This week in ridiculous regulations: Texas pimplebacks and pension funds

The 60-legislative-day Congressional Review Act deadline has likely passed, unless Congress keeps an unusually busy election year schedule. As a result, rulemaking has slowed to normal levels. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from September 11 fees to weighing grain.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 59 final regulations last week, after 50 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 51 minutes.
• With 1,370 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 3,086 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,018 new final regulations in 2023, 3,168 in 2022, and 3,257 in 2021.
• Agencies issued 26 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 22 the previous week.
• With 788 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,775 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,102 proposed regulations in 2023, 2,044 in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 455 notices last week, after 417 notices the previous week.
• With 10,248 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 23,081 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,380 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,422 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 449 pages.
• With 48,820 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 109,955 pages.
• For comparison, the 2023 Federal Register totals 90,402 pages, the 2022 Federal Register has 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 with $200 million or more of economic effects in at least one year qualify as major under Section 3(f)(1). This replaces the former economically significant tag for $100 million-plus regulations. There are 13 such rules so far in 2024, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 29 3(f)(1) regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 28 3(f)(1) and/or economically significant regulations in 2023, 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. Note that these are not apples-to-apples comparisons, since 3(f)(1) and economically significant rules have different thresholds.
• The total estimated cost of 2024’s 3(f)(1) major regulations ranges from net savings of $17.82 billion to net savings of $22.87 billion, per the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
• For comparison, the cost tally for 2023’s 3(f)(1) major and economically significant regulations ranges from $62.60 billion to 90.48 billion. Cost estimates for 2022’s economically significant rules range $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 new final regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after five the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 176 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 396 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 321 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 723. Thirty-six of them are significant, on pace for 81.
• For comparison, in 2023 there were 789 regulations affecting small businesses, 79 of them significant. In 2022 there were 912 regulations affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant. 2021’s totals were 912 regulations affecting small businesses, 101 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• President Biden’s border closure.
• Uniform administrative requirements for federal grantees.
• Corrected Horse Protection Amendments.
• The Small Business Administration is inflation-adjusting its civil penalties.
• So is the Engineer Corps.
• And the Agriculture Department.
• The Social Security Administration’s criteria for determining disabilities.
• Discrimination against state and local government employees.
• FCC regulations for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
• Digital numbers for boats.
• HUD is removing some obsolete regulations.
• Bicycling along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
• The Crab Rationalization Program.
• Endangered species status and critical habitat for the Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe orb, Texas pimpleback, Balcones Spike, and false Spike, and threatened species status and critical habitat for the Texas fawnsfoot.
• CFTC reporting requirements for large traders.
• Powerline permits.
• Railroad Retirement Board regulations for family relationships.
• Social Security payments by the Railroad Retirement Board.
• Lab capacity rules for food testing.
• SEC rules for customer information.
• Grain inspection and weighing fees.
• Veteran small business owners may no longer self-certify as disabled for the purposes of SBA grants.
• Pension fund valuation methods.
• Syrian sanctions.
• Russian sanctions.
• The government is reducing its purchases of single-use plastics.
• Coal permits in Alabama.
• A safety zone for the Escape from Alcatraz Swim.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• FCC petitions for reconsideration of action in rulemaking proceeding.
• A correction to Medicare payment rules for children.
• A correction to a rule for reporting cyber incidents.
• Marine Mammal Protection Act permits.
• Coast Guard rules for ships’ environmental compliance.
• Tax credits for clean electricity investment.
• Programs to get gang-involved youth into college.
• A September 11 fee for visa holders entering and exiting the country.
• Safety standards for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
• Posteecondary Student Success Grants.
• Puerto Rican subcontractors.

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