This week in ridiculous regulations: Cooking energy and steel plants

The Federal Register had a 3,000-page week, roughly double its usual tally. It also topped 10,000 pages on the year, landing at 12,741 pages, and on pace for a near-record 96,523 pages. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison, one month before Russia’s upcoming presidential election. There was plenty of courtroom drama in Donald Trump’s concurrent trials. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from biologics to spectrum.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 63 final regulations last week, after 47 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 40 minutes.
• With 381 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 2,886 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 33 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 72 the previous week.
• With 248 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,879 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 493 notices last week, after 477 notices the previous week.
• With 2,839 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 21,508 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 3,018 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,138 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 386 pages.
• With 12,741 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 96,523 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 is one such rule so far in 2024, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for eight 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 is net savings of $16. 46 billion.
• 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 12 regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 39 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 295 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 92 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 418. Eleven of them are significant, on pace for 83.
• 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:

• Eagle’s nest permits.
• Buy American requirements for defense acquisitions.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer cooking equipment.
• Defense Department ID cards.
• EPA rules for steel plants.
• North Korea sanctions.
• DEI rules for federal employee travel.
• List of fisheries for 2024.
• Broadcast ownership rules.
• Certifying airplane fuel efficiency.
• FDA applications forms for biologics.
• USMCA-related regulations.
• Threatened species status for the silverspot butterfly.
• Threatened species status for the queen conch.
• Veteran beneficiary travel.
• Spectrum.
• Corrected spectrum.
• Housing assistance for Native Hawaiians.
• Workplace rules for pregnant women.
• Updates to Medicare payment policies.
• The summer flounder fishery.
• Data breach reporting requirements from the FCC.
• The Justice Department is inflation-adjusting its civil penalties.
• The EEOC is inflation-adjusting the penalty for violating its notice-posting requirements.
• The SBA is inflation-adjusting some of its small business size thresholds.
• The Interior Department is inflation-adjusting its civil penalties.
• So is the Merit Systems Protection Board.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Feather River air quality.
• Bank mergers.
• Pavement performance measurements.
• Using real estate for money laundering.
• Rules for laundering terrorists’ money.
• Open comment period until March 18 regarding the federal government’s treatment of Native Americans.
• Labor certifications for immigrants working in STEM fields.
• Group-registering two-dimensional artwork.
• Conflicts of interest in Medicare accreditations.
• Engineer Corps water project principles.
• Party segregated accounts.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer cooking products.
• AmeriCorps Seniors regulations.

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