This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

Consumer spending rose 8.2 percent in May, a new record that gives hope for a quicker economic recovery. On the other hand, new coronavirus cases in the last week set their own record. The virus is apparently ignoring pleas from the White House to reduce testing. Meanwhile, regulatory agencies issued new regulations ranging from dry pea insurance to hammerhead shark management.

On to the data:

• Last week, 82 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 55 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and three minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,511 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,046 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 31 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 1,074 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,165 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,191 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 406 notices, for a total of 11,003 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 22,183 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,409 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,192 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 38,740 pages. It is on pace for 78,104 pages. The 2019 total was 79,267 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. Three 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 $1.38 billion and $4.19 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 30 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 294 new rules affect small businesses; 11 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 regulations:

• Interim final rule for small business loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is establishing a pilot advisory opinion program (Pilot AO Program).
• The Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled is changing its Freedom of Information Act policies.
• New Department of Housing and Urban Development rules for “memory care facilities.”
• Dry pea crop insurance sold by the federal government.
• The State Department “is removing a regulation related to issuance of immigrant visas to women expatriates who lost citizenship as the result of marrying an alien prior to 1922.”
• The Federal Maritime Commission is simplifying its service contracts to reduce paperwork burdens.
• A correction from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its recent 3.7-4.2GHz spectrum rules.
• The FCC also has a rule to improve performance in the 800MHz band used by first responders. It is part of a 14-year, $3.6 billion program.
• FCC fee collection.
• A new FCC rule to fight robocalls.
• Make it two.
• The Federal Housing Finance Agency is simplifying its goal statements.
• The IRS is changing its qualified business income deductions. In light of COVID-19 causing more people to work from home, many people will probably have very different business income and expense deductions than in previous years.
• West Pinal County, Arizona, has run afoul of EPA particulate matter regulations for PM10 (particles 10 micrometers or smaller).
• The Justice Department is implementing regulations from the Privacy Act of 1974.
• Travel restrictions to and from Canada.
• The Sonoyta mud turtle is receiving 12.28 acres of critical habitat.
• The Prisons Bureau is changing its phone and video call policies in light of the coronavirus.
• Group registration of short online literary works.
• The commercial aggregated large coastal shark and hammerhead shark management group.

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