The week in regulations: Grandfathered driver vision and socializing dogs

The Supreme Court declared President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs unconstitutional. The White House responded by enacting a 15 percent global tariff under a different statute. The EPA rescinded its Endangerment Finding for CO2 emissions. Jesse Jackson passed away. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from locatable minerals to toy guns.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 52 new regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new regulation every three hours and 14 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 359 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,640 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 25 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 210 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,544 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 353 notices last week.
• With 2,831 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,816 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,245 Federal Register pages last week.
• With 8,357 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace for 61,449 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 246 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 two 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2026.
• This is on pace for 15 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 $219 million to $1.64 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 net savings of $908.3 billion to net costs of $100.7 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were five final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 35 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 257 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, 71 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 522. Four of them are significant, on pace for 29 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:

• The EPA rescinded its Endangerment Finding for CO2 emissions.
• Procedural rules for the Federal Mine safety and Health Review Commission’s in-house court.
• Tire load markings.
• Liquid-burning flares.
• Hiring authority for college graduates.
• Marking requirements for toy guns.
• Removing obsolete regulations related to advanced technology.
• Calculating petroleum-equivalent fuel economy.
• The FDA is revoking mutual recognition regulations.
• The FDA is revoking methods of analysis regulations.
• The Land Management Bureau is rescinding rules regarding leasing of solid minerals other than coal and oil shale.
• Fuel tank overfill restrictions.
• Now that it’s 2026, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting electronic driver vehicle inspection reports.
• Grandfathering vision standards for drivers.
• License plate lamps.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Eligibility for housing subsidies.
• Revised safety standards for cribs.
• Locatable minerals.
• The NSIS, or New Swine Slaughter Inspection System.
• The New Poultry Inspection System.
• Universal changing stations.
• Price regulations for Energy Department sales of materials and services.
• Bank appeals process.
• Regulations for breeding and socializing dogs.
• Federal acquisition rules for semiconductors.

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