Inertia Wins!

As mentioned earlier, something of a regulatory midnight rush is happening right now. The Federal Register topped 2,000 pages for the third time in four weeks—a rare accomplishment. It is now on pace to break last year’s all-time record. New rules range from flight simulators to the EPA’s in-house rules for corporate handouts.

On to the data:

• Last week, 68 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 58 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 28 minutes.
• With 1,274 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 3,250 regulations in 2016. Last year’s total was 3,406 regulations.
• Last week, 2,065 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,170 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 32,131 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 81,967 pages. This would exceed the 2015 Federal Register’s all-time record adjusted page count of 81,611.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 11 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 $1.21 billion to $2.20 billion.
• 105 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 250 new rules affect small businesses; 40 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New energy conservation regultions for battery chargers.
• And external power supplies.
• The EPA has a new rule to prevent corruption, which is a surprising problem to have at an agency that dispenses billions of dollars in corporate welfare.
• Flight simulators.
• New restrictions on franchise-model businesses.
• E-cigarettes are now considered hazardous materials in airplane carry-on luggage. Somewhere, George W. Bush smiles.
• Some corrections to OSHA’s recent silica exposure rule.
• Trial lawyers will likely be very happy at the new job opportunities they will get from new Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.

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

The Federal Register broke the 30,000-page barrier last week, with new regulations covering everything from baked beans to e-cigarettes.

On to the data:

• Last week, 58 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 71 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 54 minutes.
• With 1,206 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 3,242 regulations in 2016. Last year’s total was 3,406 regulations.
• Last week, 2,170 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,893 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 30,066 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 80,823 pages. The 2015 Federal Register had an adjusted page count of 81,611.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 11 such rules have been published so far in 2016, one in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.21 billion to $2.20 billion.
• 97 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 238 new rules affect small businesses; 37 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New federal regulations for grading canned baked beans.
• The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new 62-page regulation for “customer due diligence” at financial institutions will have first-year costs of $370 million to $520 million. It will also have significant IT costs, making it a job creator in that industry, though not necessarily a value creator for people.
• The FDA issued a 134-page regulation for electronic cigarettes.
• And a 10-page rule for calculating tobacco taxes.
• The SEC continues to implement the JOBS Act; CEI’s John Berlau has plenty to say on the subject, and has suggestions for further reforms.
• 65,038 acres of land and 20.3 miles of river are now designated critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog.
• A new OSHA rule for tracking workplace injuries and illnesses will cost the private sector an estimated $10.7 million per year.
• The federal government has a Commodity Credit Corporation. It issued a new rule for its Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

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

After a slow start, 2016 is back to a normal regulatory pace. The Federal Register is on a nearly 80,000-page pace, and the number of new rules is just a touch below normal. New rules from the last week range from trawls to FCC emergency alerts.

On to the data:

• Last week, 71 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 65 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 35 minutes.
• With 1,148 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 3,261 regulations in 2016. Last year’s total was 3,406 regulations.
• Last week, 1,893 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,035 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 27,896 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 79,250 pages. The 2015 Federal Register had an adjusted page count of 81,611.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Nine such rules have been published so far in 2016, one in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $843 million to $1.68 billion.
• 88 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 225 new rules affect small businesses; 33 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• A new children’s health insurance regulation under the Medicaid program will cost an estimated $113.8 million this year, with gradually increasing costs in future years. The total estimated cost over the period 2016-2020 is $638.3 million.
• A relatively brief six pages to define the terms “portfolio reconciliation” and “material terms” for swaps transactions.
• Remember those annoying FCC emergency alerts from 1980s television? Not only do they still exist in the age of the smartphone and the Internet, a new regulation is making them multilingual, so the FCC can needlessly annoy even more people.
• The Energy Department deserves credit for enacting a transparency reform. Now, “an interested party can, within a 30-day period after [the] DOE posts a rule establishing or amending an energy conservation standard, identify a possible error in such a rule and request that DOE correct the error before the rule is published in the Federal Register.” Much more to do, but it’s a start.
• Rationalizing trawls.
• In a rather bitter bit of irony, the federal government offers financial assistance for burying Native Americans.
• Federal fire safety requirements for certain health care facilities.

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

As the Federal Register passed the 25,000-page mark, new rules for the week ranged from fluorescent lamps to disaffected youth.

On to the data:

• Last week, 65 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 53 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 35 minutes.
• With 1,077 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 3,244 regulations in 2016. Last year’s total was 3,406 regulations.
• Last week, 2,035 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,496 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 26,003 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 78,323 pages. The 2015 Federal Register had an adjusted page count of 81,611.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Eight such rules have been published so far in 2016, one in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $729 million to $1.56 billion.
• 85 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 203 new rules affect small businesses; 30 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement issued a 152-page rule for drilling on the outer continental shelf. While the rule is economically significant, its included cost estimate is a miracle of opacity, so I am classifying it as the bare minimum of $100 million necessary for its economically significant classification.
• Microloans for farmers.
• How to test fluorescent lamp ballasts.
• The federal government holds a Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth competition.
• The northern long-eared bat will not be receiving designated critical habitat.
• Revisions to federal regulations for shipping grapes to charitable organizations.

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