Federal Register Hits 40,000 Pages

I’m a bit late getting to this, but an SEC “Order Approving Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.” pushed the 2010 Federal Register to the 40,000 page mark on Tuesday.

The Federal Register’s page growth has been accelerating as the year has progressed. It is currently on pace for 76,536 pages. That’s about 2,000 pages more than the Bush administration’s average. In January, the projected page count was only 63,187 pages.

Earlier in the year, an average day’s volume contained 278 pages. Now it’s up to 306 pages per day. As new rules hit the books as required by the health care bill, the financial regulation bill, and other legislation, the pace could pick up further. And if Democrats lose control of Congress, we can expect a very busy lame duck session.

The Code of Federal Regulations already weighs in at 157,000 pages. It will probably be pushing 160,000 before too long.