Inertia Wins!

The newest batch of federal regulations cover everything from municipal fireworks shows to Venezuelan sanctions. On Monday, the Federal Register will likely pass the 40,000-page mark.

On to the data:

• Last week, 56 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 91 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every three hours.
• So far in 2015, 1,658 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,140 new regulations this year, which would be several hundred fewer rules than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,647 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,478 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 39,905 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 75,578 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Fifteen such rules have been published so far this year, one in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.16 billion to $1.25 billion for the current year.
• 138 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 281 new rules affect small businesses; 43 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• A The FDA is delaying its calorie-count regulations for restaurants and grocery stores until after the 2016 election.
• Sanctions against Venezuela.
• A new FCC regulation will make “emergency information in video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.”
• 21 new Coast Guard regulations, mostly establishing safety zones for fireworks shows and scheduling when drawbridges go up and down.

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

It was a short work week due to the July 4 holiday, but regulators still managed to publish 34 proposed regulations and more than 90 final regulations covering everything from cranberries to rules of acquisition.

On to the data:

• Last week, 91 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 64 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 51 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 1,602 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,071 new regulations this year, which would be several hundred fewer rules than the usual total of 3,154-plus.
• Last week, 1,478 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,343 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 38,258 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 75,312 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Fourteen such rules have been published so far this year, one in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance cost of 2015’s economically significant regulations ranges from $1.14 billion to $1.22 billion for the current year.
• 133 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 269 new rules affect small businesses; 40 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• A newly revised 75-page definition of “waters of the United States” is so broad we at CEI half-jokingly refer to it as “moistures of the United States.” The EPA apparently also has a sense of humor, arguing that “This rule establishing the definition of ‘waters of the United States,’ by itself, imposes no direct costs,” then declines to offer any cost estimates, direct or indirect.
• A liberalizing of beef imports from Brazil will cause a small harm to domestic beef producers, but will have huge benefits for consumers, to the economically significant tune of $358.36 million in net benefits. It is rare that diffuse, lobbyless consumers win out over a concentrated, politically connected group of producers, so this partial deregulation (importers will have to obey strict requirements) is worth celebrating. A similar, but smaller rule does the same for Argentina.
• Energy efficiency testing rules for ovens. And for packaged terminal air conditioners and heat pumps.
• 16 new rules of acquisition. Read them all here.
• The federal government has a Cranberry Marketing Board. Doing some basic math from the numbers on its homepage, the average cranberry worker makes more than $300,000 per year, so they hardly need government assistance. Even so, growers must report their sales history to the Board.
• Following the recent nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, the SEC is revising its in-house definitions of “marriage” and “spouse” to bring them up to speed. Other agencies will likely follow suit in the coming months.
• The Mount Charleston blue butterfly is the unwitting recipient of 5,214 acres of critical habitat in Nevada.

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

The big news from last week was the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, which upheld the IRS’ right to issue regulations directly contradicting legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president. But other agencies also issued more than 60 new regulations covering everything from cotton farmers’ conduct to infant formula.

On to the data:

• Last week, 64 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 81 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 38 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 1,511 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,071 new regulations this year, which would be several hundred fewer rules than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,343 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,542 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 36,780 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 74,757 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Thirteen 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 $1.50 billion to $1.57 billion for the current year.
• 125 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 261 new rules affect small businesses; 37 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New electronic stability control systems for heavy vehicles, courtesy of this new62-page regulation, will cost an estimated $113.6 million.
• Anti-vaxxers must have good lobbyists, because the federal government isexpanding its vaccine injury compensation program.
• If you live in a rural area and make renewable biofuels, you might be eligible for a share of $50 million in government subsidies this year and next.
• Now that it’s 2015, the Agricultural Marketing Service is allowing farmers to submit more of their forms electronically.
• The federal government has a Cotton Research and Promotion Board—which even has its own hall of fame. If you want to join the program, here are new rules of conduct you must follow during the sign-up period.
• New selenium regulations for infant formula.

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

The Federal Register passed the 35,000-page mark with new regulations covering everything from food additives to chimpanzees.

On to the data:

• Last week, 81 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 64 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 4 minutes.
• So far in 2015, 1,446 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of exactly 3,064 new regulations this year, which would be several hundred fewer rules than the usual total of 3,500-plus.
• Last week, 1,542 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,752 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 35,437 pages, the 2015 Federal Register is on pace for 75,078 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Eleven 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 $1.39 billion to $1.46 billion for the current year.
• 119 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2015, 255 new rules affect small businesses; 35 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The Department of Health and Human Services is doing a bit of housekeeping by removing what it terms “obsolete regulations.” More agencies should do this on a regular basis.
• The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission added an address change to 1611.3, paragraph (b)(3) of 29 CFR 900-1899.
• The Treasury Department will now set the interest rate on secure immigration bonds.
• The FDA gave the green light to a food additive called TBHQ.
• All chimpanzees, whether wild or captive, are to be treated as an endangered species.
• As part of the loosening of the Cuba embargo, the Foreign Assets Control Office is amending its in-house list of state sponsors of terrorism.
• Seven substances will continue to be allowed in organic food, as the Agricultural Marketing Service defines the term.

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