This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 4 million last week. Deaths surpassed 140,000. Congress returned to session after its July 4 break and is putting together another stimulus package. The 2020 Federal Register also surpassed 45,000 pages, and is averaging 315 more pages per day than in past years, more than 10 percent over last year. On the bright side, baseball is back, the NBA is about to resume its season, and this analyst has missed them both. Regulatory agencies issued new regulations ranging from small satellites to lithograph emissions.

On to the data:

• Last week, 79 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register, after 71 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and eight minutes.
• Federal agencies have issued 1,811 final regulations in 2020. At that pace, there will be 3,166 new final regulations. Last year’s total was 2,964 regulations.
• There were also 59 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, for a total of 1,246 on the year. At that pace, there will be 2,178 new proposed regulations in 2020. Last year’s total was 2,191 proposed regulations.
• Last week, agencies published 444 notices, for a total of 12,639 in 2020. At that pace, there will be 21,624 new notices this year. Last year’s total was 21,804.
• Last week, 1,374 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,773 pages the previous week.
• The 2020 Federal Register totals 45,055 pages. It is on pace for 78,768 pages. The 2019 total was 70,938 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 39 final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far this year. 2019’s total was 66 significant final rules.
• So far in 2020, 346 new rules affect small businesses; 14 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:

• A regulation to prevent Social Security Number fraud—from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
• The Federal Aviation Administration issued 16 new regulations.
• The Corporation for Community and Public Service issued new procedures for issuing guidance documents.
• A correction to a recent pipeline regulation.
• The Drug Enforcement Administration is revising its registration fees for listing chemicals as controlled substances or Schedule I substances.
• Four species will not be added to the endangered species list.
• Entities.
• Swap exemptions for certain entities.
• Emissions rules for tire manufacturers.
• And lime manufacturers. The cement and construction kind, not the citrus fruit.
• New Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for satellites communicating with each other.
• COVID-related travel restrictions to and from Mexico.
• And Canada.
• The Food and Drug Administration is exempting certain Class II medical devices from premarket notification requirements—as they should during a pandemic.
• Trafficking arms to the Central African Republic.
• Now that it’s 2020, the FCC is allowing multichannel video programming distributors, or MVPS, communications to occur electronically.
• Emissions from lithographic and letter presses in Missouri.
• “Regulatory Considerations for Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products.”
• Perchlorate in drinking water.
• Sea scallops.
• Ethical standards at the National Labor Relations Board.
• Licensing procedures for small satellites are being streamlined.

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