CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation

The number of new final regulations in 2016 passed the 1,000 mark on Friday. Last week’s new rules cover everything from semipostal stamps to vapor recovery.

On to the data:

• Last week, 53 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 61 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 10 minutes.
• With 1,001 final regulations published so far in 2016, the federal government is on pace to issue 3,208 regulations in 2016. Last year’s total was 3,406 regulations.
• Last week, 1,1496 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,284 pages the previous week.
• Currently at 23,968 pages, the 2016 Federal Register is on pace for 76,821 pages. The 2015 Federal Register had an adjusted page count of 81,611.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Seven such rules have been published so far in 2016, none in the last week.
• The running compliance cost tally for 2016’s economically significant regulations ranges from $629 million to $1.46 billion.
• 80 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” have been published this year.
• So far in 2016, 194 new rules affect small businesses; 27 of them are classified as significant. 

Highlights from selected final rules published last week:

• Tuna fishing regulations.
• The Postal Service sells semipostal stamps.
• Food donation regulations, which will no doubt need to be violated or temporarily rescinded the next time a natural strikes and people need help as quickly as possible.
• Gasoline vapor recovery in Vermont.
• The federal government has a Cherry Industry Administrative Board. It has new policies for tart cherries grown in Michigan.
• The Agricultural Marketing Service is ending a block grant program.
• The Energy Department has decided it has the authority to regulate portable air conditioners. Specific testing procedures and energy usage standards will be forthcoming in future rules.
• Whistleblower protections for people who report violations of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act.
• 16 new FAA regulations.