This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

More than 7 million people in the U.S. are unemployed now due to the COVID-19 quarantine. When Congress convenes next week, it will likely begin work on a Phase 4 stimulus bill. CEI analysts have made the case that addressing #NeverNeeded regulations must be part of any such legislation. Meanwhile, the 2020 Federal Register surpassed 20,000 pages, and agencies issued new final regulations ranging from pecan reporting requirements to exempted bumpers.

On to the data:

• Last week, 66 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 58 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 33 minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 882 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,139 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 3,150 regulations.
• There were also 41 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 589 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,104 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,184 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 422 notices, for a total of 6,108 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 21,815 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,306 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,602 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 20,384 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 19 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 170 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:

• Not only did the federal government lift #NeverNeeded restrictions on telemedicine, it now funds it under the CARES Act.
• Margin requirements for swaps transactions.
• Emissions restrictions for airplane factories in Missouri.
• The Defense Department will be paying its small business contractors more promptly.
• Pecan reporting requirements.
• Some changes in HIPAA enforcement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Expanded unemployment eligibility for idled railroad workers.
• Lemborexant is now a Schedule IV controlled substance.
• Some new types of fentanyl are now Schedule I, the most severe category, which also includes marijuana.
• Temporary exemptions from federal bumper regulations.
• Temporary changes to paid leave rules.
• And a correction for the same.
• Sanctions against North Korea.
• FEMA has a new rule for allocating scarce resources.
• Another rule for how to prove a majority vote in union organizing elections in the construction industry.

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