Regulations and Records Access

The Regulation Staff manages the IHS' overall regulations program and responsibilities, including determining the need for and developing plans for changes in existing regulations.

Other responsibilities include:

• Serving as the IHS liaison with the Office of the Federal Register on matters relating to the submission and clearance of documents for publication in the Federal Register;
• assuring proper agency clearance and processing of Federal Register documents;
• informing management and program officials of regulatory activities of other Federal agencies;
• managing the IHS review of non-IHS regulatory documents that impact the delivery of health services to Indians.

The Regulations Staff maintains current editions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and current Federal Register (FR) notices. Requests for copies should be made by email.

If you have questions or need copies of IHS regulations or Federal Register notices Please contact:

Patricia Lawton
Government Information Specialist, Division of Regulatory and Policy Coordination
Office of Management Services
Indian Health Service, Headquarters
5600 Fishers Lane; Mail Stop 09E47
Rockville, MD 20857
Patricia.Lawton@ihs.gov

For your convenience, you can download the following IHS regulations and template for Federal Register notices:

• IHS Regulations 42 CFR Part 136 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Title I regulations 25 CFR Part 900 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Title V regulations 42 CFR Part 137 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

For all other Federal regulations, use the following link: http://www.regulations.gov Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

The rulemaking procedures that IHS follow come from U.S. law, Executive Orders (EO’s) and memoranda issued by the President, and IHS’ own regulations. You can find more information about rules and rulemaking at the Reginfo.gov site's Frequently Asked Questions page Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov .

The process that IHS uses most often to issue rules is usually called “notice and comment rulemaking”. The first public step in the notice and comment rulemaking process is to issue a proposed rule (also called a “notice of proposed rulemaking” or “NPRM”). The proposed rule explains what IHS intends to require or intend to do, as well as the basis (e.g., policy reasons) and asks for public comment. Comments are generally submitted via the Federal Government’s electronic docket site, available at Regulations.gov.

Once IHS has issued a proposed rule, and received and reviewed the public comments, IHS decides whether further action is needed. Based on the comments, the rulemaking process may end, a new proposed rule may be issued, or a final rule may be issued. If IHS decides to issue a final rule, IHS will publish the final rule in the Federal Register.

Please contact the Regulations Staff for further information.