Regulations.gov Scraper

Regulations.gov Scraper

Scrape Regulations.gov for federal rules, public comments, and dockets by keyword, agency, or docket ID, up to a million per run. Each record returns the document title, agency, posted date, comment period, and full docket metadata. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Regulations.gov holds the public record of every proposed and final federal rule, plus the comments citizens and organizations submit. Manually searching across agencies and dockets is slow, and the official API requires registration and rate-limit management. This Actor reads the public search feeds directly, filters by agency, document subtype, and date range, and returns each match in one consistent schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape Regulations.gov for
Regulatory affairs analysts	Monitor proposed rules and comment deadlines across specific agencies.
Law firms and lobbyists	Gather all public comments on a docket to prepare a client response.
Policy researchers	Build a dataset of rulemaking activity for a longitudinal study.
Compliance teams	Track final rules that affect their industry's reporting obligations.

What it does

This Actor collects documents, comments, or dockets from Regulations.gov by keyword search or docket ID, and returns each record as a flat row.

• 📋 Three record types: choose documents, comments, or dockets with one dropdown.
• 🏛️ Agency filter: narrow results to a single agency like EPA, FDA, FCC, or DOT.
• 📅 Date range filter: restrict to records posted between two dates.
• 📄 Subtype filter: target only Rules, Proposed Rules, or Notices when scraping documents.
• 🔍 Keyword or docket ID: search by full text query or lock onto one specific docket.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Regulations.gov data

📬 Track comment deadlines.

A trade association runs the Actor weekly with a keyword search and a date filter to catch every proposed rule with an open comment period that affects their members.

⚖️ Prepare a public comment submission.

A law firm enters a docket ID to pull every existing comment on a proposed rule, then analyzes the arguments before drafting their client's submission.

📊 Monitor agency rulemaking volume.

A policy researcher scrapes all documents from the EPA over a five-year window to quantify how rulemaking activity changed across administrations.

🔎 Search for emerging regulation.

A compliance officer runs a keyword search for 'PFAS' across all agencies to catch any new proposed or final rule that might create reporting obligations.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key required	Reads the public search feeds directly, no registration or OAuth.
Fixed flat schema	Every document, comment, or docket returns the same predictable fields.
Agency-level precision	Filter by agency acronym so you only see rules from the EPA, FDA, or whichever body you track.
Date-bounded runs	Set a start and end date to collect only the latest regulatory activity.

How it compares

Three other actors also scrape Regulations.gov. This one focuses on a simple keyword or docket-driven search with agency and date filters, returning a flat row for each record.

Feature	ParseForge	Regulatory Intelligence API - AI Compliance Radar	Regulations.gov Scraper - Federal Rules & Public Comments API	Regulations.gov Scraper - Federal Rules & Comments
Keyword search	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Yes
Docket ID filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Agency filter	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Date range filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Document subtype filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Comments collection	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a keyword search or a specific docket ID, and filters run as each record is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "searchTerm": "climate change",
  "documentType": "documents",
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "searchTerm": "climate change",
  "documentType": "documents",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0065 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.65
1,000 results	$6.50
10,000 results	$65.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Regulations.gov Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Regulations.gov through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/regulations-gov-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your search term or docket ID is spelled correctly. If you are using agency or date filters, try removing them one at a time to see which filter is too restrictive.

Why are my results missing some documents I know exist?

The date range filter is applied as records are read. Widen your Posted Date Start and Posted Date End, or remove the date filter entirely to see if the missing documents fall outside your window.

The Actor stopped before reaching my max items setting.

This means the search returned fewer total results than your maximum. Try broadening your search term, removing agency or subtype filters, or widening the date range.

My agency filter is not working.

Agency IDs are acronyms like EPA, not full names. Check the exact acronym on Regulations.gov. The filter is case-insensitive, but an incorrect acronym will return no results.

The document subtype filter is not applying.

The subtype filter only works when Document Type is set to 'documents'. It has no effect when scraping comments or dockets.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a Regulations.gov API key to use this?	No. The Actor reads the public search feeds directly. You do not need to register an application or manage API credentials.
What is the difference between documents, comments, and dockets?	Documents are the rules, notices, and supporting materials agencies publish. Comments are submissions from the public on proposed rules. Dockets are the containers that group all documents and comments for one rulemaking.
Can I scrape all comments on a specific proposed rule?	Yes. Set the document type to 'comments' and enter the docket ID for that rule. The Actor will return every public comment filed on that docket.
How do I filter by a single agency?	Enter the agency acronym in the Agency ID field, for example EPA, FDA, FCC, or DOT. Leave it empty to search across all agencies.
Can I limit results to a date range?	Yes. Use the Posted Date Start and Posted Date End fields in YYYY-MM-DD format to collect only records posted within a specific window.
What document subtypes can I filter on?	When the document type is set to 'documents', you can filter by subtypes like Rule, Proposed Rule, Notice, or Supporting & Related Material.
How many records can I collect in one run?	You can set the maximum up to 1,000,000 records per run. The Actor will stop when it reaches that count or when no more results match your query.
Does this Actor handle the Regulations.gov API rate limits?	The Actor reads the public feeds and manages request pacing internally so your runs complete without manual throttling.
What export formats are supported?	Your dataset can be exported to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Can I run this on a schedule?	Yes. Use Apify's scheduler to run the Actor daily, weekly, or on any cron expression so you always have the latest regulatory data.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by eRulemaking Program Management Office. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.