This week in ridiculous regulations: historical captain permits and apricot marketing

The Supreme Court agreed to hear CEI’s Moore v. U.S. tax case in its upcoming term. It also handed down rulings in controversial cases on student loans, affirmative action, and vendors for same-sex weddings. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from western fanshells to cockpit doors.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 60 final regulations last week, after 50 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 48 minutes.
• With 1,511 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,022 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 32 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 33 the previous week.
• With 1,055 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,110 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 353 notices last week, after 356 notices the previous week.
• With 11,193 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,386 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,294 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,523 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 341 pages.
• With 42,585 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 85,170 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 nine such rules so far in 2023, none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 18 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 four regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after four the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 128 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 256 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 390 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 780. Thirty-six of them are significant, on pace for 72.
• 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:

• A safety zone to prevent clogs at the Dutch Shoe Regatta in San Diego, CA.
• A construction safety zone around a wind farm being built offshore near Massachusetts.
• Fireworks and other summer event safety zones in Redwood City, CA; Key West, FL; Marathon, FL; Savannah, GA; Madisonville, LA; Duluth, MN; Brick Township, NJ; Ocean City, NJ; Cleveland, OH; Toledo, OH; LaPointe, WI; Bayfield, WI; Superior, WI; Lake Tahoe;  Port Sault Sainte Marie;
• The Okaloosa darter is no longer an endangered species.
• The western fanshell is now a threatened species and is receiving critical habitat.
• A new IRS rule for comparing interbank offer rates with respect to the interest rates of a foreign bank.
• The IRS issued a correction for electronic filing requirements for certain returns and documents.
• A new Defense Department rule implementing the Privacy Act of 1974.
• Priority Express Mail refunds.
• Historical captain permits.
• Federal crop insurance policies will now incorporate actual crop production history into its rates.
• The Marketing Order for Washington state apricots is terminated.
• Informational reports on extreme weather and climate change.
• New security regulations from the Energy Department.
• Reinforced cockpit doors on airplanes.
• Source categories for steam-generated electric power.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Pricing models for cable and satellite service.
• New FTC proposal for expanding pre-merger notification requirements.
• Gas pipeline leak detection and repair.
• Guidance for licensing non-light-water nuclear reactors.
• Extended comment period for the Environmental Defense Fund’s proposal to remove titanium dioxide from food coloring.
• Review of candidates for endangered species listing.
• Emission standards for processing taconite iron ore.
• Emission standards for reciprocating internal combustion engines.
• Intelligent mail package barcodes.
• Large trader reporting requirements from the CFTC.

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