The week in regulations: Neck floats and glazed bus portals

President Trump opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He also proposed capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent, effective January 20. Venezuelan opposition leader Marina Corina Machado’s gifted Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal in the same week that he threatened to invade Greenland and nearly attacked Iran again. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from cod stocks to fuel economy.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 72 new regulations last week, or one new regulation every two hours and 20 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 121 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,750 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 51 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,159 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 463 notices last week.
• With 818 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 18,591 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 1,239 Federal Register pages last week.
• With 2,284 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace for 51,909 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 208 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 no 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2026.
• This is on pace for zero 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.
• For context, the cost tally for 2025’s 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations ranged from $16.42 billion to $26.45 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 $62.60 billion to 90.48 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, 12 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 250 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, 24 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 545. None of them are significant, on pace for zero.
• 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:

·       Taking marine mammals.

·       Two more Schedule I substances from the DEA.

·       Make it three.

·       Premium processing fees from the Department of Homeland Security.

·       Farm subsidy extensions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

·       The FCC is repealing approximately 21 rule provisions.

·       Implementing decisions from the 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference.

·       Don’t import Costa Rican archaeological artifacts.

·       Or from Morocco.

·       A population segment of the Olympic Peninsula steelhead will not be added to the Endangered Species List.

·       Neck floats.

·       State Department policies for serving legal documents.

·       Homeland Security regulations for religious organizations.

·       NOAA is eliminating some redundant regulations.

·       The Commerce Department is exempting certain emergency relief work from one-time reporting requirements.

·       License review policies for advanced computing devices.

·       Seaman’s Service Awards will now say “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico.”

·       Anti-ejection glazing for bus portals.

·       The Stars and Stripes Media Organization.

·       A Commerce Department survey of international trade.

·       The Commerce Department is removing some appliance labeling regulations.

·       Penalty mail and missing children.

·       Deregulating the Commerce Department’s seal.

·       Performance standards review for stationary combustion turbines and stationary gas turbines.

·       OSHA hazard communication standards.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

·       National bank chartering.

·       The SEC’s in-house definitions of “small business” and “small organization.”

·       Corporate credit unions.

·       Two rules for credit union chartering and membership.

·       Credit union nondiscrimination requirements.

·       Implementing decisions from the 2019 World Radiocommunications Conference.

·       New fuel economy rules for cars.

·       Cod stocks.

·       Prices for market dominant postage products.

·       The Commerce Department is removing some lobbying restrictions.

·       FAA rules for upper vehicle launch stage orbital debris.

·       STEM scholarships for veterans.

·       Treasury redemption.

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