How We Verify the Information Here

What the check does

Once a month, and whenever an editor runs it after changes, a script fetches every page, PDF, and eCFR section the site cites and compares it with what we publish. Anything that does not match goes to an editor, who corrects it to the source's exact wording, points it at the right document, or removes it.

Quotes

Text shown as a quotation must appear word for word in the cited agency page or PDF. Spacing, punctuation, and line breaks are ignored; nothing else is. Excerpts joined with an ellipsis must each match.

Threshold summaries

Summaries are not quotations, so each number in them must appear in the document the summary names. Rule numbers and publication dates are not counted.

40 CFR citations

Each section and paragraph we cite, such as 52.21(b)(48)(ii)(D), must exist in the current eCFR with that exact designation.

Federal rule quotes

Quoted rule text in tools and guides must appear in the cited eCFR paragraph.

Glossary citations

Each glossary citation must exist in eCFR and contain the defined term, or the wording the entry names when the provision governs a term rather than defining it.

Agency names

The agency name must appear on the agency page we link, either in full or with every word of it present.

State rule citations

The rule number we cite should appear on the page we link. Many program pages do not name their rule, so a miss here is a prompt to review, not proof of an error.

Links

Every source link must load. Sites that refuse automated requests are reported separately, not counted as broken.

Federal rule pages in the Rule Library are built from eCFR itself and refreshed weekly; a rule change is reviewed before it appears. A match means our text agrees with the source on the check date. It does not mean a permit is or is not required for a facility; that depends on the full rule and the facts, so confirm with the agency.