Monthly Archives: May 2018

Agencies took it comparatively easy in the leadup to the long Memorial Day weekend, though the Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard were busy with rules for travelers and revelers, mostly in the form of airworthiness requirements and safety zones near fireworks shows and other events. Other new regulations hitting the books ranged from trans fats to wireless microphones.

On to the data:

• Last week, 68 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 62 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 28 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,299 final regulations in 2018. At that pace, there will be 3,184 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,281 regulations.
• Last week, 1,046 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,169 pages the previous week.
• The 2018 Federal Register totals 24,385 pages. It is on pace for 59,768 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. Two such rules have been published this year, none in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations is $215 million.
• Agencies have published 45 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
• In 2018, 217 new rules affect small businesses; 11 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The Federal Motor Carrier Administration made some corrections to its new rule allowing electronic signatures.
• With Memorial Day marking the unofficial start of the summer travel season, the FAA issued 16 new regulations last week, or nearly a quarter of last week’s total rulemaking.
• One of those rules is for Flugzeugbau gliders.
• The Transportation Department also chimed in with a rule to prevent discrimination against disabled people during air travel.
• Another rule for preventing collisions at sea.
• Wireless microphones.
• Uncertainty about the safety of partially hydrogenated oils in food.

For more data, see the study “Ten Thousand Commandments” and follow @10KCand @RegoftheDay on Twitter.

It was a relatively slow week, with 44 proposed regulations and 62 final regulations, though the Supreme Court did rule the federal ban on sports gambling unconstitutional. New rules from the last week range from flying aliens to a cactus status.

On to the data:

• Last week, 62 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 78 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 43 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,231 final regulations in 2018. At that pace, there will be 3,175 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,281 regulations.
• Last week, 1,169 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,270 pages the previous week.
• The 2018 Federal Register totals 23,339 pages. It is on pace for 60,153 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. Two such rules have been published this year, none in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations is $215 million.
• Agencies have published 44 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
• In 2018, 200 new rules affect small businesses; 11 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• If a fruit or vegetable is grown in the U.S., there is a good chance the federal government subsidizes it in one way or another. A new rule allows representatives of the various thickets of these subsidy programs to meet with each other electronically.
• Surgical apparel.
• Mining in Missouri.
• Energy conservation standards for ceiling fan light kits.
• The Tobusch fishhook cactus’ status is changing from endangered to threatened. It is also receiving a new scientific name.
• The Federal Communications Commission claims to be removing barriers to broadband infrastructure investment.
• Flight training for aliens, courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration.

For more data, see the study “10,000 Commandments” and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.

The big news from last week was the release of the spring edition of the twice-yearly Unified Agenda, which lists all planned agency regulations currently in the pipeline. Wayne Crews offers his take here and here. The 2018 Federal Register also zoomed past the 20,000-page mark, adding more than 10 percent to its total page count last week. New rules range from menu labeling to sea turtle observers.

On to the data:

• Last week, 78 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 63 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 9 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,169 final regulations in 2018. At that pace, there will be 3,177 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,281 regulations.
• Last week, 2,270 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,177 pages the previous week.
• The 2018 Federal Register totals 22,170 pages. It is on pace for 60,245 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. Two such rules have been published this year, one in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations is $215 million.
• Agencies have published 40 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
• In 2018, 186 new rules affect small businesses; 10 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Marketing Order 984 for California almonds.
• Milk in the Florida Marketing Area, regarding a fee increase for Class I milk.
• The Federal Communications Commission is removing some of its Internet restrictions, as well as barriers to infrastructure investment.
• The Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri is being reclassified from an endangered species to a threatened species.
• The Taiwanese humpback dolphin is now an endangered species.
• Visibility in Ohio.
• Requirements for sea turtle observers.
• A small tax cut for grape growers in eastern California.
• Menu labeling requirements.

For more data, see the study “10,000 Commandments” and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.

It is now May, and still only one economically significant (costing $100 million or more per year) regulation has been issued this year. With the 2018 Federal Register poised to break the 20,000-page mark as soon as Monday, new finalized rules from the last week range from naming crabmeat to air taxis.

On to the data:

• Last week, 63 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 65 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 40 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,091 final regulations in 2017. At that pace, there will be 3,136 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,281 regulations.
• Last week, 1,177 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,222 pages the previous week.
• The 2018 Federal Register totals 19,900 pages. It is on pace for 58,184 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 2018’s economically significant regulations is $115 million.
• Agencies have published 37 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
• In 2018, 171 new rules affect small businesses; 9 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The legal name for a kind of crabmeat.
• The Federal Communications Commission wants to make it easier for communities to build 5G networks.
• New regulations for donated food.
• A compliance guide for small businesses working with the Defense Department and the General Services Administration. “It consists of a summary of the rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-98, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared.”
• Regulations for air taxis.
• Serving sizes for breath mints and other foods.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.

While the president’s initial flurry of executive orders enacting some regulatory reforms was a pleasant surprise, the next president can undo them with the stroke of a pen. Permanent reforms require Congress to pass legislation. With a possible party change looming in one or both chambers of Congress, it might be now or never for substantive regulatory reforms to become law for the foreseeable future. If Congress and the president are as serious as they say about regulatory reform, here’s a short to-do list for the rest of the year:

• REINS Act: This bill, which has passed the House four times now, would require Congress to vote on all new regulations costing more than $100 million per year. The goal is to increase elected officials’ oversight over unelected agency officials’ rulemaking. See also my paper on REINS here.
• Regulatory Accountability Act: This bill, which has passed the House, packages six reform bills in one. Reforms include stricter disclosure requirements for agencies regarding new rules; making judicial review of regulations easier; stricter disclosure for rules affecting small businesses and non-profits; require benefit-cost analysis for more regulations; monthly agency reports on upcoming regulations and other activities; and require a plain-language 100-word summary for proposed new regulations.
• Regulatory Improvement Act: This bill would establish an independent commission to comb through select parts of the 178,000-page Code of Federal Regulations. The Commission would send Congress an omnibus package of redundant, obsolete, or harmful rules to eliminate. The RIA’s lead sponsor is a Democrat, which might make Republicans squeamish about giving the other team a victory. But they should pass the bill anyway. Not only would this be a positive political gesture, it’s a needed housekeeping chore that deserves to be expanded upon in future sessions of Congress.
• GOOD Act: Neither chamber has passed this bill yet. It would alleviate the problem of regulatory “dark matter” by improving access to guidance documents that agencies issue. Agencies sometimes circumvent the legally required notice-and-comment rulemaking process by simply inserting regulations into these guidance documents.

These reforms are not a silver bullet, and will not significantly reduce the size or scope of the $1.9 trillion federal regulatory state. But by improving oversight, transparency, and accountability, they provide a needed foundation for other reforms, such as a regulatory budget and regular retrospective review of existing rules. Keep an eye on this space for future developments and reform ideas, as well as this year’s edition of “10,000 Commandments.”