Inertia Wins!

In a busy week, the Federal Register topped 40,000 pages, with Friday’s edition alone adding 666 pages.

On to the data:

• Last week, 63 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 79 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 40 minutes.
• So far in 2014, 1,812 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,406 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 2,370 new pages were added to the Federal Register, roughly double an average week’s output.
• Currently at 40,571 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 76,262 pages, which would be the lowest total since 2009.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. 22 such rules have been published so far this year, none of them in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance costs of 2014’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from $7.34 billion to $10.57 billion. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• 152 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 336 new rules affect small businesses; 51 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The EPA is rescinding an earlier regulation for labeling pesticide exports.
• A “nonessential experimental population” of Chinook salmon is being released in the Okanogan River sub-basin. Fishermen will not be allowed to catch them.
• New testing procedures for water heater energy efficiency.
• Truck drivers can use software to record their working hours, which are capped by regulations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a new regulation for that software.
• Both Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued rules designating critical habitat for the loggerhead sea turtle.
• The federal government is updating its National Poultry Improvement Plan.
• The FDA is reclassifying transcranial magnetic stimulators for headache relief into Class II.
• The northern Mexican gartersnake and the narrow-headed gartersnake are now threatened species.

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

It was a short work week due to the 4^th of July holiday, but a busy one. Monday’s Federal Register topped 500 pages, and Tuesday alone saw 29 new final regulations.

On to the data:

• Last week, 79 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 86 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 8 minutes.
• So far in 2014, 1,749 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,416 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 1,617 new pages were added to the Federal Register.
• Currently at 38,201 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 74,612 pages, which would be the lowest total since 2009.
• 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 of them in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance costs of 2014’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from $3.96 billion to $4.38 billion. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• 145 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 321 new rules affect small businesses; 48 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New grading requirements for grapefruit.
• New handling regulations for pistachios.
• The Energy Department is instituting new test procedures and energy conservation standards for residential furnace fans.
• 16 new regulations from the Coast Guard; read them all here.
• Scalloped hammerhead sharks are now an endangered species.
• The wood stork is now a threatened species.

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

There were no major regulations this week, but more than 80 little ones, covering everything from a religious exemption to the federal tanning tax to imported cotton.

On to the data:

• Last week, 86 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 78 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 57 minutes.
• So far in 2014, 1,670 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 3,367 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 1,149 new pages were added to the Federal Register.
• Currently at 36,584 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 73,759 pages, which would be the lowest total since 2009.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Nineteen such rules have been published so far this year, none of them in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance costs of 2014’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from $2.33 billion to $2.72 billion. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• One-hundred and forty final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 315 new rules affect small businesses; 46 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• The Food and Nutrition Service updated its information collection procedures for school lunches.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service has adjusted its tax on imported cotton.
• You may have heard of the Snooki tax, which taxes tanning bed use and other indoor tanning services. The IRS has implemented a religious exemption from the tanning tax.
• Now that it’s 2014, the Social Security Administration has devised a way for its form SSA-538 to be submitted electronically.
• It was another busy week for the Coast Guard, with another 24 final regulations this week, again mostly dealing with fireworks shows and drawbridge schedules.
• If you’re planning on exporting old-fashioned cathode ray tubes, check with the EPA first.
• The EPA also withdrew a final regulation for combustion turbine alternative control requirements for the Milwaukee-Racine area in Wisconsin.
• The Philippine cockatoo, yellow-crested cockatoo, and the white cockatoo are now endangered species.

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