Inertia Wins!

The local equivalent of winter weather closed down the federal government last Tuesday, but that day’s Federal Register was still an impressive 1,221 pages, easily one of the year’s largest.

On to the data:

• Last week, 56 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 95 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours.
• All in all, 3,474 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,619 new final rules.
• Last week, 2,339 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 75,432 pages. This year’s Federal Register is already the 7^th largest in its 78-year history.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 78,575 pages, which would be good for fifth all time. The current record is 81,405 pages, set in 2010.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Three such rules were published last week, for a total of 40 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.42 billion to $11.83 billion.
• So far, 315 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 683 final rules affect small business; 98 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Two of this week’s economically significant rules (1, 2) are from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both rules affect spending and not compliance costs, so I am scoring them as zero-cost in our running compliance cost tally. The second rule’s cost estimate in particular stands out for its opacity.
• The third economically significant rule also involves health care, but it comes from the Defense Department. It also affects spending but not compliance costs, so I am scoring it as zero-cost. It estimates savings to the DoD of $120 million, plus $28 million in reduced copayments.
• Some time ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established speed limits for larger ships to prevent collisions with North Atlantic right whales. The rule came with a sunset, meaning it would automatically expire after a certain amount of time. On Monday, the NOAA removed the sunset, making the rule permanent.
• New safety standards for infant bath seats, toddler beds, and full-size baby cribs.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service issues eagle permits.

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

Regulators took advantage of the full-length work week by publishing nearly 100 regulations, running the gamut from mad cow disease to falconry federalism.

On to the data:

• Last week, 95 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 77 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 46 minutes.
• All in all, 3,418 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,636 new final rules.
• Last week, 1,699 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 73,093 pages. This year’s Federal Register is already the 11^th largest in its 78-year history.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 77,759 pages, which would be good for fifth all time. The current record is 81,405 pages, set in 2010.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. One such rule was published last week, for a total of 37 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.42 billion to $11.83 billion.
• So far, 305 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 672 final rules affect small business; 91 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• This week’s economically significant rule will lower the government’s Medicare payments by an estimated $200 million. Since this affects government spending and not compliance costs, I am scoring this rule as zero-cost in our running compliance cost tally.
• New safety standards for hand-held infant carriers. Somewhere, a trial lawyer is salivating.
• Two new regulations for fishers of Pacific cod.
• The IRS is changing its tax treatment of certain types of dividends for certain types of people.
• You may now ride a bicycle at the redundantly named New River Gorge National River, provided you stick to the trails.
• In a nice little bit of corporate welfare for the green products industry, the Rural Utilities Service offers financial assistance to people meeting certain qualifications if they purchase approved energy-efficient products.
• Falconry federalism.
• The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is harmonizing its mad cow disease regulations with the World Organization for Animal Health’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
• The FAA issued a regulation for NASA astronauts.

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

Like most of the country, the federal government shut down for Thanksgiving. Despite the short work week, agencies still produced a roughly average number of regulations, while the Federal Register emphatically broke the 70,000-page barrier. There were an impressive 18 new regulations that affect small businesses; perhaps small business owners should be thankful it wasn’t an even worse week.

On to the data:

• Last week, 77 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 60 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 11 minutes.
• All in all, 3,323 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,612 new final rules.
• Last week, 1,794 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 71,394 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 77,516 pages, which would be good for fifth all time. The current record is 81,405 pages, set in 2010.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. One such rule was published last week, for a total of 36 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.42 billion to $11.83 billion.
• So far, 297 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 650 final rules affect small business; 88 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• This week’s economically significant regulation comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. New crash protection standards will bring an estimated $21.8 to $158.6 million in benefits. This wide, yet precise range reminds of the late William Niskanen’s observation that numbers to the right of the decimal point exist mostly to prove that economists have a sense of humor. NHTSA also estimates the new standards will cost $6.4 to $7.0 million.
• Satellite carriers pay a royalty fee for their secondary transmissions. As of January 1, 2014, that rate will undergo a cost-of-living increase of one percent.
• If you want to fish for red porgy for a profit, make sure you read this new regulation.
• Catchiest title of the week: Octadecanoic Acid, 12-Hydroxy-, Homopolymer, Ester With 2-Methyloxirane Polymer With Oxirane Monobutyl Ether; Tolerance Exemption
• Second catchiest: Need for Agency Approval of a Railroad’s Use of Certain Technology That Has Been Previously Approved for Use by a Different Railroad

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