Category Archives: regulation

The Midwest froze, but the Federal Register began to heat up. As I predicted earlier, the first three post-shutdown editions were slow. Then Thursday’s edition alone had 220 agencies notices and 447 pages, both well above normal levels. Thursday also saw the year’s first economically significant regulation, a 70-pager for H-1B visa applicants. On February 1, the Federal Register cracked 1,000 pages, which might be the latest date that has happened since 1959. See the historical table on p. 74 the current edition of Ten Thousand Commandments for more. Other new rules from the week range from Navy signals to external power supplies.

On to the data:

• Last week, 34 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 4 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 4 hours and 57 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 50 final regulations in 2019. At that pace, there will be 569 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,367 regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 334 notices, for a total of 603 in 2019. At that pace, there will be 6,853 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 22,205.
• Last week, 934 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 211 pages the previous week.
• The 2019 Federal Register totals 1,341 pages. It is on pace for 15,239 pages. The 2018 total was 68,082 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 have been published this year. Six such rules were published in 2018.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2019’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from $139.1 million to $175.8 million. The 2018 total ranges from $220.1 million to $2.54 billion, depending on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published one final rule meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2018’s total was 108 significant final rules.
• So far in 2019, 5 new rules affect small businesses; one of them is classified as significant. 2018’s totals were 660 rules affecting small businesses, with 29 of them significant.

All of last week’s new final regulations:

• The year’s first economically significant regulation is 70-pages of rules for applying for an H-1B visa. The cost accounting is absolutely opaque; the best I could suss out is that it will cost an expected $139.1 million to $175.8 million this year.
• The Navy is removing some regulations regarding signal lights.
• Competitive Postal Products.
• 2019’s first regulation for preventing collisions at sea.
• The Defense Department is removing a rule regarding compensation for Vietnam detainees.
• Medicare payment revisions.
• The Drug Enforcement Administration is adding another substance to its Schedule I list. As with other Schedule I controlled substances, people will almost certainly stop using it now, with no black market activity whatsoever.
• Power usage for external power supplies.

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

On January 25, President Trump signed legislation to end a 35-day partial federal shutdown. The deal only lasts for three weeks, so another shutdown could happen if Trump and Congress don’t reach a longer-term deal by then.

During the partial shutdown, the Federal Register slowed to a crawl. Published every weekday, an average day’s edition consists of about 270 pages and contains a dozen or so new final regulations, plus proposed regulations, agency notices, and presidential documents. Compare this with 18 final regulations and 436 pages published all year through January 28.

What will happen now? Very little, for the first few days of normalcy. There is typically a 2-3 day lag between the time an agency submits an item to the Federal Register and when it runs. When that period ends, there will likely be a temporary flood to make up for rules and notices that agencies originally intended to publish during the shutdown, but could not. That busy period will likely last just a week or two, then it should be normal activity levels from there.

The big lesson is that even a month-long shutdown will have little impact on how much regulating agencies do. Rules that were scuttled during the shutdown will come into effect just the same, except a little later or with less advance notice.

It is also possible that agencies will simply not bother to publish some overdue notices or other documents, which could be a transparency concern. Hopefully this kind of evasion will be minimal, but it will be impossible to quantify.

Of course, the shutdown drama might not be over yet. Both sides are dug in on the border wall debate, and they are not guaranteed to reach a deal in the next three weeks. If they don’t, the process will repeat, and the Federal Register will again go through a lull and a flood. But the net consequences will be virtually nil.

There are lessons to be learned from shutdown battles, such as the wisdom of leaving something as important as air traffic safety in government’s bumbling hands. But as far as federal rulemaking is concerned, there is little to get worked up about, regardless of one’s policy views.

The partial shutdown ended on Friday, though only on a three-week deal. This likely will not show up in the Federal Register’s page and rule counts until mid- to late-week, given that it usually operates on a 2-3 day lag. Something else important happened last week: Venezuela’s dictatorship might be ending. It’s too early to cheer, but opposition leader Juan Guaidó, if his claim to legitimacy is successful, seems decidedly more liberal than the Chavez/Maduro regime. Time will tell.

Regulations that did appear during the week range from cockpit displays to crabbing vessels.

On to the data:

• Last week, 4 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 10 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 42 hours.
• Federal agencies have issued 16 final regulations in 2019. At that pace, there will be 236 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,367 regulations.
• Last week, 211 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 85 pages the previous week.
• The 2019 Federal Register totals 406 pages. It is on pace for 5,971 pages. The 2018 total was 68,082 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. No such rules have been published this year, with just one since last June 12. Six such rules were published in 2018.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2019’s economically significant regulations is currently zero. The 2018 total ranges from $220.1 million to $2.54 billion, depending on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published no final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2018’s total was 108 significant final rules.
• So far in 2019, 2 new rules affect small businesses; none of them are classified as significant. 2018’s totals were 660 rules affecting small businesses, 29 of them significant.

All of last week’s new final regulations:

• A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive for cockpit displays.
• The Labor Department is inflation-adjusting its penalties for civil offenses.
• Tracking workplace injuries.
• Alaskan crabbing vessels acting as fishing vessels.

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

Last week, people got worked up over hamburgers and a television commercial about razors. Meanwhile the partial federal shutdown continued, and a bill to introduce a $15 federal minimum wage was introduced. Tuesday’s one-page Federal Register may have set a record for brevity, with just one agency notice and no new regulations. Regulations that did appear during the week range from Chinese archaeology to Rolls-Royce engines.

On to the data:

• Last week, 10 new final regulation was published in the Federal Register, after 1 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 16 hours and 48 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 12 final regulations in 2019. At that pace, there will be 231 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,367 regulations.
• Last week, 85 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 69 pages the previous week.
• The 2019 Federal Register totals 194 pages. It is on pace for 3,731 pages. The 2018 total was 68,082 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. No such rules have been published this year, with just one since last June 12. Six such rules were published in 2018.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2019’s economically significant regulations is currently zero. The 2018 total ranges from $220.1 million to $2.54 billion, depending on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published no final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2018’s total was 108 significant final rules.
• So far in 2019, no new rules affect small businesses; none of them are classified as significant. 2018’s totals were 660 rules affecting small businesses, 29 of them significant.

All of last week’s new final regulations:

• A new restriction on Chinese imports—though this time it’s for archaeological materials, and not part of the current trade spat.
• Also, Bulgaria.
• More fishing restrictions here, here, here, here, and here.
• The Veterans Affairs Department is updating its claims and appeals processes.
• A Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation rule for calculating interest on terminated single-employer plans.
• An Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive for certain Boeing 787s with Rolls-Royce engines.

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

The first chapter in the new Competitive Enterprise Institute agenda for Congress, “Free to Prosper,” is on regulatory reform. Most of the Agenda is about reforming specific regulations. It is also important to focus on the rulemaking process itself—a better game needs better rules. For Congress, that means restoring a separation of powers. For several decades now, the executive branch has been growing too powerful. This rule change has been disastrous—federal regulations now comprise more than 180,000 pages and cost about $1.9 trillion every year. Congress should restrain an out-of-control executive branch by:

• Defunding unapproved agency initiatives, and, where applicable, using the Congressional Review Act to rein in agency overreach.
• Improving regulatory disclosure, transparency, and cost analysis of regulations and guidance. A first step could be to implement a regulatory report card to tally regulatory costs and flows in a user-friendly way, and promote more accurate reporting to enable analysis of the regulatory enterprise by third parties.
• Implementing a bipartisan regulatory reduction commission and regulatory sunsetting procedures.
• Requiring votes on major rules—those with estimated annual costs of $100 million or more. One option is to enact the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.
• Implementing a limited regulatory cost budget.

These reforms should apply to independent agencies, not just cabinet-level agencies. They should also apply to regulatory dark matter—the notices, guidance documents, and other materials that agencies use to regulate outside of the required notice-and-comment rulemaking process.

For more, read “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 116th Congress.”

Happy new year. The new 116^th Congress was sworn in last week, and the partial federal shutdown continued. Some of 2018’s year-end regulatory data is now available. Wayne Crews crunched some numbers here and here, garnering coverage in the Washington Examiner, Investor’s Business Daily, and elsewhere.

Right now is a weird time for regulation. The shutdown has lasted for several business days, and the Federal Register has slowed to a trickle. Wednesday and Thursday’s edition, for example, contained a combined zero proposed regulations and zero final regulations. Thursday’s edition was one page long, consisting solely of two notices, which might be a record. An average day’s edition contains about 270 pages and more than a dozen new final regulations.

For this week’s data, remember that the shutdown is throwing a wrench into the projections for 2019 totals. Also note that they line up with the calendar year, which started mid-week. For now, just consider the projections a form of entertainment. They will likely return to normal levels after the shutdown ends. As with previous shutdowns, the net impact on regulatory output will likely be about nil. Agencies are changing when they publish, not how much they publish.

New rules last week, such as they were, range from Alaskan airspace to California safety zones.

On to the data:

• Last week, 10 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 92 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 16 hours and 48 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1 final regulation in 2019. At that pace, there will be 84 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,367 regulations.
• Last week, 439 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,599 pages the previous week.
• The 2019 Federal Register totals 33 pages. It is on pace for 2,750 pages. The 2018 total was 68,082 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. No such rules have been published this year, with just one since last June 12. Six such rules were published in 2018.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2019’s economically significant regulations is currently zero. The 2018 total ranges from $220.1 million to $2.54 billion.
• Agencies have published no final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2018’s total was 108 significant final rules.
• So far in 2018, 656 new rules affect small businesses; 29 of them are classified as significant. 2018’s totals were 660 rules affecting small businesses. 29 of them were significant.

Highlights from selected All final rules published last week:

• Four Federal Aviation Administration rules for airworthiness directives (1, 2) and Alaskan airspace (1, 2).
• An Internal Revenue Sservice rule for tax-exempt private activity bonds.
• A Coast Guard safety zone in Marina Del Rey, California.
• The Environmental Protection Agency approved an air quality plan for El Dorado County, California.
• Inflation adjustment for the Surface Transportation Board’s penalties.
• An update to the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
• Fishing quotas for Alaska pollock.

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

The shutdown continued all through Christmas week. But because the Federal Register works on a few days lag for many of its publications, it still had plenty of activity. It will also continue daily publication throughout the shutdown. But if the shutdown lasts much longer, the Register will likely go into a near hibernation, with daily page and rule counts possibly going into single digits.

The net impact of the shutdown will likely be near-zero. Notices and regulations would be published at different times, rather than not at all. Federal employees typically receive back pay for the time they are idled. There is also the matter that roughly 75 percent of the federal government is unaffected by the shutdown. With that context out of the way, new rules range from the last week range from kiwi fees to hydropower recreation.

On to the data:

• Last week, 92 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 82 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 50 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 3,372 final regulations in 2018. At that pace, there will be 3,386 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,236 regulations.
• Last week, 1,599 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,641 pages the previous week.
• The 2018 Federal Register totals 67,676 pages. It is on pace for 67,949 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. Six such rules have been published this year, one in the last week—the first since June 12.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2018’s economically significant regulations ranges from $220.1 million to $2.54 billion. Until last week, the net costs were actually net savings.
• Agencies have published 108 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year.
• So far in 2018, 656 new rules affect small businesses; 29 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Recreational opportunities at licensed hydropower projects.
• Some tinkerings to the National Organic Program.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service is going to publish its fees in the Federal Register and on its website instead of in the Code of Federal Regulations.
• Speaking of which, California kiwi farmers are getting a fee decrease, courtesy of the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee.
• Here’s the bump-stock gun regulation that caused some recent controversy.
• Updated definitions of “small bank,” “small savings entity,” and other classifications for Community Reinvestment Act purposes.
• The Energy Department is adjusting its fines for inflation.
• So are U.S. Customs, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• The trispot darter is now a threatened species.

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