This week in ridiculous regulations: Nursing pillows and mobile driver’s licenses

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One more week until election season is finally, mercifully, over. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from space exports to recreational fires.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 63 final regulations last week, after 41 the previous week.
• That's the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 40 minutes.
• With 2,594 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 3,133 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 31 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 12 the previous week.
• With 1,455 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,757 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 607 notices last week, after 467 notices the previous week.
• With 20,235 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 24,438 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,356 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,132 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 413 pages.
• With 85,420 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 103,164 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 16 such rules so far in 2024, with none in the last week.
• This is on pace for 19 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 $23.62 billion to net savings of $30.98 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 $19.92 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were four new final regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant" last week, after six the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 274 new regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant." This is on pace for 331 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 636 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 768. Fifty-eight of them are significant, on pace for 70.
• 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:

• Postal Service employee benefits.
• Russia sanctions.
• Global terrorism sanctions.
• Western Balkans stabilization regulations.
• Animal feed guidance.
• Policy for human research subjects.
• Domestic baggage liability limits.
• Space-related export controls.
• Removal of export controls for certain spacecraft and related items for Australia, Canada, and the UK.
• CHIPS Act-related tax credits for manufacturing investments.
• Marine mammal casualties from Maryland offshore wind projects.
• False advertising involving the FDIC logo.
• Recovery planning for large banks.
• Emissions standards for oil and natural gas production and storage.
• Prevention of significant deterioration.
• Ethylphenidate is now a Schedule I controlled substance.
• Revised reporting rules due to catastrophic conditions for hurricane-affected federal seafood dealers and related occupations.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer conventional cooking products.
• Energy conservation standards for residential clothes washers.
• Rules for terrestrial FM broadcasts.
• Oil, gas, and sulfur operations on the outer continental shelf.
• Subsidies for rural housing.
• Updated nursing pillow safety standards.
• Butonitazene, flunitazene, and metodesnitazene are now Schedule I controlled substances.
• Standards for mobile driver's licenses.
• The red-cockade woodpecker is being upgraded from endangered to threatened status.

And from last week's proposed regulations:

• Tax increase on fresh pears grown in Oregon and Washington.
• The ALP Express Pilot program for small business subsidies is getting permanent status.
• Recreational fires.
• Railroad track geometry.
• Extended comment period for adding ten giant clam species to the Endangered Species List.
• Supplemental review of the oil pipeline index level.
• A list of domestically nonavailable articles for federal acquisitions.
• Space-related export controls.
• EPA power plant rules for Washington State.
• Extended comment period for new rules under the Change in Bank Control Act.
• Drawbridge schedules in Beaufort, South Carolina.
• Multiple government contracts for small businesses.
• Export controls on Native American artifacts.
• Revised standards for non-full-size baby cribs and play yards.
• Tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements.

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