Category Archives: regulation

It was a short week due to both MLK Day and a large snowstorm in the DC area, but regulators still issued new rules covering everything from potato proteins to Wisconsin air.

On to the data:

• Last week, 59 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 70 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 51 minutes.
• With 153 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 2,875 regulations in 2016.
• Last week, 1,213 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,617 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 3,933 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 70,233 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Two such rules have been published so far in 2016, none in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $321 million to $1.118 billion.
• 17 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 39 new rules affect small businesses; 7 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New rules for exporting livestock and hatching eggs.
• Federal regulations for potato proteins.
• The Banggai cardinalfish is now a threatened species. Harrisson’s dogfish, a small shark native to coastal Australia, will not be listed on the threatened species list—though the Australian government considers it an endangered species.
• The FCC has a plan to revitalize AM radio.
• Microlending for farmers.
• The federal government now officially recognizes the Los Olivos District winemaking area in southern California.
• Iranian sanctions.
• Wisconsin air.
• NASA may officially no longer discriminate against disabled people.
• Another regulation for preventing collisions at sea.
• A combined 7,855 acres of critical habitat for two species of cactus.

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

Things sped up last week after 2016’s slow start. The Energy Department issued the year’s first two economically significant regulations, and other new regulations cover everything from responsible people to injurious slamanders.

On to the data:

• Last week, 70 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 32 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 24 minutes.
• With 102 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 2,550 regulations in 2016.
• Last week, 1,607 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,113 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 2,720 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for exactly 68,000 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Two such rules have been published so far in 2016.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $321 million to $1.118 billion.
• 13 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 25 new rules affect small businesses; 5 of them is classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The EPA is temporarily allowing “Aspergillus flavusAF36 in or on dried figs.”
• 2016’s first economically significant regulation is a 115-page Energy Department rule for commercial HVAC equipment. The present value of its compliance costs range from $7.7 billion to $14.9 billion. Annual cost estimates range from $231 million to $1.028 billion. This factor-of-four difference translates roughly to “we have no idea.”
• The year’s second economically significant rule is a 99-pager, also from the Energy Department, for residential boilers. The cost estimate is not exactly a model of clarity, but the cost of complying with 2015 standards appears to be $90.2 million, with future standards adding costs as they phase in, totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I am sticking with the $90.2 million number for our running compliance cost tally to keep the number as low as possible.
• Good news for college professors and researchers from Chile, Singapore, and Australia who want to visit or emigrate to the U.S.: the Homeland Security Department is loosening your visa requirements.
• Continued implementation of the 2004 U.S.-Australia free trade agreement.
• Restrictions on importing Ancient Roman artifacts.
• A new rule from the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau takes 67 pages to define the term “responsible person.”
• Don’t go hunting for northern long-eared bats.
• If you want to import shell eggs, you may now submit your request electronically.
• Injurious salamanders.
• Good news: a plant species called the Johnston’s frankenia is no longer an endangered species.

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

After a record-setting 2015, 2016 got off to a slow start, with new rules covering everything from vending machines to Nebraskan sludge. Even so, it may be a busy few months until May 17 or so, when a soft deadline for Congressional Review Act enforcement comes into effect. Congress could potentially block most rules issued after that date, so agencies are likely to hurry as many of this year’s rules as possible. Think of it as an early midnight rush.

On to the data:

• Last week, 32 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 67 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every five hours and 3 minutes.
• With 32 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 1,600 regulations in 2016.
• Last week, 1,113 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,401 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 1,113 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 27,825 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. No such rules have been published so far in 2016.
• That means this year’s running compliance cost tally stands at zero. 2015’s estimated tally ranges from $6.18 billion to $8.69 billion.
• 3 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 6 new rules affect small businesses; 1 of them is classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New rules for sewage sludge incinerators in Nebraska.
• Plans to link health care databases to criminal background checks. What could possibly go wrong?
• Energy standards for lights in ceiling fans.
• Indirect Food Additives: Paper and Paperboard Components.
• Another regulation for preventing collisions at sea.
• Energy efficiency standards for vending machines.

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

2015 was a record-setting year, with the Federal Register reaching 82,035 pages. This breaks the previous record by more than 600 pages, or roughly the length of Moby Dick. The number of new regulations, 3,408, is the lowest in decades. But that isn’t necessarily good news for fans of deregulation. An individual regulation can run for hundreds of pages, and often does. Each regulation typically contains numerous individual restrictions in those pages. As it turns out, fewer new regulations doesn’t necessarily mean less regulation—especially since agencies continue to mostly ignore their backlogs of old, obsolete, and redundant rules.

On to the data:

• Last week, 67 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 31 minutes.
• The federal government published 3,408 final regulations have been published in the 2015 Federal Register. This is the lowest total in decades.
• Last week, 1,401 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,402 pages the previous week.
• The 2015 Federal Register set an all-time record with 82,035 pages. The previous record was set in 2010, with 81,405 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 35 such rules were published in 2015, one in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.18 billion to $8.69 billion for the current year.
• 302 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have were published this year.
• In 2015, 548 new rules affect small businesses; 87 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The federal government has a National Dairy Promotion and Research Program. A new regulation revises it.
• The federal government also sells cotton insurance for some reason. Revisions to that program are here.
• The Rural Housing Service has removed a sentence from the 175,000-page Code of Federal Regulations.
• Property confiscation policies are forthcoming for foreign cyber-criminals.
• Catch limits for swordfish in the North Atlantic.
• A new definition of “multiple-award contract” for certain federal contractors. Somewhere, Gordon Tullock is smiling.
• Preferential treatment for farmers who grow organic products. Since organic farming is more land-intensive than modern farming, leaving less land for wildlife, environmental activists should be upset by such special treatment.
• Energy efficiency test procedures for commercial prerinse spray valves.
• If you’re wondering whether or not you need to report your most recent railroad accident to the federal government, the damage threshold for required reporting has increased by one percent.

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

The Federal Register topped 80,000 pages for the year for just the fifth time in its 80-year history, with new rules covering everything from drones to ground beef.

On to the data:

• Last week, 78 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 9 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 3,341 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,395 new regulations this year, fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,402 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,998 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 80,631 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 81,937 pages. This would break the all-time record set in 2010, with 81,405 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 34 such rules have been published so far this year, none in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.18 billion to $8.69 billion for the current year.
• 282 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 524 new rules affect small businesses; 77 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• More testing requirements for commercial heaters and air conditioners, as well as ceiling fan lights.
• Now that it’s 2015, the federal government is allowing importers to submit certain approved paperwork to Customs electronically.
• Two lion subspecies are now listed as threatened and endangered, respectively.
• Regulations for inspecting eggs.
• A correction to the SEC’s recent 229-page crowdfunding regulation.
• A safe space for amorous teenagers? The U.S. Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone in Pleasure Beach Bridge in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• Recordkeeping regulations for grinders of raw beef.
• The FAA wants everyone to register their drones—their odd definition of which apparently includes harmless children’s toys. My colleague Marc Scribner has his thoughts.
• Corporate welfare for paper packaging companies.

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

There are just eight more editions of the Federal Register remaining to be published this year. With new regulations in the last week covering everything from truck drivers to prisoners’ phone calls, it remains on pace to set the all-time record page count.

On to the data:

• Last week, 62 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 55 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 43 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 3,263 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,370 new regulations this year, fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,998 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,307 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 79,229 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 81,838 pages. This would break the all-time record set in 2010, with 81,405 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have estimated annual costs of $100 million or more. Thirty-four such rules have been published so far this year, two in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.18 billion to $8.69 billion for the current year.
• Two hundred and ninety-two final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 524 new rules affect small businesses, with  83 of them classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Renewable energy regulations from the EPA will cost a minimum of $666 million by the end of next year. The maximum estimated cost is $1.924 billion. The difference is a factor of three, which roughly translates to: “We have no idea what this thing will cost.” At 100 pages long, each page of this regulation costs an average of somewhere from $6 million to $19 million.
• Some creative phrasing in a new 126-page regulation for truck drivers’ working hours. Instead of listing costs and benefits, the cost estimate lists “total benefits” of $3.01 billion and “net benefits” of $1.174 billion. Doing math that the government should have done itself, this rule will cost an estimated $1.836 billion.
• The Small Business Administration’s Director of Human Resources shall now be known as the Chief Human Capital Officer.
• The federal government sets the price for prisoners who make interstate phone calls.
• It also regulates heavy element content in wooden toys.
• New regulations for mounting your car’s license plate.
• The EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response will henceforth be known as the Office of Land and Emergency Management.
• Payment restrictions for telemarketers.

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

It was a comparatively slow week for regulations, though agencies still published new rules ranging from bright lamps to train doors.

On to the data:

• Last week, 55 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 3 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 3,201 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,362 new regulations this year, fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,307 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,247 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 77,224 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 81,118 pages. This would be just shy of the all-time record set in 2010, with 81,405 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 34 such rules have been published so far this year, none in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $3.68 billion to $4.93 billion for the current year.
• 288 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 520 new rules affect small businesses; 82 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New energy conservation standards for bright lamps.
• The Modoc sucker is no longer an endangered species.
• New door regulations for passenger trains.
• The federal government is formally establishing a National Language Services Corps.
• The State Department is repealing its civil aviation regulations.

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