The week in regulations: Bird hunting and food coloring

The Federal Register’s website became less transparent about rule counts and other data. President Trump threatened to send the military into a third city. The federal government acquired a 10 percent stake in Intel, and may take part ownership of other chipmakers. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from medical devices to construction site lights.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 54 final regulations last week, after 44 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and seven minutes.
• With 1,652 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,565 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,248 final regulations in 2024, 3,018 in 2023, and 3,168 in 2022.
• Agencies issued 52 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 18 the previous week.
• With 1,058 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,643 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,769 proposed regulations in 2024, 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, and 2,044 in 2022.
• Agencies published 427 notices last week, after 376 notices the previous week.
• With 12,961 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 20,126 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,973 in 2022.
• Last week, 1,252 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,419 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 256 pages.
• With 41,277 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 64,095 pages.
• For comparison, the 2024 Federal Register has an all-time record 107,261 pages. The 2023 edition has 90,402 pages, and the 2022 Federal Register has 80,756 pages.
• Rules with $200 million or more of economic effects in at least one year qualify as major under Section 3(f)(1). This replaced the former economically significant tag for $100 million-plus regulations.
• However, the $100 million economically significant tag is now revived under a Trump Executive Order, and the $200 million 3(f)(1) tag is going away. We will likely see rules from both categories this year.
• There are four 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for six 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 20 3(f)(1) significant regulations in 2024, 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, and 43 economically significant rules in 2022. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• This year’s section 3(f)(1) and economically significant regulations have estimated costs ranging from $1.94 billion to $22.64 billion.
• For context, the cost tally for 2024’s 3(f)(1) significant regulations is net savings of $16.42 billion to 26.45 billion. 2023’s 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations estimated costs range from $62.60 billion to 90.48 billion. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range from $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There was one new final regulation last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after none the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 78 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 121 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 415 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 665. Seventeen of them are significant, on pace for 27. Due to changes at FederalRegister.gov, this statistic can no longer be tracked. It was current as of August 15, 2024.
• For comparison, in 2024 there were 770 regulations affecting small businesses, 76 of them significant. In 2023 there were 789 regulations affecting small businesses, 79 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• The FCC is removing some of its obsolete regulations.
• Authenticating phone calls.
• Continuing education requirements for actuaries.
• The Transportation Department is no longer going to establish a consumer complaint hotline.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service is inflation-adjusting its civil monetary penalties.
• Migratory bird hunting.
• The Rural Business-Cooperative Service, the Rural Housing Service, and the Rural Utilities Service are repealing 7 CFR part 1930.
• Technical corrections and deadline extensions from the EPA.
• HHS is revoking superseded regulations.
• Calcium phosphate food coloring.
• Galdieria extract blue food coloring.
• Butterfly pea flower extract food coloring.
• Medical device classification for laparoscopic gastrointestinal sizing tools.
• Medical device classification for orthopedic manual surgical instrumentation for use with non-fusion spinous space devices.
• Medical device classification for orthopedic manual surgical instrumentation for use with total sic replacement devices.
• Medical device classification for mutation detection tests for myeloproliferative neoplasms.
• Medical device classification for pharmacogenetic assessment.
• Medical device classification for menopause test systems.
• Medical device classification for cancer predisposition risk assessment systems.
• Medical device classification for multiplex respiratory panels to detect and identify emerging respiratory pathogens.
• Medical device classification for liver iron concentration imaging companion diagnostics for deferasirox.
• Medical device classification for postnatal chromosomal copy number variation detection systems.
• Medical device classification for anti-phospholipase A2 receptor immunological test systems.
• Medical device classification for the device that detects nucleic acid sequences from microorganisms associated with vaginitis and bacterial vaginosis.
• Rescinding regulations for advance construction on federal construction projects.
• Pipeline standards.
  
  

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on vinyl chloride.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on ethylene oxide.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on exposure to COVID-19 in healthcare settings.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on respirators.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on methylene chloride.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on lead.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on inorganic arsenic.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on inherently risky professional activities.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on formaldehyde.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on cotton dust.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on construction site lighting.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on coke oven emissions.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on cadmium.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on benzene.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on asbestos.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on acrylonitrile.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on 1,3-Butadiene.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on 13 carcinogens.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on methylenedianiline.
• OSHA is extending the comment period for a proposed regulation on 1,3-dibromo-3-chloropropane.
• The FCC is modernizing NEPA rules.
• Swine slaughterhouse inspections.
• Student loan subsidies.
• Misusing the FDIC’s logo.
• Mobulid ray retention.
• Business size standards from the Small Business Administration for subsidy-giving purposes.
• The CFPB is reconsidering personal financial data rights.
• Publicizing delinquent debtor identities.
• FCC rules for phone bills.

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter. See also CEI’s Agenda for Congress.