Category Archives: regulation

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  82 new final rules were published last week, up from 76 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 2 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• All in all, 2,790 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,853 new rules.
• 1,753 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 58,648 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 79,685 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 39 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $17.4 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• 3 economically significant rules were published last week.
• So far, 280 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 535 final rules affect small business. 75 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• The Fish and Wildlife Service issued three more economically significant rules for migratory bird hunting. Using the same economic analysis from 2008 that the previous rules used, the first, second, and third rule each estimate $205 million to $270 million in consumer surplus, for a total of $615 to $810 million. But they say nary a word about compliance costs, so I’m scoring them as zero-cost in our running tally.
• On October 22, new regulations for Indian casino games will take effect. The rules affect “minimum internal control standards for Class II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to provide comprehensive and updated standards for all aspects of Class II gaming.”  A separate rule sets minimum technical standards for class II gaming systems and equipment.
• Bailouts have reached the world of fruit. If you own trees that caught plum pox, a new regulation from the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service might make you eligible for compensation.
• If you were waiting for the September 19 expiration of import restrictions on archaeological material from Mali, I have bad news. They have been extended for five years.
• The federal government maintains a National Priorities List. The EPA published a new rule on Tuesday updating it.
• The next time you have to serve somebody a legal document, you just might be able to do it electronically.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Some of the stranger recent regulatory happenings:

• A new regulation related to the health care bill takes 18 pages to define what a full-time job is.
• Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania is mulling a dog ban to revitalize its business district.
• If you’re getting a driver’s license in New Jersey, don’t smile.
• Who will watch the watchers? In Prince George’s County, Maryland, police are setting up surveillance cameras to keep an eye on other surveillance cameras.
• Real estate developer cleans up 40 tons of trash from vacant lot, city threatens prosecution.
• Fukyu, a Montreal sushi restaurant, was ordered to take down its signs due to its potentially offensive name. In Japanese, fukyu is not a vulgarity, but rather a martial arts term.
• Another TSA agent is facing child pornography charges.
• New Jersey is mulling requiring dogs to wear seatbelts.

Paul Bedard summarizes Wayne Crews’ new working paper “Tip of the Costberg.” You can read the latest draft here.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  76 new final rules were published last week, up from 51 the previous (holiday-shortened) week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 13 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• All in all, 2,708 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,842 new rules.
• 1,571 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 55,324 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 79,463 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 36 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $17.4 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• 1 economically significant rule was published last week.
• So far, 272 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 521 final rules affect small business. 72 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Last week’s economically significant regulation comes from the EPA. It has set new performance standards for oil refineries under five years old. Estimated compliance costs are $79 million. This is short of the $100 million threshold; it counts as an economically significant rule because EPA estimates benefits ranging from $200 million to $1.9 billion. Something to keep in mind: if an estimate’s range covers nearly a factor of ten, it is usually a fancy way of saying “we have no idea what the benefits will be.”
• The EPA published a more humble rule on Tuesday concerning paper mill emissions. It estimates $5.9 million in capital costs and $2.1 million in annually recurring costs, and wisely declines to quantify benefits, because “we were unable to quantify the emissions reductions associated with the new requirements in the final rule.”
• You may have heard the term “policing for profit,” in which police departments and other agencies take property from people who have not been convicted of crimes. The DEA, a longtime leader of the policing for profit movement, has updated its seizure and forfeiture regulations.
• The federal government regulates where wine producers may say their wine comes from. Last week Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau established the Innwood Valley region in California and the Middleburg Virginia region.
• Updated FAA airworthiness directives for Glasflugel gliders.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

The Daily Caller‘s Michael Bastasch with a nice writeup of some of the research Wayne Crews and I have been working on.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  51 new final rules were published during the Labor Day-shortened week, down from 74 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 3 hours and 17 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• All in all, 2,632 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,839 new rules.
• 1,641 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 55,324 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 79,489 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 35 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $17.3 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• 4 economically significant rules were published last week.
• So far, 266 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 964 final rules affect small business. 71 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Another week, another economically significant migratory bird-hunting regulation. Since it again says nothing about compliance costs, I’m scoring it as zero-cost for this year’s running tally.
• Three new economically significant rules from the health care bill were published last week. First, electronic recordkeeping rules will cost an estimated $181,584,656. Second, assigning every health insurance plan in the country its own unique ID number will cost an estimated $650 million to $1.3 billion. I have used the lower number for the running compliance cost tally.
• The third health care rule regards Medicare payments for inpatient care will win no awards for transparency. The cost estimate provides no totals for its many separate components. Since it appears to affect government spending as opposed to compliance costs, I am scoring it as zero-cost for the running tally.
• If you are interested in storing explosives, you should be aware of a new FAA rule about where you are allowed to site them.
• The FAA is also no longer approving flight plan J-528 because “the route is too short to serve a useful navigation or air traffic control purpose[.]”
• New accountability measures for snapper-grouper fisheries in the South Atlantic.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  74 new final rules were published last week, down from 76 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 16 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• All in all, 2,581 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,872 new rules.
• 2,086 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 53,683 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,946 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 31 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $16.5 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
• Two economically significant rules were published last week.
• So far, 258 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 484 final rules affect small business. 68 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Both of last week’s economically significant rules come from the Fish and Wildlife Service, which sets the rules for hunting migratory birds. The cost analysis in both cases is lacking; they claim that hunters will spend $1.2 billion at businesses in hunting areas, which is well and good. Of course, they would have spent the money elsewhere if they didn’t go hunting, meaning the net effect on GDP is near-zero. And there is nary a word about compliance costs or paperwork hours. As such, I have no choice but to score these rules as zero-cost on the running tally of this year’s economically significant rule compliance costs.
• New federal reporting requirements for cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island.
• The Consumer Safety Product Safety Commission, in accordance with the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, passed a new regulation for children’s play yards.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service is raising its assessment on imported cotton to the same level charged for domestic cotton. The federal government shouldn’t be marketing farm products. That’s what trade associations are for. But if they’re going to do it, at least they’re trying not to give preferential treatment to some producers over others.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.