The number of new final regulations passed the 1,000 mark last week, with new rules ranging from sending mail to human reliability programs.
On to the data:
- Last week, 65 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 61 the previous week.
- That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 35 minutes.
- Federal agencies have issued 1,028 final regulations in 2017. At that pace, there will be 3,134 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,281 regulations.
- Last week, 1,222 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,827 pages the previous week.
- The 2018 Federal Register totals 19,088 pages. It is on pace for 58,196 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (which subtracts skips, jumps, and blank pages) is 96,994, set in 2016.
- Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. One such rule has been published this year, none in the last week.
- The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations is $115 million.
- Agencies have published 33 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
- In 2018, 161 new rules affect small businesses; 8 of them are classified as significant.
Highlights from selected final rules published last week:
- The Energy Department is updating its Human Reliability Program.
- A correction to a recent rule regarding methylene chloride labeling.
- With Congress fresh from showing off its technological prowess in the Facebook hearings, the Federal Communications Commission is putting together its biennial report on telecom regulations.
- How to send mail to other countries.
- How to send mail within this country.
- Stress testing for credit unions.
- Changes in grapefruit size requirements.
For more data, see “10,000 Commandments” and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.
Inertia Wins! 