The week in regulations: Beet food coloring and crab housekeeping

Culture warriors got upset over the Super Bowl halftime show. A mini-shutdown over ICE funding delayed some labor market indicators. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from modern pilots to heavy-duty maintenance.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 48 new regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new regulation every three hours and 30 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 269 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,690 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,441 final regulations in 2025, 3,248 in 2024, and 3,018 in 2023.
• Agencies issued 28 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 141 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,410 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,498 proposed regulations in 2025, 1,769 in 2024, and 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023.
• Agencies issued 398 notices last week.
• With 2,045 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,450 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,234 Federal Register pages last week.
• With 5,663 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace for 56,630 pages.
• For comparison, the 2025 Federal Register had 61,461 pages, and 2024 had an all-time record 107,261 pages. The 2023 edition had 90,402 pages.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2026 contains 227 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 is one 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulation so far in 2026.
• This is on pace for 10 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2026.
• For comparison, there were 17 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025, 20 in 2024, and 28 in 2023. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• The estimated combined cost of 2026’s 3(f)(1) or economically significant rules is $11.7 billion.
• For context, the cost tally for 2025’s 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations ranged from $16.42 billion to $26.45 billion. 2024’s estimate 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. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were seven final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 27 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 270 significant final regulations in 2026.
• For comparison, there were 155 such regulations in 2025, 339 in 2024, and 290 in 2023.
• So far in 2026, 61 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 610. Two of them are significant, on pace for 20 for the year.
• For comparison, in 2025 there were 597 regulations affecting small businesses, 30 of them significant. 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:

• A correction to zero-based regulatory budgeting rules from FERC.
• California’s rules for heavy-duty vehicle inspection and maintenance.
• Appellate procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals.
• Spirulina extract food coloring.
• Beetroot red food coloring.
• Robocall mitigation database.
• DEA rules for allowing or denying patients access to medicine.
• Regulations for exporting goods to Cambodia.
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a correction to its sunset rule.
• H-2B visa quotas.
• 25-hour cockpit voice recorder requirement.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• The CFTC is withdrawing event contract regulations.
• OPM suitability actions.
• The Forest Service’s project-level predecisional administrative review process.
• Handling regulations for handling California kiwi.
• From the FCC, a petition for reconsideration of action in rulemaking processing application for review of action in rulemaking proceeding.
• Endangered species status for the Fish Lake Valley tui chub.
• The IRS’s Section 45Z clean fuel production credit.
• Crab FMP housekeeping.
• Marine mammal casualties from ice road and trail construction.
• Two notifications from the FAA about modernizing pilot schools.

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