This week in ridiculous regulations: soybean standards and pain medication limits

The FTC issued its new draft merger guidelines. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from milk marketing to Postal Service snitches.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 69 final regulations last week, after 61 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 26 minutes.
• With 1,677 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,016 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 42 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 44 the previous week.
• With 1,159 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,085 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 429 notices last week, after 426 notices the previous week.
• With 12,369 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,246 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 2,019 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,899 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 341 pages.
• With 47,349 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 85,160 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 10 such rules so far in 2023, one 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. The higher threshold will likely lower this year’s number.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $54.41 billion to $77.57 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 six regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 143 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 257 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 447 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 804. Thirty-eight of them are significant, on pace for 68.
• 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 new DEA rule to limit pain medication refills claims $659 million of benefits and $11.6 million in costs. The 20-page rule does not mention black markets or less safe substitutes to which people will turn, making the estimate implausible. This rule will hurt chronic pain patients, literally, while likely doing little to prevent abuse.
• New safety standards for adult portable bed rails.
• Changes to Natural Resources Revenue Office rules for the value of fossil fuels on federal and Indian lands.
• New Postal Service monetary rewards for snitches.
• The EPA has removed protections for people who have had their permits revoked.
• Tracking workplace injuries and illnesses.
• Airworthiness requirements for lifejackets.
• Phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons.
• Iranian sanctions.
• Syria sanctions.
• Burma sanctions.
• Four new regulations for defense acquisitions.
• The cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl is now a threatened species.
• Golden paintbrush is being removed from the Endangered Species List.
• Loan guarantees for rural housing.
• Small business size thresholds for Small Business Administration subsidies.
• Radio altimeter tolerant aircraft.
• Brorphine’s classification as a Schedule I controlled substance.
• Home repair grants in disaster areas.
• Permissive use of the Next Generation television broadcast standard.
• Longnose skates.
• Standards for soybeans.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• New FTC proposed rule for children’s online privacy.
• Personal protective equipment in construction.
• Reopened comment period for the Atlantic humpback dolphin’s proposed endangered species listing.
• Critical habitat for the green sea turtle.
• Daily computation of reserve requirements for broker-dealers.
• Milk marketing.
• New HUD rules for investing lenders and mortgagees.
• Licenses for horse protection.
• Real estate valuation guidance.
• Excess Arkansas emissions.

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