The week in regulations: Neck floats and stablecoins

Unemployment went slightly up, and inflation went slightly down. President Trump gave a primetime speech, and earlier in the week commented on Rob Reiner and his wife’s murder. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from consumer leasing to executive development.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 56 final regulations last week, after 77 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours.
• With 2,385 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,454 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,248 final regulations in 2024, 3,018 in 2023, and 3,168 in 2022.
• Agencies issued 35 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 33 the previous week.
• With 1,468 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,510 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,769 proposed regulations in 2024, 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, and 2,044 in 2022.
• Agencies published 677 notices last week, after 426 notices the previous week.
• With 18,754 notices so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 19,296 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,973 in 2022.
• Last week, 1,861 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,433 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 247 pages.
• With 59,729 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 61,497 pages.
• For comparison, the 2024 Federal Register has an all-time record 107,261 pages. The 2023 edition has 90,402 pages, and the 2022 Federal Register has 80,756 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. Rules from both categories have appeared this year.
• There are 15 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 15 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 20 3(f)(1) significant regulations in 2024, 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, and 43 economically significant rules in 2022. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• This year’s section 3(f)(1) and economically significant regulations have estimated costs ranging from net savings of $1.68 billion to net costs of $3.55 billion.
• For context, the cost tally for 2024’s 3(f)(1) significant regulations 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. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range from $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were five new final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 147 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 151 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 591 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 608. Twenty-nine of them are significant, on pace for 30.
• For comparison, 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:

• Neck floats.
• Waste prevention and resource conservation rules from the Land Management Bureau.
• Truth in lending.
• Consumer leasing.
• CFTC rules for designated contract markets and registered futures associations.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act disclosures.
• New rules for the WIC program and for infant formula.
• Marine mammal casualties from military exercises near Hawaii and California.
• Pacific cod reallocation.
• Groundfish specifications.
• More Schedule I substances from the DEA.
• Federal management regulations.
• Special treatment of high-risk mortgages.
• IRS tax treatment of entities wholly owned by tribal governments.
• And for tribal general welfare benefits.
• CFTC treatment of transactions involving certain digital assets.
• FERC is rescinding a sunset date from one of its recent regulations.
• Subsidies for missed loan payments.
• Rescission Covid mitigation rules for Head Start Programs.
• A special tax from the FDIC.
• FAA policies for falsified records.
• Medical device classification for electrical tongue nerve stimulators to treat motor deficits.
• Federal Reserve rules for reserve requirements and credit extension after last week’s FOMC meeting.
  
  

And highlights from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Subsistence management for public lands in Alaska.
• IRS rules for relief from joint and several liability.
• The DEA wants to temporarily classify bromazolam as a Schedule I classified substance.
• Two proposals from the FAA for modernizing pilot schools.
• Groundfish specifications.
• More Schedule I substances from the DEA.
• Standards for senior executive service candidate development programs.
• Postal service performance reporting.
• FDIC rules for stablecoins.
• Restrictions on gender-related care for minors.
• A second rule on gender-related care for minors.

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