This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

Britain held a major election, and the U.S. House of Representatives is set to impeach President Trump. At the same time, Trump is poised for a victory on the USMCA trade agreement, which CEI came out against. Meanwhile, agencies published new regulations ranging from aerosol cans to Philly fireworks.

On to the data:

• Last week, 64 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 40 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 38 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 2,839 final regulations in 2019. At that pace, there will be 2,970 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,367 regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 409 notices, for a total of 20,819 in 2019. At that pace, there will be 21,774 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,656.
• Last week, 1,155 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,258 pages the previous week.
• The 2019 Federal Register totals 68,324 pages. It is on pace for 71,456 pages. The 2018 total was 68,302 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (which subtracts skips, jumps, and blank pages) is 96,994, set in 2016.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. Four such rules have been published this year. Five such rules were published in 2018.
• The running cost tally for 2019’s economically significant regulations currently ranges from savings of $4.39 billion to $4.08 billion, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The 2018 total ranges from net costs of $220.1 million to $2.54 billion, depending on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published 65 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2018’s total was 108 significant final rules.
• So far in 2019, 481 new rules affect small businesses; 21 of them are classified as significant. 2018’s totals were 660 rules affecting small businesses, with 29 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• There is a new definition of “high volatility commercial real estate (HVCRE) exposure” for regulatory purposes. Which hopefully will not include bailouts.
• Lane snappers.
• How to report changes in your life insurance to the Internal Revenue Service.
• A compliance guide for small businesses that contract with the Defense Department, General Services Administration, or NASA.
• A new definition of “volatile organic compounds,” but only in Delaware.
• The Federal Aviation Administration is extending its ban on flying over Somalia.
• The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is revising its calculations for expected retirement ages for certain pension plans in distress.
• Aerosol cans are now covered under the Environmental Protection Agency’s universal waste program regulations.
• New Year’s Eve fireworks in Philadelphia.

For more data, see “Ten Thousand Commandments” and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter.