This week in ridiculous regulations: fireworks shows and cybersecurity subsidies

Russia destroyed a major dam in Ukraine, putting thousands of homes and a nuclear power plant at risk. Former President Donald Trump was indicted again. Smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted down the Eastern seaboard, causing air quality alerts from New York to Washington. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from the homework gap to buying from ByteDance.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 76 final regulations last week, after 53 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 13 minutes.
• With 1,336 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,009 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 36 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 31 the previous week.
• With 948 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,135 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 446 notices last week, after 355 notices the previous week.
• With 9,914 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,329 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,536 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,023 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 342 pages.
• With 37,973 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 85,525 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 changed to $200 million. There are nine such rules so far in 2023, one in the last week.
• This is on pace for 19 economically significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. These comparisons will not be apple-to-apple due to the threshold change. This will likely lower this year’s number.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $55.06 billion to $78.22 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 five regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after six the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 110 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 248 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 337 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 759. Thirty-one of them are significant, on pace for 70.
• 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 regulations:

• The Coast Guard issued temporary safety zone regulations for fireworks shows and other summer events in the Columbia River; the Potomac River; Lewes, DE; Marysville, MI; Avalon, NJ; Lower Township, NJ; Portland, OR; Philadelphia, PA; Philadelphia, PA again; South Padre Island, TX; Charleston, WV;
• Horsepower on the Hudson.
• Three new rules for Belarus sanctions.
• Russia sanctions.
• On June 6, 2023, the Patent and Trademark Office issued a rule setting and adjusting patent fees during fiscal year 2020.
• New mailing standards for domestic mail.
• New workplace rules at the National Transportation Safety Board.
• Rules for opening new post offices.
• New York’s Particulate Matter Control Strategy. Given lag times, the perfect timing with New York’s wildfire-related air quality troubles is likely a coincidence.
• An economically significant Medicaid rule concerning COVID-related payments. The agency self-reports that the rule will save between $518 million and $862 million per year.
• A new FCC rule to use emergency funding to close the homework gap.
• Uniform procedures for the State Highway Safety Grant Program.
• A federal “Good Neighbor Plan” for state-level ozone standards.
• A Defense Department acquisition rule prohibiting an application by TikTok parent company ByteDance.
• Radio broadcasts in Tecopa, CA.
• Red snapper harvest levels.
• Medicare criteria for skin and digestive disorders.
• Cybersecurity subsidies.
• Secret Postal Service documents.
• Radio frequency allocations.
• New IRS rules for taxing annuities.

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