Category Archives: regulation

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• It was a short work week because of the July 4 holiday, but 71 new final rules were still published, down from 101 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 22 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 2,055 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 4,001 new rules.
• 1,102 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 40,184 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,277 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 25 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.5 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.
• No economically significant rule was published last week. So far, 211 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 376 final rules affect small businesses. 58 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• A new Navy Department rule exempts the USS Harry S. Truman from certain international regulations for preventing collisions at sea. So if you find yourself on a boat and you see the Truman, flee.
• Sometimes, marriage is a federal matter. On July 7, Barbara Harder was married in Lake View, New York. The Coast Guard celebrated by publishing a regulation establishing a temporary safety zone in Lake Erie near where the celebratory fireworks show happened. CEI sends its best wishes to Barbara and her new spouse.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service reduced the tax it levies on farmers who grow avocados from 37 cents per 55-pound bushel to 25 cents.
• If you plan on fishing for Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska using jig gear, read this regulation.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 101 new final rules were published last week, up from 77 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every hour and 36 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,979 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 4,002 new rules.
• 1,388 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 39,082 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,544 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 25 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.5 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.
• No economically significant rule was published last week. So far, 206 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 364 final rules affect small businesses. 57 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Under Coast Guard regulations, boats must meet a certain minimum size in order to help out with oil spill relief efforts.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service allows non-organic pectin in organic food if the food producer doesn’t have access to organic pectin. Pectin is a powder made from citrus fruits.
• If you employ child laborers, you should be aware that the federal government has amended its child labor regulations for “Occupations involving the operation of circular saws, band saws, guillotine shears, chain saws, reciprocating saws, wood chippers, and abrasive cutting discs.”
• Want to import Dracaena plants from Costa Rica? Read this regulation first.
• The federal tanning tax.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 77 new final rules were published last week, down from 84 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 11 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,790 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,765 new rules.
• 1,633 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 37,694 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,881 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 25 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.5 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.
• One economically significant rule was published last week. So far, 203 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 340 final rules affect small businesses. 55 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Last week’s economically significant regulation is intended to prevent prison rape. Some people might snicker at the topic, but rape is emphatically not a laughing matter. The price tag for this rule is $6.9 billion from 2012-2026, or an average of $486.5 million per year. With about 2.3 million people incarcerated nationwide, that’s a little over $200 per prisoner per year.
• The 70,000-page tax code got a little longer on Monday, and again on Friday.
• The Transportation Department is revising its program for disadvantaged airport concession workers.
• The western snowy plover, an endangered bird, is the recipient of 24,257 acres of critical habitat and a new taxonomy, courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The former Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus is now known as Charadrius nivosus nivosus.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

This New Yorker cartoon reminds of Joe Stigler’s adage that intentions do not equal results. Click the image to enlarge.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 84 new final rules were published last week, up from 65 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every 2 hours — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,713 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,754 new rules.
• 1,934 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 36061 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,718 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 24 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.5 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.
• No economically significant rules were published last week. So far, 195 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• So far this year, 324 final rules affect small businesses. 54 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Summer festivals and July 4^th fireworks celebrations are happening soon all over the country, and the Coast Guard is getting ready for them. They published rules enacting temporary safety zones in Ellison Bay, WI; Sheboygan, WI; Smithfield, VA; Boston, MA; Duluth, MN; Erie, PA; and other places across the country. State and local governments are apparently unable to do this themselves.
• Looks like filovirus testing on non-human primate livers is about to become a little more expensive, thanks to new user fees from the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Hold on to your wallets. The FCC is continuing to implement its National Broadband Plan for Our Future.
• What would Eli Whitney think of this? The EPA regulates cotton gins.
• The dusky gopher frog, previously known as the Mississippi gopher Frog, is the recipient of new critical habitat, courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

For more data, updated daily, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.