The week in regulations: Supersonic flight and circuit board acquisition

America turned 250 years old on July 4. The Unified Agenda, which lists all upcoming regulations, came out in the July 3 holiday weekend news dump. The Federal Register passed the 40,000-page mark. President Trump has made more than $2 billion since returning to office. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from marine casualties to nuclear waste casks.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 87 new final regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new final regulation every one hour and 56 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 1,500 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 2,976 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 37 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 924 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,833 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,498 proposed regulations in 2025, 1,769 in 2024, and 2,102 in 2023.
• Agencies issued 365 notices last week.
• With 10,655 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 21,141 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 2,026 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 40,857 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 81,065 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 324 pages.
• Rules with annual economic effects of $100 million or more in at least one year qualify as economically significant.
• During the Biden administration, this category was temporarily scrapped and replaced with a $200 million annual threshold for being called significant under Section 3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866 as amended.
• A 2025 Trump executive order scrapped the $200 million 3(f)(1) threshold and revived the $100 million economically significant category. Because of the length of time the rulemaking process takes, rules under both thresholds are still appearing.
• So far in 2026, there are 16 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. No such regulations appeared in the previous week.
• This pace will yield 32 new regulations in 2026 that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant.
• For comparison, there were 17 new regulations in 2025 that were either 3(f)(1) or economically significant, 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.
• Regulations that are new in 2026 and are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant are estimated to produce net annual savings between $132 billion and $907 billion.
• For context, 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025 had estimated net annual costs of $219 million to $1.64 billion. The figures for 2024 are net annual savings of $16.42 billion to $26.45 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were seven final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 114 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 226 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, 331 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 657. Fifteen of them are significant, making a yearly pace of 30.
• 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, 106 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Reducing bureaucracy for children, youth, and family programs.
• Airline fees.
• Social Security Administration regulations for evaluating cardiovascular disorders.
• Fine particulate matter in Philadelphia.
• Agriculture Department NEPA regulations.
• The Labor Department is rescinding some of its Title VI regulations.
• The Energy Department is rescinding nondiscrimination requirements for federally funded construction projects.
• And for sex discrimination regulations in education programs.
• Spent nuclear fuel storage casks.
• NASA’s NEPA regulations.
• New requirements for signatures on immigration benefit requests.
• Alien registration form and evidence of registration.
• FCC regulations for communication disruptions.
• Device classification for monitors for opioid-induced impairment of oxygenation.
• Device classification for hyperhidrosis skin patches.
• Device classification for medial knee implanted shock absorbers.
• How to report marine casualties on the outer continental shelf.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• The FAA is legalizing supersonic flight.
• Federal plan requirements for solid waste incinerators built on or before August 31, 2020.
• Subsidies for rural housing.
• Promoting federal employee accountability.
• Transportation conformity in Alabama.
• Printed circuit board acquisition restrictions.
• Low-level radioactive waste disposal.
• Advertising air fares.
• FAA mechanic certification.
• CFTC data reporting requirements for certain event contracts.
• FDIC rules for thresholds, rate schedules, and adjustments.
• Revised critical habitat for the Southern California steelhead.
• FDA is establishing new tobacco product listings.

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