Preface

• Author: William Funk - Jeffrey S. Lubbers
• Pages: v-vi

vCONTENTS

Preface

We are pleased to introduce the fifth edition of the Federal Administra-

tive Procedure Sourcebook. Initially begun by the Administrative Conference

of the United States in 1985, with successive editions in 1992, 2000, and

2008, this revision of the Sourcebook is the third under the auspices of the

American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Prac-

tice. It reflects numerous statutory and regulatory changes in the eight years

since the last edition was published in 2008.

With the 1995 demise of the Administrative Conference of the United

States (ACUS), the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative

Law and Regulatory Practice decided to continue updating and publishing

this Sourcebook—one of ACUS’s most popular and valuable texts—so that

the closing of ACUS would not end the utility of this resource guide. We are

pleased to note that ACUS was reestablished in 2010 and is continuing its

good work. Its many recommendations on administrative procedure issued

from 2010 to 2015 are noted at the appropriate place in this Sourcebook.

ACUS has also continued to publish useful guides; see, e.g., its Sourcebook of

United States Executive Agencies (by David E. Lewis & Jennifer L. Selin)

(December 2012).

This fifth edition of the Sourcebook, like previous ones, provides access

to, and explanations of, many of the laws broadly applicable to federal agency

officials. Although no important new administrative procedural statutes have

been enacted since 2008, there was a major amendment to the Government

Performance and Results Act, and many new developments concerning White

House Orders and Memoranda on Rulemaking in the Obama Administration

are reflected in this edition. Also, this edition includes even more references

and information on online materials and web addresses that are likely to be of

use to lawyers and researchers in this area.

The Sourcebook is intended for several audiences. A primary audience

comprises agency administrators, attorneys, and other federal employees. Thus,

federal administrators wishing for a concise description of a particular statute’s

operation and effect may refer to the overview section. Agency officials and

their attorneys may benefit at other times from having at their fingertips a

desk book that compiles the major laws and related guidance that affect their

operations (apart from authorizing and budgetary statutes, of course). We

also hope that private attorneys, reviewing judges, scholars, congressional

staff, and others performing research in administrative law or public admin-

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