The week in regulations: Lead paint and mailing firearms

Gas prices topped $4.00 per gallon. The one-year anniversary of President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs was solemnly observed. Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from first responders’ passports to crop insurance.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 51 new regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new regulation every three hours and 18 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 647 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,527 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 34 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 438 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,711 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 434 notices last week.
• With 5,333 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,832 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,244 Federal Register pages last week.
• With 17,128 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace for 65,754 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 268 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 seven 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2026, with one in the last week.
• This is on pace for 27 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 ranges from net savings of $906 billion to net savings of $132 billion.
• For context, the cost tally for 2025’s 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations ranged from net costs of $219 million to $1.64 billion. 2024’s estimate is net savings of $16.42 billion to $26.45 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, 61 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 238 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, 151 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 590. Ten of them are significant, on pace for 39 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, 106 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Parcel dimension compliance.
• Mine reclamation.
• Rules for off-the-record procedures at the Postal Regulatory Commission.
• Streamlining the Census Bureau’s foreign trade regulations.
• Safety standard for portable hook-in chairs.
• Sound recording royalty rates for subscription services.
• Categorical exclusions from environmental review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
• DEA registration requirements for emergency medical services agencies.
• Safety standards for gates and enclosures.
• Removal of some federal crop insurance regulations.
• Passports for first responders.
• Removing obsolete regulations for alcoholism and drug addiction in the Social Security Act.
• NEPA regulations at the Agriculture Department.
• Flugzeugbau gliders.
• Lead-based paint poisoning.
• Tax decrease for onion growers near Walla Walla, Washington.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Performance-based investment advisory fees.
• Energy conservation standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts.
• Rural housing subsidies.
• Tax rates charged by the Softwood Lumber Board.
• Color additives.
• Whistleblower incentives and protections.
• The Office of the National Cyber Director’s FOIA and Privacy Act policies.
• Subsidies for telecom customers.
• Harmonizing state and federal stablecoin regulations.
• The Personnel Management Office is withdrawing a rule regarding the appointment of administrative law judges.
• Reviews of previously approved nuclear reactor designs.
• Revised standards for mailing firearms.

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