This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

The World Cup is underway in Qatar and the labor market had another good month. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from canola oil jet fuel to mailing hazardous materials.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 87 final regulations last week, after 57 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every hour and 56 minutes.
• With 2,897 final regulations so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 3,135 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 49 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 29 the previous week.
• With 1,879 proposed regulations so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 2,034 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,094 new proposed regulations in 2021 and 2,094 in 2020.
• Agencies published 391 notices last week, after 451 notices the previous week.
• With 20,884 notices so far in 2022, agencies are on pace to issue 22,602 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 20,018 notices in 2021. 2020’s total was 22,584.
• Last week, 1,427 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,155 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2022 contains 322 pages.
• With 74,287 pages so far, the 2022 Federal Register is on pace for 80,397 pages. For comparison, the 2021 Federal Register totals 74,352 pages and 2020’s is 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 41 such rules so far in 2021, one from the last week.
• This is on pace for 44 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 is for net savings of $12.48 billion to $19.59 billion, according to numbers provided by the agencies themselves. However, thT 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 is for net costs of $44.85 billion to $77.07 billion. The 2020 figure is for net savings of $2.04 billion to $5.69 billion, mostly from estimated savings on federal spending. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There are 240 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” so far in 2022. This is on pace for 260 significant rules for the year.
• For comparison, there were 387 such new regulations in 2021 and 79 in 2020.
• So far in 2022, 816 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 8883. Sixty-six 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:

• ESG criteria are coming for up to $12.0 trillion worth of federal pension funds.
• Mars A.S. parachutes.
• Tax treatment of employer insurance coverage for family members of employees.
• Satellite broadcast royalty rates.
• Adding canola oil to jet fuel for environmental reasons.
• The Dixie Valley toad is now an endangered species.
• The Eugenia woodburyana plant from Puerto Rico is being upgraded from endangered to threatened.
• The Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly is now a threatened species, and is being granted critical habitat.
• Red snapper data calibration.
• Temporary and term employment for STEM-related occupations.
• Reserve requirements for depository institutions.
• Three new rules for Russian sanctions.
• And four new sanctions for “Foreign Narcotics Kingpins.”
• Federal acquisitions rules related to the USMCA trade agreement.
• Rural broadband loans.
• Mailing hazardous materials.
• The northern long-eared bat is now an endangered species.
• Safety standards for infant walkers.

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