The week in regulations: Mariner training and Maryland trash

The federal government’s annual budget deficit hit $2 trillion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged to livestream an execution. Thirty-year Treasury bond interest rates continued to climb. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from invalid transportation specimens to raisin marketing.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 49 new final regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new final regulation every three hours and 26 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 2,318 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,972 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 42 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 1,414 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,813 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 401 notices last week.
• With 16,346 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 19,780 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,615 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 64,749 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 83,012 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 25 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. Two 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 somewhere between net annual savings of $934 billion and net costs of $107 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.
• In the past week there were one final regulation meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 168 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 215 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, 487 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 624. Twenty of them are significant, making a yearly pace of 26.
• 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:

• Impact Aid Programs from the Education Department.
• The Indian Health Service is removing regulations relating to care and treatment of ineligible individuals.
• The Energy Department is withdrawing energy conservation test procedures for commercial warm air furnaces.
• The Forest Service is clarifying purchaser credit rules for timber sale contracts.
• Eliminating obsolete 911 regulations.
• Marketing Order No. 989 for raisins produced from grapes grown in California.
• Medical device classification for STI tests.
• Medical device classification for infant pulse rate and oxygen saturation monitors.
• Medical device classification for hematopoietic cell enrichment kits.
• Medical device classification for hereditary cancer predisposition tests.
• Trash incinerator technology in Maryland.
• EPA construction permit exemptions in Missouri.
• Chrysanthemum white rust.
• HUD benchmarks for low- and very low-income persons and eligible businesses.
• Mandatory data collection of prisoners’ communications.

Highlights from last week’s proposed regulations:

• FDIC rules for extending credit to insiders.
• Optional practical training fees from the Homeland Security Department.
• New filing requirements from US Customs for low-value shipments worth $2,500 and less.
• Marketing Order No. 981 for almonds grown in California.
• Drawbridge schedules in Alabama and Mississippi.
• The Wage and Hour Division is withdrawing a proposed rule.
• A Coast Guard safety zone for the Red Bull Flugtag in Biscayne Bay near Miami, Florida.
• Airspace near Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport in Colorado.
• Crypto custody rules from the SEC.
• Flugzeugbau.
• FAA regulations for lightning.
• The FAA is simplifying physical containment requirements.
• Removing old reporting rules for federal reporting and assessments in child welfare.
• Extended comment period for proposed census questions about residential status and demographics.
• Lithium-ion batteries in micromobility products.

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