This week in ridiculous regulations: NASA designations and automatic braking

It was a four-day work week due to Independence Day. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from pot catchers to viticultural areas.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 36 final regulations last week, after 60 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every four hours and 40 minutes.
• With 1,547 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,998 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 18 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 32 the previous week.
• With 1,073 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,079 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 348 notices last week, after 353 notices the previous week.
• With 11,541 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,366 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 836 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,294 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 341 pages.
• With 43,423 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 84,153 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 17 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 132 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, 405 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 785. Thirty-seven 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:

• Rules of practice before the FTC’s new Office of Technology.
• NASA delegations and designations.
• Greater amberjack fisheries.
• The new Long Valley-Lake County viticultural area.
• A correction to Small Business Administration rules for veteran-owned businesses.
• Chemical weapons convention regulations.
• Amendment 20 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan.
• New rules for fraud and abuse at the Health and Human Services Department.
• Authorization for traveling to Brunei.
• Purchase card payments for government acquisitions.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• Railroad dispatcher certification.
• Railroad signal employee certification.
• Modernized regulations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
• The Veteran and Spouse Transitional Assistance Program.
• The dunes sagebrush lizard might become an endangered species.
• Medical use of Rubidium-82 generator byproducts.
• Counterfeit deterrents for paper currency.
• Corrections to student loan programs.
• Commercial driver’s license tests in Virginia.
• A description of the National Transportation Safety Board’s official seal.
• Pot catcher monitoring requirements.
• Test devices for heavy vehicle automatic braking tests.
• Landfills in New Hampshire.

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