This Week in Ridiculous Regulations

President Biden released a $6.8 trillion proposed budget. The labor force grew by 311,000 people in February. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from mussels to prunes.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 72 final regulations last week, after 71 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 20 minutes.
• With 574 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,053 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,168 new final regulations in 2022, and 3,257 new final regulations in 2021.
• Agencies issued 50 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 45 the previous week.
• With 409 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,176 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 454 notices last week, after 419 notices the previous week.
• With 4,090 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 21,755 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,606 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,669 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 325 pages.
• With 15,263 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 81,186 pages.
• For comparison, the 2022 Federal Register totals 80,756 pages, and 2021’s is 74,352 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 six such rules so far in 2023, none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 32 economically significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $55.49 billion to $78.41 billion, according to numbers provided by the agencies themselves.
• For comparison, the running cost tally for 2022’s economically significant rules ranges from net costs of $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. In 2021 net costs ranged from $13.54 billion to $19.36 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were seven regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after eight the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 53 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 282 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 140 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 745. Fourteen of them are significant, on pace for 74.
• For comparison, in 2022 there were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant. 2021’s totals were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 101 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new regulations:

• REAL ID Act requirements for ID cards has been delayed to May 7, 2025.
• Stress tests under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill.
• Implementing rules for the USMCA Implementation Act.
• Changing animal drug sponsors.
• The EPA extended a deadline for states to submit their clean energy plans.
• Airborne lead in Canton, Ohio.
• Harvest specifications for groundfish.
• New mammography standards.
• Pummelos are now exempt from the Florida Citrus Marketing Order.
• Tax decrease for Texas-grown oranges and grapefruit.
• Tax increase for dried prunes produced in California.
• Tariffs for paper and paper packaging products.
• Enhanced vehicle inspections in New Jersey.
• Two mussels, the longsolid and the round hickorynut, are now threatened species.
• Forty-year terms for home loan modifications.
• Rules for sending currency in the mail.
• Emissions standards for surface coatings of wood building products.
• Federal acquisition rules for real estate.
• Brorphine is now a Schedule I controlled substance.
• Updated safety standards for non-full-size baby cribs.
• Procedures for issuing visas.
• The EPA is revoking Trump-era coal- and oil-fired power plant rules.
• Energy conservation tests for air cleaners.

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