This week in ridiculous regulations: crash test dummies and potato promotion

Congress returned from its August recess. It was a four-day week for the Federal Register due to Labor Day, but the Federal Register still grew by more than 1,700 pages, and is on pace to top 90,000 pages. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from snow crab rebuilding to music royalties.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 38 final regulations last week, after 65 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every four hours and 25 minutes.
• With 2,107 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,045 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 35 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 42 the previous week.
• With 1,488 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,145 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 366 notices last week, after 478 notices the previous week.
• With 15,459 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,340 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,716 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,068 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 357 pages.
• With 62,283 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 90,004 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 12 such rules so far in 2023, none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 17 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 $58.01 billion to $81.17 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 three regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after 11 the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 193 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 279 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 554 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 812. Fifty-two of them are significant, on pace for 77.
• 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:

• Flugzeugbau.
• Pedestrian facility accessibility.
• The EPA’s National Priority List.
• Scup fishery quotas.
• The Snow Crab Rebuilding Plan.
• Certain stock brokers are now exempt from a requirement to be members of registered national securities associations.
• Home repair loans in disaster areas.
• Establishing a coral nursery in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
• Chinese military-industrial complex sanctions.
• The State Department has elected not to finalize parts of the public charge rule for immigrant visas.
• Fees for late music royalty payments.
• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inflation-adjusting its financial regulations.
• Determining railroad retiree disabilities.
• Russian sanctions.
• Revised definition of “Waters of the United States.”

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Tuna identity containers.
• Sundstrand propellers.
• Limitations on using subcontractors during emergencies.
• Seatbelt reminder systems.
• Gas pipeline safety rules.
• Crash test dummies.
• Minimum staffing requirements for long-term care facilities.
• Board membership changes to the National Potato Promotion Board.
• Extended comment period for new EPA drum management regulations.
• Energy conservation standards for walk-in coolers and freezers.
• Extended comment period for prescription drug payments from the years 2018-2022.
• The definition of “engaged in the business” as a firearms dealer.
• Application rules for nuclear power plants.
• Oil drilling rules for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
• Threatened species status and critical habitat for the Brawleys Fork crayfish.

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