Inertia Wins!

A slow week closed with a bang, with Friday’s Federal Register containing 15 proposed regulations, 25 final regulations, and 502 pages. Throughout the week, new regulations cover everything from bird-hunting to sorghum.

On to the data:

• Last week, 84 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 77 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every two hours.
• So far in 2015, 2,467 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,316 new regulations this year, far fewer than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,301 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,876 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 58,108 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 78,210 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 21 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 $1.69 billion to $1.81 billion for the current year.
• 209 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 400 new rules affect small businesses; 56 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Honda apparently makes jets which have Lithium-ion batteries. New federal regulations regarding.
• New energy efficiency standards for certain kinds of air conditioners and heat pumps.
• New Freedom of Information Act standards for government officials’ gift disclosures.
• Mail management requirements for federal agencies. Hopefully this is an upgrade from shredders and/or trash bins.
• The Cuba embargo continues to loosen, which is a wonderful thing for Cubans and Americans alike. A new regulation, titled “Enhancing Support for the Cuban People,” rather overstates the case. But, by loosening travel restrictions, it is still a step in the right direction.
• Also, “Cuban Assets Control Regulations.”
• Most companies have to earn their own way. But the Energy Department specializes in giving people’s money to energy companies. It is updating it requirements for doing so.
• Late-season migratory bird-hunting regulations.
• The federal government will continue to run its Sorghum Promotion, Research, and Information Program.

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

Agencies last week proposed 51 new regulations, and finalized 77 other rules covering everything from aluminum to Peruvian citrus.

On to the data:

• Last week, 77 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 48 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 11 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 2,383 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,291 new regulations this year, which would be more than 200 fewer rules than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,876 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,322 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 56,887 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 78,574 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 21 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 $1.69 billion to $1.81 billion for the current year.
• 204 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 392 new rules affect small businesses; 56 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• An economically significant regulation for animal food. Its total estimated annualized cost ranges from $135.6 million to $170.7 million.
• The week’s other economically significant rule is from the Veterans Affairs Department, concerning medication copayments. Since the rule is not exactly forthcoming with cost analysis, I am scoring it as costing the bare minimum $100 million necessary for the rule to qualify as economically significant.
• The Defense Department provides child care services for some of its employees. Care providers must pass background checks.
• New S. Customs rule for intellectual property.
• Fresh off its masterful handling of pollution in the Colorado River, the EPA is setting its sights on ocean dumping in southeastern Texas.
• Secondary aluminum production.
• New Zealand might be the world leader in kiwi fruit production, but new regulations allow Chilean kiwi fruit growers to export to the United States.
• The U.S. Postal Service maintains its own courts and judges. Here are their rules of practice lawyers must follow.
• Courtesy of the FDA, “Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food.”
• Importing citrus from Peru.
• Fresh peppers, too.

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