Category Archives: regulation

The rate of new coronavirus cases increased last week, adding a note of caution to tentative efforts at reopening. Regulatory agencies issued new final regulations ranging from Florida bats to heraldic items.

On to the data:

• Last week, 53 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 71 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 10 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,374 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,013 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 53 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 1,019 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,235 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,184 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 410 notices, for a total of 10,071 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 22,086 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,178 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,976 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 36,137 pages. It is on pace for 79,248 pages. The 2019 total was 79,267 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. Three such rules have been published this year. Four such rules were published in 2019.
• The running cost tally for 2020’s economically significant regulations ranges from net savings of between $1.38 billion and $4.19 billion. 2019’s total ranges from net savings of $350 million to $650 million, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact number depends on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published 28 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 268 new rules affect small businesses; 11 of them are classified as significant. 2019’s totals were 501 rules affecting small businesses, with 22 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new regulations:

• A new EPA regulation intended to increase transparency in its cost-benefit analysis.
• Tax treatment of “certain medical care arrangements.”
• With major tech company antitrust cases coming up soon, the Postal Service has a new regulation for “Market Dominant Products.”
• How to handle spearmint oil produced in the Far West.
• In a surprisingly timely rule, the Land Management Bureau is updating its regulations for handling protests against its decisions.
• A request for comments on suspending arms trafficking regulations during the coronavirus crisis.
• The Agriculture Department has a correction to its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
• The Army Department has a Dungeons and Dragons-sounding new regulation for the “Manufacture, Sale, Wear, and Quality Control of Heraldic Items.”
• The Commodity and Futures Trading Commission is updating its bankruptcy regulations.
• Energy conservation standards for vending meachines.
• A new excise tax on non-profit executive salaries over $1 million per year.
• And for commercial prerinse spray valves.
• And for water heaters.
• Looser bear-hunting rules for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
• The Postal Service has a semipostal stamp program.
• New anti-robocall rules from the FCC.
• Testing regulations for room air conditioners’ energy efficiency.
• The FCC is reopening the comment period for its rule for exposure to radio waves. It is now open through June 17.
• The IRS is partially withdrawing a recent rule defining the term “qualifying relative.”
• Tomato handling requirements.
• The Florida bonneted bat is receiving approximately 1,478,333 acres of critical habitat.
• The Borax Lake chub is no longer an endangered species.
• Updates to the list of allowed and prohibited substances in raising organic livestock.
• Sulfur from stationary boilers.

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

This is a press statement from CEI, originally posted at cei.org.

Upending expert predictions, the U.S economy added 2.5 million jobs in May and the unemployment dropped to 13.3 percent, according to the Labor Department. This, after months of pandemic-related shutdowns and layoffs. CEI experts welcomed news of the rebound and pointed to further reforms to aid recovery.

Statement by Ryan Young, CEI senior fellow:

“I never thought a 13.3 percent unemployment rate would be good news, yet today it indicates that many of the shutdown-related job losses may have been temporary, though to be clear, it is too early to know for sure. It helps that governments at all levels have waived around 600 regulations that were blocking the COVID-19 response and the economic recovery. Policy makers should keep that momentum going by making those waivers permanent and waiving more job-blocking rules, such as occupational licensing and excessive permitting requirements. Institutional safeguards such as automatic rule sunsets and ongoing reviews of existing regulations can provide long-term help by preventing this regulatory sludge from building back up and harming the next crisis.”​

Statement by Sean Higgins, CEI labor policy expert:

“The unexpectedly good news of Friday’s jobs report that 2 ½ million jobs were added in the last month is a rather inspiring testament to American ingenuity. Faced with an unprecedented crisis that forced businesses to completely shut down and workers to stay at home, those same companies and workers didn’t give up and instead improvised and found a way to get back to business. An unemployment rate of 13.3 percent rather than the expected 20 percent is as clear a bit of evidence as we could get that the best way to keep the economic recovery going is to simply allow businesses to re-open.​​”

CEI released the 2020 edition of Wayne Crews’s annual Ten Thousand Commandments report, which gives a big-picture view of the federal regulatory state. For summaries of the important bits, see here and here. Regulatory agencies issued new final regulations ranging from cigarette labels to 6’2” tuna. Note that some numbers are a bit lower than usual on account of a four-day Memorial Day work week.

On to the data:

• Last week, 42 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 60 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every four hours.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,257 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,022 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 38 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 914 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,198 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,184 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 383 notices, for a total of 9,160 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 22,019 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,619 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,765 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 32,975 pages. It is on pace for 78,390 pages. The 2019 total was 79,267 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. Three such rules have been published this year. Four such rules were published in 2019.
• The running cost tally for 2020’s economically significant regulations ranges from net savings of between $1.38 billion and $4.19 billion. 2019’s total ranges from net savings of $350 million to $650 million, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact number depends on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published 28 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 251 new rules affect small businesses; 11 of them are classified as significant. 2019’s totals were 501 rules affecting small businesses, with 22 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Dealing with dark matter: New procedures for guidance documents from the National Archives and Records Administration.
• Loan payment extensions under the Paycheck Protection Act.
• Deadline extension for the Impact Aid Program for elementary and secondary schools.
• Fishing is done for the year for tuna larger than 73 inches.
• A Superfund site is being partially deleted.
• The Federal Communications Commission is allowing some unlicensed usage of the 6GHz band.
• And is allowing more uses of the 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz spectrum.
• The Environmental Protection Agency has new reporting and recordkeeping requirements for small businesses than handle toxic substances.
• The compliance date for new cigarette labeling rules has been delayed.
• The National Credit Union Administration issued a rule for COVID-19-related regulatory relief.
• Quarantine anchorage in Virginia.
• And Louisiana.
• Federal insurance for canola and rapeseed crops.
• Travel restrictions on Brazil.
• Registering newsletters.

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