This week in ridiculous regulations: airline fees and greenhouse gas reporting

The Federal Register grew at nearly triple its usual pace last week. It is on pace for its first-ever 100,000-page year. GDP growth slowed to 1.6 percent. The FTC issued a rule to ban non-compete clauses. Congress passed a bill to force a TikTok divestiture. The EPA issued new CO2 emissions rules for power plants. Agencies issued other new regulations ranging from lake sturgeon to potato proteins.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 63 final regulations last week, after 59 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 40 minutes.
• With 959 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 2,924 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,018 new final regulations in 2023, 3,168 in 2022, and 3,257 in 2021.
• Agencies issued 38 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 36 the previous week.
• With 609 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,857 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, 2,044 in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 459 notices last week, after 486 notices the previous week.
• With 7,378 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 22,494 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 3,934 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 3,141 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 405 pages.
• With 33,182 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 101,165 pages.
• For comparison, the 2023 Federal Register totals 90,402 pages, the 2022 Federal Register has 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 with $200 million or more of economic effects in at least one year qualify as major under Section 3(f)(1). This replaces the former economically significant tag for $100 million-plus regulations. There are seven such rules so far in 2024, with two in the last week.
• This is on pace for 21 3(f)(1) regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• The total estimated cost of 2024’s 3(f)(1) major regulations ranges from net savings of $17.82 billion to net savings of $20.63 billion, per the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
• For comparison, the cost tally for 2023’s 3(f)(1) major and economically significant regulations ranges from $62.60 billion to 90.48 billion. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range $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 seven new final regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 114 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 348 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 229 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 698. Twenty-five of them are significant, on pace for 76.
• For comparison, in 2023 there were 789 regulations affecting small businesses, 79 of them significant. In 2022 there were 912 regulations affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant. 2021’s totals were 912 regulations affecting small businesses, 101 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• Airline fees.
• Greenhouse gas reporting rule.
• Phase 3 of the EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rules for heavy-duty vehicles.
• Airman certificates.
• A regulatory guide for battery makers.
• Veterans Affairs rules for not honoring sex offenders.
• The Postal Service is modernizing its electronic payment system.
• Indiana air opacity.
• Potato proteins.
• Asbestos.
• Fixed prices for defense contracts.
• Children’s meal patterns.
• Aircraft emissions tests.
• Government website accessibility.
• Energy conservation standards for dishwashers.
• Exchange visitor program provisions.
• Medicare updates for contract years 2024 and 2025.
• Federal flood risk management.
• Fluid mineral leases.
• Export controls against Iran.
• Energy conservation standards for distribution transformers.
• Air quality in the Mojave desert.
• Sustainable siting for federal buildings.
• Sustainable procurement.
• PFAS drinking water rules.
• HIPAA privacy rules for reproductive care.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Contract markets and swap executions.
• Freedom of Information Act rules from the Postal Regulatory Commission.
• Jones Act-like rules for shipping Defense Department acquisitions.
• Fish product certification.
• How to release sharks caught in tuna fishing nets.
• Energy conservation standards for dishwashers.
• “Valuable information” can now be treated as a campaign contribution.
• Tax increase on South Texas-grown onions.
• Preserving records from catastrophes.
• Registration fees for international arms traffickers.
• Nursing pillow incident data.
• Infant support cushion incident data.
• Lake sturgeon will not be added to the Endangered Species List.
• The Stars and Stripes media organization.
• Fee increase for certifying food colors.
• A petition to remove fluorinated polyethylene from the allowed food color list.
• South Carolina incinerator emissions.

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