Inertia Wins!

It was the busiest week of the year so far, with more than 80 new regulations. The Federal Register also topped the 10,000 page mark on Monday.

On to the data:

• Last week, 81 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 35 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 4 minutes.
• So far in 2014, 438 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 2,769 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 1,696 new pages were added to the Federal Register.
• Currently at 11,671 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 72,944 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. Six 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 $614 million to $885 million. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• 45 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 89 new rules affect small businesses; 14 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New grading requirements for grapefruit grown in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley. Oranges, too.
• The Justice Department updated its policies for arresting  and interrogating journalists.
• The FDA wisely denied a request to delay a 2008 regulation for irradiating food, which is an effective way to control bacteria and other pathogens.
• The federal government adjusted drawbridge schedules in Rock Island, New York, Lawrence, New York, and Portland, Oregon.
• The Georgetown salamander and the Salado salamander are now threatened species.

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

The federal government took Monday off to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. But even accounting for the short work week, it was another light week on the regulatory front.

• Last week, 35 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 56 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 4 hours and 48 minutes.
• So far in 2014, 362 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 2,586 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 896 new pages were added to the Federal Register.
• Currently at 9,975 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 71,250 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. Six 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 $614 million to $885 million. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• 39 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 72 new rules affect small businesses; 12 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• New federal standards for infant formula.
• If you were planning on fishing for mackerel in the Gulf of Mexico, make sure your daily catch is 500 pounds or less.
• The FAA issued new rules for helicopter air ambulances.
• That was just one of 12 new FAA regulations this week.

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

Yet another snow storm shut down the federal government for a day, but that didn’t stop both the number of new regulations and the Federal Register’s page count from topping last week’s totals.

• Last week, 56 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 55 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every three hours.
• So far in 2014, 327 final regulations have been published in the Federal Register. At that pace, there will be a total of 2,637 new regulations this year. This would be the lowest total in decades; this will likely change as the year goes on.
• Last week, 1,516 new pages were added to the Federal Register.
• Currently at 9,079 pages, the 2014 Federal Register is on pace for 73,218 pages, which would be the lowest total in five years.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Six such rules have been published so far this year, two of them in the past week.
• The total estimated compliance costs of 2014’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from $614 million to $885 million. They also affect several billion dollars of government spending.
• 35 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published so far this year.
• So far in 2014, 61 new rules affect small businesses; 10 of them are classified as significant.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• This week’s economically significant rules both come from the Energy Department. New energy conservation for external power supplies and metal halide lamp fixtures have combined estimated costs ranging from $612 million to $883 million.
• The Coast Guard is relaxing some of its citizenship requirements for fishermen.
• New handling regulations for Irish potatoes.
• Flight crew may no longer use cell phones in the cockpit.
• If you are an international weapons trafficker, you should read this new regulation.

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