This week in ridiculous regulations: milk losses and duck vehicles

Google’s antitrust trial started, and the Justice Department cited Russian antitrust actions to back up its case. The latest inflation numbers were a mixed bag. Autoworkers went on strike. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from horse imports to seafood dealer catastrophes.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 34 final regulations last week, after 38 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every four hours and 56 minutes.
• With 2,148 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,007 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 35 the previous week.
• With 1,519 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,140 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 510 notices last week, after 366 notices the previous week.
• With 15,969 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,428 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,547 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,716 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 359 pages.
• With 63,832 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 89,649 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 two regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after three the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 195 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 274 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 566 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 795. Fifty-three of them are significant, on pace for 74.
• 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:

• Importing horses.
• Don’t do arms deals with Cyprus.
• Belarus sanctions.
• The EPA is implementing Phase II of its Freedom of Information Act policies.
• Documenting registration documents for investment adviser compliance review documents.
• Import restrictions for Peruvian ethnological artifacts.
• Marine mammal casualties from wind power projects.
• Contract clause requirements for government contractors.
• Negotiability proceedings from the NLRB.
• Payments from the Milk Loss Program.
• New Coast Guard rules for DUKW amphibious vehicles.
• Catastrophic condition reporting requirements for seafood dealers.
• Don’t fly over Pyongyang, North Korea.
• Remote IDs for drones.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Privacy rules for Treasury Department recordkeeping.
• The Coast Guard is enacting a safety zone off the Virginia coast “to be enforced in the event of hurricanes, tropical storms, and other storms with high winds.”
• Periodic Postal Service reporting.
• The EPA is revising its air reporting requirements.
• National emissions standards for iron and steel plants.
• Regulatory requirements for new Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) additions.
• Endangered species status and critical habitat for the quitobaquito tryonia.
• Critical habitat for Rice’s whale.
• Civil penalties under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
• Grant programs for adult protective services.
• Criminal justice reviews for Small Business Administration loans.
• Workplace protections for non-immigrant temporary farm workers.

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