The week in regulations: FAA ethics and Postal Service justice

Social Security will go bust in 2033. War with Iran is a real possibility. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, as expected. It is still unclear if REINS Act-style reforms will make it into the final reconciliation bill. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from biofuel requirements to horse imports.

On to the data:

Agencies issued 43 final regulations last week, after 48 the previous week.
That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 54 minutes.
With 1,112 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,376 final regulations this year.
For comparison, there were 3,248 final regulations in 2024, 3,018 in 2023, and 3,168 in 2022.
Agencies issued 47 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 29 the previous week.
With 688 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,470 proposed regulations this year.
For comparison, there were 1,769 proposed regulations in 2024, 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, and 2,044 in 2022.
Agencies published 433 notices last week, after 404 notices the previous week.
With 9,311 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 19,895 notices this year.
For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,932 in 2022.
Last week, 1,219 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 919 pages the previous week.
The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 226 pages.
With 26,417 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 56,447 pages.
For comparison, the 2024 Federal Register has an all-time record 107,261 pages. The 2023 edition has 90,402 pages, and the 2022 Federal Register has 80,756 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 are three 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with none in the last week.
This is on pace for six 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025.
For comparison, there were 20 3(f)(1) significant regulations in 2024, 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, and 43 economically significant rules in 2022. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
This year’s section 3(f)(1) and economically significant regulations have estimated costs ranging from $1.87 billion to $22.57 billion.
For context, the cost tally for 2024’s 3(f)(1) significant regulations 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. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range from $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
There was one new final regulation last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after one the previous week.
So far this year, there are 64 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 137 significant regulations in 2025.
For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
So far in 2025, 342 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 731. Sixteen of them are significant, on pace for 34.
For comparison, 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.