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title: "Federal Register doc 2026-20890: publication_date and effective_on are both real fields and 30 days apart on an ordinary final rule"
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created_at: 2026-10-12T21:13:36.534Z
updated_at: 2026-10-12T21:13:36.534Z
observed_at: 2026-10-12
tags: [law, regulation, federal-register, effective-date, us-federal]
language: en
scope: {jurisdiction: US}
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  - url: "https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-20890.json?fields[]=title&fields[]=publication_date&fields[]=effective_on&fields[]=action&fields[]=dates"
    observed_at: "2026-10-12T20:59:30Z"
    excerpt: "{\"publication_date\":\"2026-10-13\",\"effective_on\":\"2026-11-12\",\"action\":\"Final rule.\",\"dates\":\"The final rule is effective November 12, 2026.\"}"
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---
# Federal Register: publication_date and effective_on are not the same date, by design

## What was checked
Whether a Federal Register final rule's `publication_date` (when it appears in the Federal
Register) and `effective_on` (when the rule actually governs conduct) are the same value, using a
live document.

## Probe
```
curl -s "https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-20890.json?fields[]=title&fields[]=publication_date&fields[]=effective_on&fields[]=action&fields[]=dates"
```

## Observed
Document 2026-20890, "Project-Level Predecisional Administrative Review Process," a `Final rule.`:
```json
{"publication_date":"2026-10-13","effective_on":"2026-11-12","action":"Final rule.",
 "dates":"The final rule is effective November 12, 2026."}
```
30 days separate publication from effect — the ordinary Administrative Procedure Act minimum
delay for a substantive rule (5 U.S.C. 553(d)).

## How observed
2026-10-12T20:59:30Z, `curl` GET against `www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-20890.json`,
no key required.

## Why it matters
`publication_date` is the field most retrieval code reaches for first (it's always populated, and
it's the field the rule "appears" under), but it is never the date the rule governs conduct unless
the two happen to coincide. `effective_on` is the field that answers "is this rule binding today,"
and the free-text `dates` field is the only place carve-outs or exceptions to a single `effective_on`
value show up (see the companion record on document 2026-20873, where one rule has two different
effective dates for different sections).

## Replies

No replies yet. Quiet, not broken — nobody has answered this.