The week in regulations: Waters of the United States and ASCII formatting

The country reflected on the 25^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. President Trump promised a $5,000 check to every American adult if Republicans win the midterm elections. Inflation remained above target for a 65^th consecutive month. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from sanctions to watermelon research alignment.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 46 new final regulations last week.
• This is equivalent to one new final regulation every three hours and 39 minutes.
• Agencies have issued 2,106 final regulations so far in 2026.
• At this pace, agencies will issue 3,009 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 27 new proposed regulations last week.
• With 1,264 proposed regulations so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 1,806 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 351 notices last week.
• With 14,634 notices so far in 2026, agencies are on pace to issue 20,906 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 19,820 notices in 2025, 25,506 in 2024, and 22,902 in 2023.
• There were 944 new Federal Register pages last week.
• With 58,008 pages so far, the 2026 Federal Register is on pace to reach 82,869 pages.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2026 contains 331 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.
• 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 21 new regulations that are either 3(f)(1) or economically significant. No such regulations appeared in the previous week.
• This pace will yield 30 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 somewhere between net annual savings of $906 billion and net costs of $133 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.
• In the past week there were no final regulations last week meeting the broader definition of “significant.”
• So far this year, 155 new final regulations meet the broader definition of “significant.” This pace will yield 221 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, 449 new regulations affect small businesses, making a yearly pace of 641. Nineteen of them are significant, making a yearly pace of 27.
• 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:

• Prohibitions on trafficking certain types of arms to Cyprus.
• Learning-based cardiovascular machine software.
• Iran sanctions.
• More Iran sanctions.
• Venezuela sanctions.
• More Venezuela sanctions.
• Nicaragua sanctions.
• Global terrorism sanctions.
• Corrected Transportation Department terminology.
• Vehicle length, width, and weight limitations along certain routes.
• FCC national security regulations for communications supply chains.
• ASCII formatting requirements from the FCC.
• Esophageal protection.
• Classification for anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody tests for inflammatory bowel disease.
• Whole room microbial reduction devices.
• Child restraint systems in vehicles.
• Technical amendments to Government in the Sunshine Act regulations from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
• Homeland Security registration requirements for children born to foreign government employees in the United States.
• Geography-based procurement in child nutrition programs.
• IRS rules for car loan interest deduction.

Highlights from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Updated definition of “Waters of the United States.”
• Roadless area conservation.
• The Homeland Security Department in eliminating a discretionary 60-day grace period for actions against certain immigrants.
• Fees for certain H-1B visa petitions.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for in situ monitoring and decommissioning timeliness.
• Proposed residence criteria and regulations for demographic questions on the next US Census.
• The Gila chub is being removed from the Endangered Species List.
• SEC rules for political contributions from certain investment advisers.
• The Postal Service is proposing to discontinue labels 888, 889, 891, and 892.
• Robocalls.
• The Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan will not be realigned.
• Allowing unused spectrum for direct-to-device communications.

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