This week in ridiculous regulations: Crab specifications and dominant postal products

More tariffs are on the way against China. President Trump announced that delayed tariffs against Canada and Mexico will go through. The actor Gene Hackman passed away. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from swine health to healthy food labels.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 33 final regulations last week, after 27 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every five hours and four minutes.
• With 413 final regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 2,647 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,248 final regulations in 2024, 3,018 in 2023, and 3,168 in 2022.
• Agencies issued 13 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 15 the previous week.
• With 200 proposed regulations so far in 2025, agencies are on pace to issue 1,282 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 1,769 proposed regulations in 2024, 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, and 2,044 in 2022.
• Agencies published 332 notices last week, after 208 notices the previous week.
• With 2,797 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 17,929 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 25,506 notices in 2024, 22,902 in 2023, and 28,932 in 2022.
• Last week, 564 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 774 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2025 contains 282 pages.
• With 11,011 pages so far, the 2025 Federal Register is on pace for 70,583 pages.
• For comparison, the 2024 Federal Register has an all-time record 107,261 pages. The 2023 edition has 90,402 pages, and the 2022 Federal Register has 80,756 pages.
• Rules with $200 million or more of economic effects in at least one year qualify as major under Section 3(f)(1). This replaced the former economically significant tag for $100 million-plus regulations.
• However, the $100 million economically significant tag is now revived under a Trump Executive Order, and the $200 million 3(f)(1) tag is going away. We will likely see rules from both categories this year.
• There are two 3(f)1 or economically significant regulations so far in 2025, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 13 3(f)(1) or economically significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 20 3(f) significant regulations in 2024, 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, and 43 economically significant rules in 2022. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• This year’s section 3(f)(1) and economically significant regulations cost an estimated $870 million.
• For context, the cost tally for 2024’s 3(f)(1) significant regulations is net savings of $16.42 billion to 26.45 billion. 2023’s 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations estimated costs range from $62.60 billion to 90.48 billion. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were two new final regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after three the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 44 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 282 significant regulations in 2025.
• For comparison, there were 339 such regulations in 2024, 290 in 2023, and 255 in 2022.
• So far in 2025, 118 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 756. Seven of them are significant, on pace for 45.
• For comparison, in 2024 there were 770 regulations affecting small businesses, 76 of them significant. 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.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• The definition of the term “healthy” as used on food labels.
• HUD is postponing new regulations for manufactured housing.
• The Council on Environmental Quality is removing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.
• EPA tolerance standards for fludioxonil.
• EPA tolerance standards for inactivated Burkholderia rinojensis strain A396 cells and spent fermentation media.
• EPA tolerance standards for Beauveria bassiana strain BW 149.
• EPA tolerance standards for Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1B.34 protein.
• EPA tolerance standards for Bacillus thuringiensis strain EX 297512 in pesticides.
• Federal Transit Administration enforcement of state safety regulations.
• The FCC’s Connect America Fund.
• A second regulation regarding the FC’s Connect America Fund.
• Deep-sea red crab specifications.
• The Office of Child Support Enforcement is delaying its name change to the Office of Child Support Services.
• Business practices for public utilities.
• Market dominant postal products.
• The Connect America Fund.
• Cable, satellite, and DART licenses.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• The EPA is extending the comment period for a rule regarding polyether polyols.
• Reopened comment period for the US Swine Health Improvement Plan (US SHIP).

For more data, see Ten Thousand Commandments and follow @10KC and @RegoftheDay on Twitter. See also CEI’s Agenda for Congress.