This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

COVID-19 cases are finally in decline as vaccinations continue, to the point where there is reason for cautious optimism. Congress was busy with a stimulus bill, which will apparently not include a $15 minimum wage. Agencies issued new rules ranging from lumber education to satellite service.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 123 final regulations last week, after 37 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 22 minutes.
• With 499 final regulations so far in 2021, agencies are on pace to issue 3,372 final regulations this year. 2020’s total was 3,353 final regulations.
• Agencies issued 87 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 13 the previous week.
• With 270 proposed regulations so far in 2021, agencies are on pace to issue 1,824 proposed regulations this year. 2020’s total was 2,149 proposed regulations.
• Agencies published 465 notices last week, after 384 notices the previous week.
• With 3,307 notices so far in 2021, agencies are on pace to issue 22,345 notices this year. 2020’s total was 22,480.
• Last week, 1,405 new pages were added to the Federal Register in a four-day week, after 1,005 pages the previous week.
• With 11,845 pages so far, the 2021 Federal Register is on pace for 80,034 pages in 2021. The 2020 total was 87,352 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (subtracting 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. There are two such rules so far in 2021, none from the last week. Agencies published five economically significant rules in 2020, and four in 2019.
• The running cost tally for 2021’s economically significant rules ranges from net savings of $100.7 million to net costs of $362.5 million. The 2020 figure ranges from net savings of between $2.04 billion and $5.69 billion, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• Agencies have published nine final rules meeting the broader definition of “significant” in 2020, with one in the last week. This is on pace for 60 significant rules in 2021. 2020’s total was 79 significant final rules.
• In 2021, 73 new rules affect small businesses. Two are classified as significant. 2020’s totals were 668 rules affecting small businesses, 26 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new regulations:

• Increased assessments to fund the federal Softwood Lumber Research, Promotion, and Consumer Education program.
• Temporary deposit insurance assessment fees.
• Updated fees from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
• The Labor Department has its own internal judicial system where it tries cases with judges it hires and pays, and under rules of procedure it sets. These are separate from standard independent judicial courts. Here are new procedural rules for hearings in those extra-judicial courts.
• Dry pea crop insurance.
• Reporting requirements for Irish potatoes.
• A correction to recent beryllium exposure rules.
• Continued travel restrictions via ferry to and from Canada and to and from Mexico.
• Group registration of music albums for copyright. For bands with large back catalogs, this could save some time.
• State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans.
• Eligibility for diplomatic and official visas.
• The Rural eConnectivity Program.
• A delay in new drone regulations.
• A delay in tipping regulations.
• Non-geostationary, fixed satellite service.

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