Category Archives: regulation

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 81 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 4 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 1,195 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,707 new rules.
• 1,210 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 25,307 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,156 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 19 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $15.2 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. There were a total of 8 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 139 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 27 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 243 final rules affect small businesses. 35 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Another health care bill regulation was published this week, claiming savings of $1.59 billion in Medicare spending over ten years. If the cost estimates are correct, this is the rare economically significant regulation that saves $100 million or more per year. Since the savings are in government spending instead of compliance costs, I am scoring it as zero-cost for this year’s regulatory compliance cost tally. I do the same with rules that increase spending, but not compliance costs.
• An economically significant rule from the Food and Nutrition Service will transfer $1.4 billion over 5 years from the federal government to school lunch programs. Compliance costs (paperwork, etc.) are estimated at $3.7 million over 5 years, so I’m adding a fifth of that, or $740,000, to this year’s regulatory compliance cost tally.
• If you are planning on fishing for any of the 7 species of northeast skate, there are new regulations you should be aware of.
• The Navy Department is revising its rules for avoiding collisions at sea.

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 84 new final rules were published last week, up from 77 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, 1,114 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,674 new rules.
• 1,675 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 24,097 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,238 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 17 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 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. There were a total of 16 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 131 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 21 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 216 final rules affect small businesses. 33 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Federal regulations require commercial drivers to undergo medical examinations to make sure they comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s physical qualification requirements. A new rule from the FMCSA “establishes a training, testing, and registration program that would certify medical professionals as qualified to conduct medical certification examinations of commercial drivers.”
• If you were thinking of importing pomegranates from Chile, there are some new regulations you should be aware of. From the summary, “the fruit would have to be grown in a place of production that is registered with the national plant protection organization of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis [aka the Chilean red false mite – ed.]. The fruit would have to undergo pre-harvest sampling at the registered production site. Following post-harvest processing, the fruit would have to be inspected in Chile at an approved inspection site. Each consignment of fruit would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating that the fruit had been found free of Brevipalpus chilensis based on field and packinghouse inspections.” If you don’t want to through all that, you may use pesticide.
• According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Three Forks springsnail is now an endangered species, and the San Bernadino springsnail is now a threatened species. The Three Forks springsnail is about a fifth of an inch long and is only found in part of a national forest in Apache County, Arizona. 17.2 acres of critical habitat have been designated for it. The San Bernadino springsnail is a tenth of an inch long. Its only known habitat is on a privately owned ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. It gets two acres of critical habitat; this may constitute a regulatory taking if it adversely affects the ranch owner.

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

There are some strange regulations out there:

• Part of the 70,000-page tax code is devoted to alpacas. There is even a website, alpacas-4-sale.com, that asks, “Why not let Uncle Sam help you buy your alpacas?” Good question. After all, under section 179 of the IRS Code, you can deduct up to $24,000 worth of alpaca purchases per year.
• “Bipartisan” usually means “twice as stupid.” For example, the bipartisan transportation bill that passed the Senate and is now under House consideration contains a provision that would give the IRS the power to confiscate your passport if you owe back taxes.
• Barking man cited for violating local noise ordinance. Very, very close to a man-bites-dog story. It also sounds like the guy could use some help.
• A 6-year old Georgia child was handcuffed and put in a police station holding cell for throwing a temper tantrum at school. The local police chief is defending the action, claiming it was done by the book.
• California agencies are required to submit a slew of annual reports to state legislators. For example, California’s Department of Fish and Game is legally required to submit an annual report on how many kangaroos are hunted in Australia each year. Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a plan this week to eliminate 718 (!) of these “unnecessary bureaucratic” reports.
• The EPA spent part of its $10 billion-plus budget to create an online video game called Greenquest.

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 77 new final rules were published last week, the same number as 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, 1,030 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,625 new rules.
• 1,475 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 22,426 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,243 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 17 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 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. There were a total of 7 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 121 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 13 of last week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 195 final rules affect small businesses. 30 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• This week’s economically significant rule is part of the health care bill. It makes changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Drug Benefit programs. Its cost is primarily increased government spending, not private sector compliance, so I am scoring it as zero-cost in our running tally. How much new spending is there? “We estimate that the Discount Program will increase Medicare costs by $1.3 billion during FY 2013 through FY 2018.” But that isn’t the only new spending.“The costs to the Federal government associated with these provisions, as scored in the April 15, 2011 final rule (76 FR 21432), were estimated to total $3.6 billion during FY 2011 through FY 2016.”
• The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service passed a rule liberalizing the federal government’s golden nematode policy.
• Our friends at the Agricultural Marketing Service are decreasing the assessment rates for pistachios and dried prunes (note the redundant phrasing; prunes are dried plums) grown in certain states. They are also raising the assessment rates for mangoes. Assessments are involuntary fees collected from farmers based on how much they grow.

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

• 77 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 11 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, 953 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,596 new rules.
• 1464 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 20,951 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,176 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 15 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 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. There were 11 significant actions last week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. So far, 118 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
• 17 of this week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 182 final rules affect small businesses. 29 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• A new Dodd-Frank-inspired rule regulating swap dealers could potentially be very expensive. Between paperwork, recordkeeping, and buying new phone systems that will record all transaction-related calls, it could add up to a very large cost. But, “Based on the available data, the Commission has been unable to reliably quantify the cost of compliance with the recordkeeping rules.” Independent commenters have given estimates ranging from $75 million to $500 million. The rule is not classified as economically significant.
• The FAA has jurisdiction over commercial space travel regulation. Historically, the legal basis for this was in Title 49, chapter 701 of the U.S. Code, or 49 U.S.C. chapter 701 in the official format. In 2010, Congress pulled a switcheroo and moved it to 51 U.S.C. chapter 509. Confusion reigned. Fortunately, a new FAA rule published on Thursday clears things up and corrects obsolete citations in the Code of Federal Regulations.
• Federal prisoners have always been allowed to publish. But regulations prohibited them from doing so with a byline. The fear was that they might profit from their crimes or become famous, and thus a security risk. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Prisons published a rule repealing that regulation. It becomes effective on May 3. The change is the result of a 2007 lawsuit. Mark Jordan, a convicted murderer, published several articles about prison life in Off! Magazine under his own name. He was punished, and successfully sued.

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  76 new final rules were published last week, up from 75 the previous 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, 876 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,563 new rules.
•  2,191 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 19,487 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 78,577 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 15 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 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.
•  There were 18 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. Two of them are economically significant. So far, 112 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  15 of this week’s final rules affect small business. So far this year, 165 final rules affect small businesses. 28 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• OSHA is revising its standards for hazard communication. The changes include “revised criteria for classification of chemical hazards; revised labeling provisions that include requirements for use of standardized signal words, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary statements; a specified format for safety data sheets; and related revisions to definitions of terms used in the standard, and requirements for employee training on labels and safety data sheets.” The estimated annual cost is expected to be $201 million.
•  Regulations from the health care bill continue to hit the books.  One new rule, which sets standards for health insurance exchanges, is expected to cost $900 million in 2012. The total estimated cost from 2012-2016 is $3.4 billion.
• The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has a new rule on “Disparate Impact and Reasonable Factors Other Than Age Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act”

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

Just another week in the world of regulation:

•  75 new final rules were published last week, up from 72 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All in all, exactly 800 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year. If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,528 new rules.
•  1,386 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 17,296 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 75,860 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 13 such rules published so far in 2012 cost at least $15.2 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.
•  There were 18 significant actions this week, as defined by Executive Order 12866. Three of them are economically significant. So far, 105 significant final rules have been published in 2012.
•  So far this year, 150 final rules affect small businesses. 25 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published this week:

• The biggest regulation of the week came out on Friday to implement part of the health care bill. A change in Medicaid eligibility requirements would increase federal spending by $164 billion over five years by OACT’s estimate. CBO estimates a $162 billion spending increase over 5 years. That’s an average of $32.4 to $32.8 billion per year. For Battered Business Bureau purposes, I am listing its cost as zero since its main cost is on-budget government spending, not off-budget compliance costs.
•  A new rule governing living organisms inside ships’ ballast waters will cost $92 million per year, but it’s still classified as economically significant. As originally proposed, it would cost an estimated $167 million per year.
• Another health care regulation covering “Standards related to Reinsurance, Risk Corridors, and Risk Adjustment” will cost nothing in 2012 or 2013. But it will cost $11 billion in 2014, and rise to $18 billion in 2015 and 2016. For Battered Business purposes, I have listed its cost as zero for 2012’s regulatory costs.

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