This week in ridiculous regulations: Address labels and exporting missiles

The FDA approved the world’s first gene-editing therapy, which could cure sickle cell disease. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from citrus cankers to the homework gap.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 53 final regulations last week, after 52 the previous five-day week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 10 minutes.
• With 2,829 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,998 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 38 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 33 the previous week.
• With 1,993 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,112 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 590 notices last week, after 658 notices the previous week.
• With 21,526 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,808 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,284 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,284 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 368 pages.
• With 85,816 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 90,928 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. This recently changed to $200 million. There are 27 such rules so far in 2023, none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 29 economically significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. The higher threshold will likely lower this year’s number.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $90.48 billion to $62.60 billion, according to numbers self-reported by agencies.
• 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 $1992 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were eight regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 268 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 284 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 731 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 775. Seventy-four of them are significant, on pace for 78.
• 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 final regulations:

• The FTC terminated its Care Labeling Rule review.
• Land-use changes for airports.
• Ethical conduct for federal mediators.
• Loans for single-family housing.
• Australian crime control revisions.
• Export rules for missiles.
• New domestic mailing standards.
• Updated FCC national security fees.
• FCC rules for SIM card fraud.
• Citrus canker.
• Federal old-age, survivors, and disability insurance.
• The DEA is adding nine types of fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I, its most severe controlled substance category, which also includes heroin and marijuana.
• Immigrant visas.
• Excess emissions in Louisiana.
• Measuring greenhouse gas emissions from the national highway system.
• Appointing land management employees.
• Travel management of the Forest Transportation System.
• Hazardous waste generator improvements.
• Asbestos reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
• Child restraint systems in cars.
• Modernizing communications services access for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
• Privacy rules from the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
• Energy conservation tests for water-source heat pumps.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Freight car safety standards as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• Florida water quality standards.
• Satellite and Earth station application processing.
• The FTC is amending the negative option rule.
• Certificates of compliance from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
• An upcoming continuance referendum on the marketing order for sweet cherries grown in certain parts of Washington State.
• Cranberry growers who are not subject to the federal Cranberry Marketing Order still have to report data. A proposed rule would end those reporting requirements.
• Drug and alcohol testing for aircraft repair station employees.
• The homework gap.
• Endangered species status for the toothless blindcat and the widemouth blindcat. Both are cave-dwelling species of catfish.
• 90-day petition to list Chinook salmon on the Washington Coast as threatened or endangered.
• New regulations for copper and lead in drinking water.
• The IRS and the Treasury Department are proposing to modernize and clarify language on their forms.
• Threatened species status for the western spadefoot, an amphibian from California and the Baja peninsula.
• Shipping address labels.
• New FDIC guidelines for institutions larger than $10 billion in size.
• Research misconduct at HHS.

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