This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

Retail sales declined 16.4 percent in April, setting a new record low for the second month in a row. Congress returned to Washington, putting the economy in further danger. Meanwhile, regulatory agencies issued new final regulations ranging from foreign journalists to dog licenses.

On to the data:

• Last week, 47 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 69 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 34 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,155 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,039 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 53 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 841 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,213 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,184 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 450 notices, for a total of 8,278 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 21,784 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 2,036 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,323 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 29,589 pages. It is on pace for 77,866 pages. The 2019 total was 76,288 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (which subtracts 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. Three such rules have been published this year. Four such rules were published in 2019.
• The running cost tally for 2020’s economically significant regulations ranges from net savings of between $1.38 billion and $4.19 billion. 2019’s total ranges from net savings of $350 million to $650 million, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact number depends on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published 26 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 232 new rules affect small businesses; 10 of them are classified as significant. 2019’s totals were 501 rules affecting small businesses, with 22 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Here’s the rule for kicking foreign journalists out the country.
• A tax cut for olive growers in California.
• Licensing provisions and requirements for dogs.
• COVID-related changes to H-2B visas for non-immigrants.
• COVID-related changes the Defense Department’s TRICARE system payments.
• Payment parameters for 2021 under the Affordable Care Act.
• How to certify if a small business is owned by an economically disadvantaged woman.
• Implementation of the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018.
• Data collection and reporting requirements for adopted and foster children.
• Margin requirements for certain swaps transactions.
• The Southern Sierra Nevada Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the fisher, a small, carnivorous mammal related to weasels and martens, is now an endangered species.
• A correction to recent reorganization of Postal Service regulations.

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