This week in ridiculous regulations: Baby formula waivers and phonorecords

The 2023 Federal Register became the second-largest ever, dating back to 1936. A new CEI study makes the case for reforming administrative law courts. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from organic poultry to table saw injury prevention.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 51 final regulations last week, after 53 the previous five-day week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 18 minutes.
• With 2,880 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,988 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,168 new final regulations in 2022, and 3,257 new final regulations in 2021.
• Agencies issued 31 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 38 the previous week.
• With 2,024 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,100 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 499 notices last week, after 590 notices the previous week.
• With 22,025 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,851 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,510 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,284 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 364 pages.
• With 87,328 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 90,603 pages.
• For comparison, the 2022 Federal Register totals 80,756 pages, and 2021’s is 74,352 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (subtracting skips, jumps, and blank pages) is 96,994, set in 2016.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. This recently changed to $200 million. There are 28 such rules so far in 2023, one in the last week.
• This is on pace for 29 economically significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. The higher threshold will likely lower this year’s number.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $90.48 billion to $62.60 billion, according to numbers self-reported by agencies.
• For comparison, the running cost tally for 2022’s economically significant rules ranges from net costs of $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. In 2021, net costs ranged from $13.54 billion to $1992 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were eight regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 280 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 291 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 748 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 776. Seventy-six of them are significant, on pace for 79.
• For comparison, in 2022 there were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant. 2021’s totals were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 101 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Temporarily relaxed raisin standards.
• Seismic damping values for nuclear plants.
• Cyber risk management from the Farm Credit Administration.
• Financing requirements for Jones Act ships.
• A worker safety program from the energy Department.
• Export controls for chip manufacturing equipment.
• Wireless emergency alerts.
• New baby formula rules will make it easier to temporarily waive the regulations that cause shortages.
• Nondisplacement of qualified workers under service contracts. Predictable unintended consequence: shorter-term contracts.
• Civil rights data collection methods for the SNAP program.
• Hydrogenated oil revocation.
• Equitable grant access for rural business programs for tribes and tribal lands.
• Three new Schedule I controlled substances.
• Six new temporarily Schedule I controlled substances.
• Guimbal helicopters.
• Organic poultry standards.
• Corrected supplemental ethical standards of conduct for Defense Department employees.
• Royalty rates for phonorecords.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Small business size standards.
• Table saw injury prevention.
• Extended comment period for new safety standards for residential gas furnaces and boilers.
• Minimum property requirements for VA-guaranteed loans.
• Mail packaging for hazardous materials.
• Energy conservation standards for expanded scope electric motors.
• SIM card fraud.
• Menu labeling guidance.
• An operating manual for national industrial security.
• Lower deck crew rest compartments for Airbus A330s.
• Two new Schedule I controlled substances.
• Tax increase for Idaho onions.

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