The week in regulations: Poultry improvement and painful scars

The federal government shut down on Wednesday. Thursday’s Federal Register had 60 final regulations; normal is about 10. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew in hundreds of generals from around the world and lectured them. New tariffs took effect on pharmaceuticals, trucks, and furniture. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from pelagic resources to smelting lead.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 97 final regulations last week, after 62 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 44 minutes.
• With 2,023 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,662 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 37 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 21 the previous week.
• With 1,232 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,622 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 427 notices last week, after 431 notices the previous week.
• With 15,561 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 20,475 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,973 in 2022.
• Last week, 1,641 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,109 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 253 pages.
• With 48,117 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 63,312 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 eight 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with three in the last week.
• This is on pace for 11 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 $702 million to $21.90 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 eight new final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after four the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 100 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 143 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 509 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 670. Twenty-one of them are significant, on pace for 28. Earlier transparency problems at FederalRegister.gov affecting this and other statistics have been fixed as of October 3, 2025. Our thanks to the people responsible.
• 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:

• Gardenia blue food coloring.
• Russia sanctions.
• Iran-related determination.
• Iran sanctions.
• Tax preparer user fees.
• The National Poultry Improvement Plan.
• Revised firearms license requirements.
• Accommodating air travelers in wheelchairs.
• Delegating electric reliability filings.
• The EEOC is inflation-adjusting its penalty for not posting its notices in prominent workplace locations.
• Wage garnishments for postal workers.
• Pelagic resources.
• Establishing the Tyron Foothills viticultural area.
• Removal of obsolete regulations for tobacco floor stocks taxes.
• Commercial driver’s licenses for foreigners.
• EPA water quality standards for the Delaware River.
• Rebuilding overfished salmon populations.
• Subsidized small business loans.
• Wage controls for workers on H-2A visas.
• Raumfahrt gliders.
• Twenty rules for pipeline safety.
• A new ordering system for controlled substances.
• Telehealth restrictions for veterans.
• CFTC operating procedures during shutdowns.
• The Federal Reserve lowered the IORB, or rate of interest paid on balances, from 4.40 percent to 4.15 percent.
• The Fed also decreased the primary credit rate at each Federal Reserve Bank.
• Renaming Coast Guard districts.
• Changes to the Cherry Industry Administrative Board.
• Effluent rules for steam electric power.
• Import restrictions on Chilean archaeological artifacts.
• Restrictions on commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants.
• Disadvantaged airport vendors.
• FAA rules for drones.
  
  

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Diagnosing endometriosis in military veterans.
• Administrative requirements for walnuts.
• Tax increase on Florida-grown oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and pummelos.
• Tax decrease on certain California-grown grapes.
• Tax decrease on certain Oregon and Washington State-grown sweet onions.
• Lead smelting technology review.
• Drug and alcohol testing for transportation workers.
• GENIUS Act implementation.
• Tax preparer user fees.
• Rail carrier reporting requirements.
• Painful scars.
• The CPSC is withdrawing some recent proposed regulations.
• Enterprise housing goals.
• Enterprise liquidity requirements.
• Making P2P methyl glycidic acid a List I chemical.
• Making MDMB-4en-PINACA a Schedule I controlled substance.
• Queen triggerfish management.
• Effluent limitations for steam electric power.
• Phasing down hydrofluorocarbons.

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