The week in regulations: Taconite plans and ante-mortem horse inspections

Markets went down when President Trump threatened to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell and went up when he backed off. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from grazing advisory boards to municipal waste combustors.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 25 final regulations last week, after 36 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every six hours and 43 minutes.
• With 719 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,275 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 23 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 29 the previous week.
• With 394 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,247 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 375 notices last week, after 409 notices the previous week.
• With 5,986 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 18,943 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,932 in 2022.
• Last week, 871 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 694 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 225 pages.
• With 17,507 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 55,402 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 nine 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 from $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were no new final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant,” after one the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 56 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 177 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 229 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 725. Fourteen of them are significant, on pace for 44.
• 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.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Comments requested for credit union share insurance and succession planning rules.
• The Office of Child Support Enforcement is no longer changing its name.
• Reauthorized dairy price controls.
• The FCC is inflation-adjusting its application fees.
• Postal Service property purchases.
• The SEC is delaying some reporting rules.
• The FTC finalized children’s online privacy rules.
• Grazing advisory boards.
• Removal of ante-mortem horse inspections.
• Trophy fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• The Personnel Management Office has new policies for performance, accountability, and responsiveness.
• WALTER Engines.
• Capital buffer requirements.
• Withdrawn migratory bird permits.
• Large municipal waste combustors.
• Energy conservation standards for trailer homes.
• Revision to the Taconite Federal Implementation Plan.
• Poultry salmonella framework.

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