Category Archives: regulation

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 95 new final rules were published last week, up from 84 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every hour and 46 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,583 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,968 new rules.
• 1,628 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 31,432 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,040 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 22 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.3 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• No economically significant rules were published last week. So far, 172 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 292 final rules affect small businesses. 40 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Good news on the international trade front: the International Trade Administration published a rule withdrawing a tariff quota on imported fabric that expired in 2009 (timely!). The rule also repeals rules for short supply procedures. “Short supply procedures” means that when domestic supply falls short of demand, the government blocks fewer imports than usual to ease the shortage. Now the ITA will stay out of the way entirely, as far as cotton is concerned. This bit of housecleaning came about through President Obama’s January 2011 Executive Order, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.”
• The official legal meaning of the term “unblockable drain” has been revised, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
• It is against federal rules for a commercial driver to make entries to an automatic on-board recording device while his vehicle is in motion. A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule specifies that it’s ok for anyone else in the vehicle to do so.
• Morelet’s crocodile is no longer an endangered species, though the crocs “will remain protected under the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.”

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 62 new final rules were published last week, down from 70 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 43 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,384 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,838 new rules.
• 1,577 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 28,191 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 76,606 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 20 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $15.4 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• One economically significant rule was published last week. There were a total of 5 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 152 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 12 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 259 final rules affect small businesses. 40 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• An economically significant rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implements section 2401 of the Affordable Care Act. It increases this year’s federal Medicaid spending by $820 million, and this year’s state Medicaid spending by $480 million. Since these costs are government spending instead of compliance costs, I am scoring it as zero-cost for this year’s compliance cost tally.
• Just in time for summer, the FDA published a rule delaying implementation of an earlier rule amending its surprisingly detailed sunscreen regulations.
• The EPA is liberalizing its [alpha]-[p-(1,1,3,3-Tetramethylbutyl)phenyl]-[omega]- hydroxypoly(oxyethylene) tolerance requirements for pesticides. A separate rule liberalizes “residues of α-(p-nonylphenol)-ω-hydroxypoly(oxyethylene) mixture of dihydrogen phosphate and monohydrogen phosphate esters and the corresponding ammonium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc salts of the phosphate esters and α-(p-nonylphenol)-ω-hydroxypoly(oxyethylene) sulfate, ammonium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc salts” in pesticides.
• If you want to get a commercial driver’s license, you should be aware of new federal minimum standards.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 70 new final rules were published last week, down from 81 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 24 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,265 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,704 new rules.
• 1,307 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 26,614 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 76,478 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 19 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $15.4 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• One economically significant rule was published last week. There were a total of 8 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 147 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 4 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 247 final rules affect small businesses. 36 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Changes to the Pell Grant Program would “prohibit a student from receiving two consecutive Pell Grants in a single award year.” This is estimated to save $24.3 billion over 5 years. The rule is classified as economically significant, but since it affects government spending and not compliance costs, I am scoring it as zero-cost for this year’s compliance cost tally.
• The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA) was passed in 2000. Now that it’s 2012, the Postal Service published a new rule amending its seizure and forfeiture policies to make them CAFRA-compliant.
• If you are a clinical investigator, you may want to read a new FDA rule makes it easier for the agency to disqualify clinical investigators.
• The federal government has an Underground Storage Tank Program. Really, it does. But if a state doesn’t want to participate, it can opt out if it implements its own Underground Storage Tank Program. Oregon apparently didn’t like the federal program, and now its state program has just been approved.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 81 new final rules were published last week, down from 84 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 4 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,195 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,707 new rules.
• 1,210 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 25,307 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,156 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 19 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $15.2 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• Two economically significant rules were published last week. There were a total of 8 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 139 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 27 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 243 final rules affect small businesses. 35 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Another health care bill regulation was published this week, claiming savings of $1.59 billion in Medicare spending over ten years. If the cost estimates are correct, this is the rare economically significant regulation that saves $100 million or more per year. Since the savings are in government spending instead of compliance costs, I am scoring it as zero-cost for this year’s regulatory compliance cost tally. I do the same with rules that increase spending, but not compliance costs.
• An economically significant rule from the Food and Nutrition Service will transfer $1.4 billion over 5 years from the federal government to school lunch programs. Compliance costs (paperwork, etc.) are estimated at $3.7 million over 5 years, so I’m adding a fifth of that, or $740,000, to this year’s regulatory compliance cost tally.
• If you are planning on fishing for any of the 7 species of northeast skate, there are new regulations you should be aware of.
• The Navy Department is revising its rules for avoiding collisions at sea.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 84 new final rules were published last week, up from 77 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every 2 hours — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,114 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,674 new rules.
• 1,675 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 24,097 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,238 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 17 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• No economically significant rules were published last week. There were a total of 16 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 131 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 21 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 216 final rules affect small businesses. 33 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Federal regulations require commercial drivers to undergo medical examinations to make sure they comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s physical qualification requirements. A new rule from the FMCSA “establishes a training, testing, and registration program that would certify medical professionals as qualified to conduct medical certification examinations of commercial drivers.”
• If you were thinking of importing pomegranates from Chile, there are some new regulations you should be aware of. From the summary, “the fruit would have to be grown in a place of production that is registered with the national plant protection organization of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis [aka the Chilean red false mite – ed.]. The fruit would have to undergo pre-harvest sampling at the registered production site. Following post-harvest processing, the fruit would have to be inspected in Chile at an approved inspection site. Each consignment of fruit would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been found free of Brevipalpus chilensis based on field and packinghouse inspections.” If you don’t want to through all that, you may use pesticide.
• According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Three Forks springsnail is now an endangered species, and the San Bernadino springsnail is now a threatened species. The Three Forks springsnail is about a fifth of an inch long and is only found in part of a national forest in Apache County, Arizona. 17.2 acres of critical habitat have been designated for it. The San Bernadino springsnail is a tenth of an inch long. Its only known habitat is on a privately owned ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. It gets two acres of critical habitat; this may constitute a regulatory taking if it adversely affects the ranch owner.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

There are some strange regulations out there:

• Part of the 70,000-page tax code is devoted to alpacas. There is even a website, alpacas-4-sale.com, that asks, “Why not let Uncle Sam help you buy your alpacas?” Good question. After all, under section 179 of the IRS Code, you can deduct up to $24,000 worth of alpaca purchases per year.
• “Bipartisan” usually means “twice as stupid.” For example, the bipartisan transportation bill that passed the Senate and is now under House consideration contains a provision that would give the IRS the power to confiscate your passport if you owe back taxes.
• Barking man cited for violating local noise ordinance. Very, very close to a man-bites-dog story. It also sounds like the guy could use some help.
• A 6-year old Georgia child was handcuffed and put in a police station holding cell for throwing a temper tantrum at school. The local police chief is defending the action, claiming it was done by the book.
• California agencies are required to submit a slew of annual reports to state legislators. For example, California’s Department of Fish and Game is legally required to submit an annual report on how many kangaroos are hunted in Australia each year. Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a plan this week to eliminate 718 (!) of these “unnecessary bureaucratic” reports.
• The EPA spent part of its $10 billion-plus budget to create an online video game called Greenquest.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 77 new final rules were published last week, the same number as the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 11 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,030 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,625 new rules.
• 1,475 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 22,426 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,243 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 17 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• One economically significant rule was published last week. There were a total of 7 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 121 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 13 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 195 final rules affect small businesses. 30 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• This week’s economically significant rule is part of the health care bill. It makes changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Drug Benefit programs. Its cost is primarily increased government spending, not private sector compliance, so I am scoring it as zero-cost in our running tally. How much new spending is there? “We estimate that the Discount Program will increase Medicare costs by $1.3 billion during FY 2013 through FY 2018.” But that isn’t the only new spending.“The costs to the Federal government associated with these provisions, as scored in the April 15, 2011 final rule (76 FR 21432), were estimated to total $3.6 billion during FY 2011 through FY 2016.”
• The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service passed a rule liberalizing the federal government’s golden nematode policy.
• Our friends at the Agricultural Marketing Service are decreasing the assessment rates for pistachios and dried prunes (note the redundant phrasing; prunes are dried plums) grown in certain states. They are also raising the assessment rates for mangoes. Assessments are involuntary fees collected from farmers based on how much they grow.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 77 new final rules were published last week, up from 76 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 11 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 953 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,596 new rules.
• 1464 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 20,951 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,176 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 15 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• No economically significant rules were published last week. There were 11 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 118 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 17 of this week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 182 final rules affect small businesses. 29 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• A new Dodd-Frank-inspired rule regulating swap dealers could potentially be very expensive. Between paperwork, recordkeeping, and buying new phone systems that will record all transaction-related calls, it could add up to a very large cost. But, “Based on the available data, the Commission has been unable to reliably quantify the cost of compliance with the recordkeeping rules.” Independent commenters have given estimates ranging from $75 million to $500 million. The rule is not classified as economically significant.
• The FAA has jurisdiction over commercial space travel regulation. Historically, the legal basis for this was in Title 49, chapter 701 of the U.S. Code, or 49 U.S.C. chapter 701 in the official format. In 2010, Congress pulled a switcheroo and moved it to 51 U.S.C. chapter 509. Confusion reigned. Fortunately, a new FAA rule published on Thursday clears things up and corrects obsolete citations in the Code of Federal Regulations.
• Federal prisoners have always been allowed to publish. But regulations prohibited them from doing so with a byline. The fear was that they might profit from their crimes or become famous, and thus a security risk. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Prisons published a rule repealing that regulation. It becomes effective on May 3. The change is the result of a 2007 lawsuit. Mark Jordan, a convicted murderer, published several articles about prison life in Off! Magazine under his own name. He was punished, and successfully sued.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.