as a **Federal Register monitor**, a **proposed rules tracker**, or a **comment deadline tracker** for compliance and government-affairs workflows.

### Who it's for

- **Regulatory affairs & compliance teams** monitoring rules that affect their industry
- **Government affairs & policy researchers** tracking agency rulemaking activity
- **Lobbyists & public-affairs firms** watching comment windows to file responses on time
- **Legal & in-house counsel** building regulatory change logs and docket trails
- **Analysts & data teams** who need Federal Register data as clean CSV/JSON for dashboards

### What you get / Output

Each record maps directly to the Federal Register document. Fields returned:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `title` | Document title |
| `documentType` | Rule, Proposed Rule, Notice, or Presidential Document |
| `action` | Short summary of the regulatory action |
| `abstract` | Document abstract / summary |
| `agencies` | Issuing agency or agencies |
| `publicationDate` | Date published in the Federal Register |
| `effectiveDate` | Date the rule takes effect |
| `commentsCloseDate` | Deadline to submit public comments |
| `documentNumber` | Unique Federal Register document number |
| `citation` | Federal Register citation |
| `docketIds` | Associated docket ID(s) |
| `regulationIdNumbers` | Regulation Identifier Number(s) (RIN) |
| `topics` | Subject/topic tags |
| `significant` | Whether the document is flagged significant |
| `htmlUrl` | Link to the full document on federalregister.gov |
| `pdfUrl` | Link to the official PDF |

### Input / How to query

Filter down to exactly the regulations you care about:

- **Search term** - keyword or phrase to match across documents
- **Document type** - rule (final), proposed rule, notice, or presidential document
- **Agency** - limit results to one or more issuing agencies (e.g. EPA, SEC, FDA)
- **Publication date range** - start and end dates to scope the pull
- **Monitor mode** - watch for new rules and notices by agency or topic, ideal for scheduled runs

Combine filters freely - for example, proposed rules from the EPA published in the last 30 days, or every significant final rule mentioning a specific term.

### Example use cases

- **Watch your industry:** monitor new proposed rules from the agencies that regulate you (e.g. SEC for finance, FDA for medical, EPA for environmental) and get them as a daily feed.
- **Never miss a comment window:** pull all open proposed rules with a future `commentsCloseDate` so your team knows exactly which comment periods are still available to respond to.
- **Build a regulatory change log:** export final vs. proposed rules with RIN, docket IDs, and citations into a compliance tracker or data warehouse.
- **Agency activity reports:** summarize every document a single agency published in a quarter for a policy or client briefing.
- **Effective-date planning:** track upcoming `effectiveDate` values on final rules so operations teams can prepare ahead of enforcement.

### Recurring use / scheduling

This actor is designed to run on a schedule. In Apify, open the actor, set your filters (agency, topic term, and/or document type), and add a **Schedule** - for example daily or hourly.

- Keep the same input to re-check the same slice of the Federal Register each run.
- Use the `documentNumber` field as a stable unique key to **dedupe** across runs, so downstream automations only alert on genuinely new documents.
- Pair a scheduled run with Apify integrations (webhooks, email, Slack, Zapier, Make) to turn new proposed rules or approaching comment deadlines into **alerts** for your team.

### FAQ

### How do I monitor new federal regulations for my industry?

Set a search term and/or the agencies that regulate your industry, choose your document types (proposed rule, rule, notice), and schedule the actor to run daily. Each run returns the latest matching documents, which you can pipe to email, Slack, or a spreadsheet.

### How can I track proposed rules and comment deadlines by agency?

Filter by agency and document type "proposed rule," then use the `commentsCloseDate` field on each record to see which comment windows are open and when they close. Scheduling the run keeps that list current.

### Is there an API to get Federal Register data without a key?

Yes. This actor uses the official Federal Register API (federalregister.gov), which is public and requires no API key or authentication. You just configure the actor's filters and run it.

### How do I export Federal Register rules to CSV or JSON?

Every run writes results to an Apify dataset, which you can download or export as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or pull via the Apify API for your own pipeline.

### How do I get alerts when a new proposed rule affects my company?

Schedule the actor with filters that match your company's exposure (agency, topic term, document type), dedupe on `documentNumber`, and connect an Apify webhook or integration so new matches trigger an alert.

### Can I use this instead of Regulations.gov to track rules and comment deadlines?

For the rulemaking documents themselves - final rules, proposed rules, notices, and their comment deadlines - the Federal Register is the authoritative source this actor reads from, and it returns docket IDs and RINs so you can cross-reference elsewhere. Note: this actor returns rule/notice documents and their `commentsCloseDate`, not the full text of individual public comments.

### How do I track final vs proposed rules from the EPA, SEC, or FDA?

Set the agency filter to the agency you care about and run two views (or filter downstream) on the `documentType` field to separate final "Rule" records from "Proposed Rule" records.

### How can I automate regulatory compliance monitoring daily?

Save your filters, add a daily schedule, dedupe on `documentNumber`, and route new records to your team via webhook or integration - a hands-off daily **regulatory change monitoring** pipeline.

### Data source & notes

- **Source:** Official U.S. Federal Register API at federalregister.gov.
- **Access:** Public, free, and keyless - Federal Register data is U.S. government public record.
- **Coverage:** Final rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents indexed by the Federal Register.
- **Limitations:** Fields reflect what the Federal Register publishes for each document; values such as `commentsCloseDate`, `effectiveDate`, `docketIds`, and `regulationIdNumbers` are only present when the source document includes them. This actor returns rule/notice documents and their metadata, not the body text of individual public comments.

### Related actors

Part of a set of US public-records tools that work well together:

- [Federal Contract Awards Scraper](https://apify.com/maydit/us-federal-contract-awards-scraper) - federal spending downstream of the rules
- [Grants.gov Scraper](https://apify.com/maydit/us-federal-grants-scraper) - funding opportunities from the same agencies
- [FDA Recalls Scraper](https://apify.com/maydit/us-fda-recalls-scraper) - enforcement activity alongside the regulatory record

See all fifteen at [apify.com/maydit](https://apify.com/maydit).

### Found this useful?

If this actor saved you time, a short review on the Apify Store genuinely helps. Reviews are how the next person decides whether a tool is worth trying.

Something broken, missing a field, or a source you want covered? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab and it will get looked at - that is the fastest route to getting it changed.

# Actor input Schema

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Full-text search term across Federal Register documents, e.g. 'artificial intelligence', 'emissions', a company or product name. Leave empty to browse by type/agency/date.

## `documentTypes` (type: `array`):

Which document types to include. Leave empty for all.

## `agencies` (type: `array`):

Restrict to agencies by their Federal Register slug, e.g. 'environmental-protection-agency', 'securities-and-exchange-commission', 'food-and-drug-administration'. Leave empty for all.

## `publishedSince` (type: `string`):

Only documents published on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Great for weekly regulatory monitoring.

## `publishedUntil` (type: `string`):

Only documents published on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `order` (type: `string`):

Sort order for results.

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

Upper bound on documents returned per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keyword": "artificial intelligence",
  "documentTypes": [],
  "agencies": [],
  "publishedSince": "2026-06-01",
  "order": "newest",
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("maydit/us-federal-register-scraper").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("maydit/us-federal-register-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call maydit/us-federal-register-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=maydit/us-federal-register-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/iA3tsYQZXuqykSprM/builds/9wbrRXMSHGWoMV5Wn/openapi.json