The week in regulations: Black boxes and weather reports

The 2026 Federal Register topped 30,000 pages. President Trump’s Justice Department is poised to give him a $1.776 billion fund he can use to reward his political supporters, plus grant immunity for his family from future financial scrutiny. The federal government might take ownership stakes in IBM and other computer companies as part of a new $2 billion government program for quantum computing. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from deportation fees to popcornflowers.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 50 new regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new regulation every three hours and 22 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 1,051 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,654 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 30 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 724 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,828 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,498 proposed regulations in 2025, 1,769 in 2024, and 2,102 in 2023.
• Agencies issued 424 notices last week.
• With 8,288 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,929 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 2,073 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 30,481 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 76,972 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 308 pages.
• Rules with annual economic effects of $100 million or more in at least one year qualify as economically significant.
• During the Biden administration, this category was temporarily scrapped and replaced with a $200 million annual threshold for being called significant under Section 3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866 as amended.
• A 2025 Trump executive order scrapped the $200 million 3(f)(1) threshold and revived the $100 million economically significant category. Because of the length of time the rulemaking process takes, rules under both thresholds are still appearing.
• So far in 2026, there are 13 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. One such regulation appeared in the previous week.
• This pace will yield 33 new regulations in 2026 that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant.
• For comparison, there were 17 new regulations in 2025 that were either 3(f)(1) or economically significant, 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.
• Regulations that are new in 2026 and are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant are estimated to produce net annual savings between $907 billion and $132 billion.
• For context, 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025 had estimated net annual costs of $219 million to $1.64 billion. The figures for 2024 are net annual savings of $16.42 billion to $26.45 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were two final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 83 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 210 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, 238 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 601. Twelve of them are significant, making a yearly pace of 30.
• 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, 106 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Event data recorders.
• FCC rules for broadcasters.
• FCC rules for libraries.
• Real estate lending escrow accounts.
• The rough popcornflower is being upgraded from endangered to threatened.
• ACA payment parameters for 2027.
• Renewable energy incentives.
• Railroad retiree annuities.
• SEC settlement denial policies.
• Rules of practice before the Interior Department.
• DEA authority for administrative subpoenas.
• Travel restrictions for Africans.
• Post-mortem swine slaughter inspections.
• Aluminum content in pesticides.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• The FAA wants to ban remote dispatching.
• FAA rules for weather reports.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for byproduct material use.
• SEC rules for emerging growth company accommodations.
• Manufacturing and procurement quota paperwork from the DEA.
• Fee increases for immigrants deported in absentia.
• Fees for accessing federal data collected on commercial drivers.
• The IRS is holding a hearing on broker sales of digital assets.
• Credit union rules for stablecoins.
• EPA rules for light- and medium-duty vehicle pollutant standards.
• EPA rules for steam electric power.
• Vehicle use in Denali National Park.

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