Authority Industries Listings

The Authority Industries directory organizes verified, reference-grade listings across multiple US industry verticals into a single navigable structure. Each entry represents a distinct operational or regulatory domain, mapped by sector, geography, and subject-matter scope. Understanding how these listings are structured allows researchers, analysts, and practitioners to locate authoritative information without wading through unverified aggregator content. For context on why this resource exists and what problems it addresses, see the Authority Industries Directory Purpose and Scope page.

How listings are organized

Listings are grouped by primary industry vertical first, then by functional sub-category within that vertical. The organizational logic follows Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) conventions as a baseline, with adjustments made where federal regulatory frameworks create meaningful operational boundaries that SIC codes do not capture — for example, separating licensed financial services from unlicensed financial technology operations, even when both fall under the same SIC grouping.

Within each vertical, entries are sequenced by regulatory density: sectors subject to federal oversight from agencies such as the FDA, OSHA, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appear before lightly regulated sectors. This sequencing reflects practical research priority — readers navigating a high-compliance domain need regulatory context before operational detail.

A secondary cross-index organizes listings by geographic market. Entries tied to operations in California, Texas, Florida, and New York are flagged separately because those four states collectively account for the largest share of US industry licensing requirements and enforcement actions. The Authority Industries Topic Context page explains the regulatory framing behind these organizational decisions in greater depth.

What each listing covers

Every listing entry is built around 5 discrete data fields:

Industry name and SIC/NAICS code — the primary identifier anchoring the entry to a recognized federal classification system.
Primary regulatory body — the named federal or state agency holding primary jurisdiction (e.g., EPA for environmental compliance, HHS for healthcare operations).
Operational scope — a description of what activities the listed industry performs, defined in terms of output, service type, or licensed function rather than company names.
Key compliance threshold — at least one specific regulatory threshold or statutory benchmark relevant to operators in that sector, such as OSHA's 10-employee record-keeping trigger under 29 CFR Part 1904, or the EPA's 100-ton-per-year threshold for Title V air permit applicability.
Resource links — direct references to primary-source regulatory documents, federal agency guidance pages, or official statistical releases from bodies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the US Census Bureau.

Listings do not include company names, proprietary rankings, or paid placements. The distinction between this resource and a commercial business directory is structural: a commercial directory lists who operates in a sector; this directory characterizes how a sector operates and what governs it.

Geographic distribution

The directory covers all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, with entries differentiated where state-level licensing or enforcement creates material operational differences from federal baselines. Three tiers of geographic specificity apply:

National entries cover industries where federal law preempts or substantially displaces state regulation — nuclear energy (governed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under 10 CFR Chapter I) and interstate telecommunications are examples.
State-variant entries cover industries where federal frameworks set a floor but states impose additional requirements. Insurance is the clearest case: all 50 states maintain independent licensing boards, and an entry for the insurance vertical carries state-specific sub-entries rather than a single national description.
Locally concentrated entries cover industries whose operational footprint is geographically narrow — offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, or wine production under the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's appellations of origin framework, which recognizes 269 American Viticultural Areas as of the TTB's official register.

Researchers working across state lines should consult the How to Use This Authority Industries Resource page before drawing cross-state comparisons from directory entries, because regulatory thresholds vary in ways that affect direct comparison validity.

How to read an entry

Each listing entry is designed to be read in a specific order to avoid misapplication of regulatory data.

Start with the SIC/NAICS code to confirm the entry maps to the correct industry classification. A common error involves conflating adjacent codes — SIC 7372 (prepackaged software) and SIC 7371 (computer programming services) are frequently confused in compliance research, and the regulatory obligations differ materially.

Move to the primary regulatory body field next. This establishes jurisdictional authority before any compliance data is interpreted. An entry listing OSHA as the primary body means federal workplace safety standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 apply; an entry listing a state labor board means the analysis begins at the state level, and federal OSHA may apply only where state plans have not been approved under Section 18 of the same Act.

Read the operational scope field as a boundary statement, not a description of any specific company. It defines what activities fall inside the listing's coverage. If a business performs activities described in two separate listings, both entries apply and neither alone is sufficient.

The compliance threshold field contains the most time-sensitive data. Statutory thresholds are set by legislation and change only through Congressional action or rulemaking, but enforcement interpretations shift more frequently. Cross-reference any threshold figure against the cited primary source before relying on it for operational decisions.

The full index of available listings, organized by vertical, is accessible through the Authority Industries Listings index page, which reflects the complete current directory structure.

📜 1 regulatory citation referenced · 🔍 Monitored by ANA Regulatory Watch · View update log

References

📜 3 regulatory citations referenced · 🔍 Monitored by ANA Regulatory Watch · View update log