The week in regulations: Fluid milk options and battleship safety zones

The Court of International Trade struck down President Trump’s Section 122 tariffs. The labor force shrank by 92,000 people over the last year. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from higher deportation fees to imported gun parts.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 75 new regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new regulation every one hour and 14 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 947 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,379 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 73 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 665 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,868 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 495 notices last week.
• With 7,363 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,683 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,470 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 25,478 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 71,567 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 286 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 12 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. Two such regulations appeared in the previous week.
• This pace will yield 34 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 $906 million 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 four final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 79 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 222 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, 210 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 590. Twelve of them are significant, making a yearly pace of 34.
• 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:

• Expanding fluid milk options.
• Rail carrier reporting requirements.
• PATRIOT Act regulations for contraband cigarettes.
• Firearms tax remittance.
• External condom classification.
• Staple food stocking standards for retailers participating in SNAP.
• Iran sanctions.
• Venezuela sanctions.
• More Venezuela sanctions.
• Russia sanctions.
• Congo sanctions.
• Sanctions against global terrorism.
• Belarus sanctions.
• Spearmint oil.
• Greenhouse gas emissions disclosure for defense acquisitions.
• The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is eliminating unnecessary regulations.
• ATF regulations for conforming change for approving a making application.
• ATF’s definition of “machine gun.”
• ATF is removing a triplicate filing requirement for importing plastic explosives.
• A Coast Guard safety zone around a battleship.
• Medical device classification for corneal storage medium.
• The Surface Transportation Board is inflation-adjusting its civil monetary penalties.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• FCC regulatory fee assessment and collection.
• FCC national security regulations.
• The ATF is revising Form 4473.
• The EPA is withdrawing a solid waste management unit regulation.
• Converting temporary to permanent imports for defense articles.
• Importing gun parts.
• Firearm activities in foreign trade zones.
• Defining “willfully” for firearms regulations.
• Firearms electronic record-keeping.
• The ATF’s in-house definitions of “adjudicated as a mental defective” and “committed to a mental institution.”
• VA copayment waivers.
• Robocalls.
• The SEC is changing its quarterly reports to semiannual.
• Application fees for delaying a deportation or removal are roughly quintupling.
• Administrative site leases from the Forest Service.
• ATF requirements for using biological sex on its paperwork.
• Firearms records retention periods.
• The ATF’s in-house definition of “business premises.”
• The ATF’s in-house definition of “engaged in the business” as a firearms dealer.
• Brady Act background check exceptions.
• ATF rules for importing training rounds.
• ATF import restrictions from proscribed countries.

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