The week in regulations, shutdown edition: Student loans and foreigners’ biometric data

President Trump announced a trade deal with China. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates. The continued federal shutdown meant another slow week in the Federal Register. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from takeoffs to landings.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 15 final regulations last week, after two the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every eleven hours and 12 minutes.
• With 2,0351 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,453 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 eight proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after eight the previous week.
• With 1,254 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,500 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 49 notices last week, after 37 notices the previous week.
• With 15,703 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 18,783 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,973 in 2022.
• Last week, 225 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 183 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 238 pages.
• With 49,008 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 58,622 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 nine 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with one 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 $415 million to $1.33 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 was three new final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after one the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 113 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 135 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 513 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 614. Twenty-one of them are significant, on pace for 29. 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.

All of last week’s new final regulations:

• Mass collection of foreigners’ biometric data.
• FCC rules for submarine cable landing licenses.
• CFPB rules for preempting state credit reporting laws.
• Energy dominance financing amendments from the Energy Department.
• Pollock in Statistical Area 620.
• CFPB rules of practice for its in-house court system.
• CFPB is ending information collection on unbanked people.
• Three FAA rules for takeoffs, landings, and altitude.
• No more automatic extension of employment authorization documents.
• Pesticide tolerance exemption for ASFBIOF01 Polypeptide.
• Ozone attainment in Mariposa County, California.
• Tolerance exemption for Priestia megaterieum strain SYM26613.
• Student loan restrictions.
  

And all of last week’s proposed regulations:

• FCC rules for submarine cable landing licenses.
• EPA significant new use rules for certain chemical substances.
• FAA rules for takeoffs and landings.
• Transportation Department rules for unfair or deceptive practices.
• FDIC and Comptroller of the Currency rules for unsafe or unsound practices.
• And for using reputation risk by regulators.
• Regional haze in Alaska.
• Annual progress report on proposed Endangered Species List additions.

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