CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week because of the Veterans Day holiday, but agencies still added nearly 1,700 pages to the 2013 Federal Register, which is on track to be the fifth-largest ever despite a two-week shutdown.
On to the data:
- Last week, 66 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 78 new final rules the previous week.
- That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 33 minutes.
- All in all, 3,186 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
- If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,604 new final rules.
- Last week, 1,689 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 68,313 pages.
- At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 77,278 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. No such rules were published last week, keeping the total at 35 so far in 2013.
- The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.42 billion to $11.82 billion.
- So far, 289 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
- So far this year, 629 final rules affect small business; 86 of them are significant rules.
Highlights from selected final rules published last week:
- The FAA had a busy week, issuing 26 final rules. See them all here.
- If two businesses want to merge, the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act often requires them to get permission first from the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC issued a rule changing some of the Hart-Scott-Rodino procedures for pharmaceutical companies.
- The FDA formally approved spirulina extract for use as a safe food coloring additive. Spirulina extract is dried cyanobacteria. Bon apetit!
- If you’ve been longing to import ovine meat from Uruguay, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is giving you the go ahead to satisfy your craving. This rule could cause lamb to become slightly cheaper, depending on demand.
For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.