Category Archives: regulation

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  76 new final rules were published last week, up from 75 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 13 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 876 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,563 new rules.
•  2,191 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 19,487 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,577 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.
•  There were 18 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. Two of them are economically significant. So far, 112 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  15 of this week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 165 final rules affect small businesses. 28 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• OSHA is revising its standards for hazard communication. The changes include “revised criteria for classification of chemical hazards; revised labeling provisions that include requirements for use of standardized signal words, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary statements; a specified format for safety data sheets; and related revisions to definitions of terms used in the standard, and requirements for employee training on labels and safety data sheets.” The estimated annual cost is expected to be $201 million.
•  Regulations from the health care bill continue to hit the books.  One new rule, which sets standards for health insurance exchanges, is expected to cost $900 million in 2012. The total estimated cost from 2012-2016 is $3.4 billion.
• The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has a new rule on “Disparate Impact and Reasonable Factors Other Than Age Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act”

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  75 new final rules were published last week, up from 72 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, exactly 800 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,528 new rules.
•  1,386 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 17,296 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 75,860 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 13 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.
•  There were 18 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. Three of them are economically significant. So far, 105 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  So far this year, 150 final rules affect small businesses. 25 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• The biggest regulation of the week came out on Friday to implement part of the health care bill. A change in Medicaid eligibility requirements would increase federal spending by $164 billion over five years by OACT’s estimate. CBO estimates a $162 billion spending increase over 5 years. That’s an average of $32.4 to $32.8 billion per year. For Battered Business Bureau purposes, I am listing its cost as zero since its main cost is on-budget government spending, not off-budget compliance costs.
•  A new rule governing living organisms inside ships’ ballast waters will cost $92 million per year, but it’s still classified as economically significant. As originally proposed, it would cost an estimated $167 million per year.
• Another health care regulation covering “Standards related to Reinsurance, Risk Corridors, and Risk Adjustment” will cost nothing in 2012 or 2013. But it will cost $11 billion in 2014, and rise to $18 billion in 2015 and 2016. For Battered Business purposes, I have listed its cost as zero for 2012’s regulatory costs.

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  72 new final rules were published last week, up from 64 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 725 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,492 new rules.
•  1,459 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 15,910 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 76,492 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 10 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.11 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.
•  There were 13 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. One of them is economically significant. So far, 96 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  So far this year, 127 final rules affect small businesses. 22 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• A rule doesn’t have to be economically significant to be expensive. A DEA rule on “Controlled Substances and List I Chemical Registration and Reregistration Fees” has an astoundingly precise estimated cost of $76,226,568.
•  The Defense Department is still implementing parts of the Privacy Act of 1974.
•  The Coast Guard sets the schedules for raising and lowering drawbridges across the country. Now, this isn’t rocket science – bridge up, bridge down. One would think local governments could handle such a complicated task on their own. But apparently they can’t. In fact, on Tuesday, the Coast Guard published a rule temporarily revising drawbridge schedules in Morgan City, Louisiana to accommodate some bridge maintenance. Again, this isn’t rocket science – the bridge will be in the down position during maintenance.

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  64 new final rules were published last week, down from 89 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 38 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 653 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,464 new rules.
•  1,490 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 14,451 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 76,867 pages.
•  The 9 economically significant rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.01 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates. 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.
•  There were 10 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. For the second week in a row, none of them are “economically significant” final rules, meaning a cost $100 million or more per year. So far, 88 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  So far this year, 110 final rules affect small businesses. 19 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

•  The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a rule to “recognize the recent change to the taxonomy of the currently endangered plant taxon, Monardella linoides ssp. viminea, in which the subspecies was split into two distinct full species, Monardella viminea (willowy monardella) and Monardella stoneana (Jennifer’s monardella).” M. viminea will retain its endangered status; M. stoneana is not considered to be endangered. They are herbs that grow in the San Diego area.
•  The FDA made some mistakes in a recent rule involving new drugs for use in animal feeds. They issued a correction on Friday.
•  The FCC is busy crafting a “National Broadband Plan for Our Future.” One wonders how its results will compare to its intentions.

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