The week in regulations: Carbon nanotubes and colored sausage casings

President Trump enacted new tariffs against more than 60 countries. Some of the Canada tariffs invoke a never-used statute from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from pasteurized orange juice to designating critical habitat.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 66 new final regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new final regulation every two hours and 33 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 1,669 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,959 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 46 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 1,038 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,840 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 397 notices last week.
• With 11,871 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 21,048 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,642 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 46,831 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 83,034 pages.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2026 contains 332 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.
• 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 18 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. No such regulations appeared in the previous week.
• This pace will yield 32 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 $905 billion and net costs of $134 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 four final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 126 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 223 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, 365 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 647. Seventeen 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:

• Financial reporting for subsidized farm loans.
• The Education Department is rescinding disparate impact regulations.
• NEPA rules for multi-walled carbon nanotubes.
• Dusty rockfish.
• Medical device classification for diabetes digital behavioral therapeutic devices.
• Medical device classification for over-the-counter COVID tests.
• Arms trafficking rules for USML Category I firearm suppressors.
• The CPSC is removing obsolete or unnecessary requirements.
• Sausage casing colors.
• And removing obsolete or unnecessary rules regarding infant bouncer seats and stationary activity centers.
• HHS is rescinding anti-discrimination rules.
• So is the Education Department.
• The Government Ethics Office is exempting certain career federal employees from ethics reporting requirements.
• The CFTC is sunsetting certain large trader reporting requirements for physical commodity swaps.
• Endangered status for the key ring-necked snake and the rim rock crowned snake.
• Endangered status for the Florida Keys mole skink.
• Revised Endangered Species Act regulations.
• The Hawaiian stilt is being upgraded from endangered to threatened.
• Revised regulations for designating critical habitat.
• Modernized identity for pasteurized orange juice.
• The Homeland Security Department is rescinding its 2022 public charge rule for refusing immigrants entry into the US.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Deepwater shrimp and precious coral fisheries in Hawaii.
• The EEOC is removing reporting requirements.
• Spearmint oil.
• The California Desert Grape Administrative Committee is decreasing its tax on grapes grown in a designated area of Southeastern California.
• Now that it’s 2026, group health plans may send their customers information electronically.
• Mature orange skins.
• OSHA rules for vinyl chloride.
• And for methylenedianiline.
• And for lead.
• And for inorganic arsenic.
• And for formaldehyde.
• And for 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane.
• And for inorganic arsenic again.
• And for acrylonitrile.
• And for 13 carcinogens.
• And for ethylene oxide.
• And for cadmium.
• And for asbestos.
• And for 1, 3-butadiene.
• Now that it’s 2026, the SEC is proposing to allow certain financial companies to send information to their customers electronically.
• A 12-month finding for a white sturgeon subpopulation’s Endangered Species List status.

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