This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

Coronavirus deaths topped 1,000 in the U.S. last week, while new cases continued to double every few days. Meanwhile, agencies issued new final regulations ranging from groundfish fisheries to NASA penalties.

On to the data:

• Last week, 55 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 82 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and three minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 758 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,159 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 35 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 498 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,075 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,184 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 390 notices, for a total of 5,243 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 21,846 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,245 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,492 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 17,472 pages. It is on pace for 72,800 pages. The 2019 total was 76,288 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. Two such rules have been published this year. Four such rules were published in 2019.
• The running cost tally for 2020’s economically significant regulations ranges from net savings of between $180 million and $4.69 billion. 2019’s total ranges from net savings of $350 million to $650 million, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact number depends on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published 18 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 147 new rules affect small businesses; seven of them are classified as significant. 2019’s totals were 501 rules affecting small businesses, with 22 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Emergency measures for fishery observations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The International Trade Administration is temporarily modifying its antidumping document-serving rules for the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Veterans Affairs acquisition rules.
• Lower lobe crew rest compartments.
• Temporary extension of maturity limits for short-term investments.
• Oxygen masks for propeller planes.
• Groundfish fisheries.
• Stress-testing for housing finance companies.
• Reserve requirements for banks.
• Coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
• Including for the U.S.-Canada border.
• And the U.S.-Mexico border.
• NASA has just adjusted its financial penalties for inflation.
• NASA is also revising its procedures for issuing guidance documents.
• A correction to a recent financial assistance program for farmers.
• Security training for TSA employees who work ground-based transportation, such as buses and trains.
• Missouri is now a primary peanut-producing state under the Peanut Promotion, Research, and Information Order.
• Emissions from solid waste incinerators in New Mexico.

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