The week in regulations: Paper packaging promotion and bridge conditions

President Trump ordered National Guard troops to deploy against American citizens. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from hot air balloons to authorizing ski areas.

On to the data:

Agencies issued 65 final regulations last week, after 50 the previous week.
That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 35 minutes.
With 1,021 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,363 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 31 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 54 the previous week.
With 612 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,417 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 405 notices last week, after 354 notices the previous week.
With 8,492 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 19,657 notices this year.
For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,932 in 2022.
Last week, 932 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,066 pages the previous week.
The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 224 pages.
With 24,198 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 56,014 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. We will likely see rules from both categories this year.
There are three 3(f)1 or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with none in the last week.
This is on pace for seven 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025.
For comparison, there were 20 3(f) 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 $1.87 billion to $22.57 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 $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
There were four new final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after none the previous week.
So far this year, there are 61 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 141 significant regulations in 2025.
For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
So far in 2025, 316 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 731. Fifteen of them are significant, on pace for 35.
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. In 2022 there were 912 regulations affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant.