This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

The Consumer Price Index reached a new 30-year high of 8.6 percent, yet inflation may have gone down slightly, and might have peaked. The House began its hearings on the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from reference tires to unauthorized grazing.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 72 final regulations last week, after 62 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 20 minutes.
• With 1,407 final regulations so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 3,141 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,257 new final regulations in 2021, President Biden’s first year, and 3,218 in 2020, President Trump’s final year.
• Agencies issued 42 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 40 the previous week.
• With 950 proposed regulations so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 2,121 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,094 new proposed regulations in 2021 and 2,094 in 2020.
• Agencies published 454 notices last week, after 377 notices the previous week.
• With 10,057 notices so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 22,449 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 20,018 notices in 2021. 2020’s total was 22,458.
• Last week, 1,573 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,775 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2022 contains 318 pages.
• With 35,642 pages so far, the 2022 Federal Register is on pace for 79,558 pages.
• For comparison, the 2021 Federal Register totals 74,352 pages, while 2020’s totals 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 17 such rules so far in 2021, none from the last week.
• This is on pace for 38 economically significant regulations in 2022.
• For comparison, there were 26 economically significant rules in 2021 and five in 2020.
• The total cost of 2022’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from net savings of $5.69 billion to net savings of $25.92 billion. However, this figure is incomplete. Three economically significant rules issued this year do not give the required cost estimates.
• For comparison, the running cost tally for 2021’s economically significant rules ranges from net costs of $13.54 billion to $19.36 billion. 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.
• There are 113 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far in 2022. That is on pace for 252 significant rules for the year.
• For comparison, there were 387 such new regulations in 2021 and 79 in 2020.
• So far in 2022, 384 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 857. Thirty-two of them are significant, on pace for 71.
• For comparison, there were 912 rules in 2021 affecting small businesses, with 101 of them classified as significant. 2020’s totals were 668 rules affecting small businesses, 26 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new regulations:

• Unauthorized grazing.
• The State Department is (barely) loosening passport paperwork requirements for certain visas.
• Cuban assets control regulations.
• Peruvian archaeological artifacts.
• How to classify intravascular bleed monitors.
• Final requirements for COVID-19 relief funding for certain K-12 schools.
• A standard reference test tire for vehicle safety tests.
• A temporary increase in H-2B visas. While good to see, this won’t prevent injustices like the ones described here.
• Energy conservation tests for commercial pre-rinse spray valves.
• Size standards for small businesses for the purposes of certain Small Business Administration grants.
• Russian sanctions.
• Russian and Belorussian sanctions.
• A titling system for undocumented ships.
• Mailing hazardous materials.
• Halibut sharing.
• Sending money via Fedwire, the Federal Reserve’s electronic payment system for its member banks.
• EDGAR filing requirements.
• The Education Department is giving out Personnel Development Grants to selected states.
• Directional antenna performance verification.
• The Arizona eryngo, a small plant in Arizona and New Mexico, is now an endangered species and is receiving 12.7 acres of critical habitat.

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