This week in ridiculous regulations: Nuclear fuel and eagles’ nests

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It was a four-day week due to Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day. The terrorist group Hamas's leader was killed by the Israeli military. The economics Nobel went to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson for their work on institutions. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from transit oversight to shipping labels.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 41 final regulations last week, after 68 the previous week.
• That's the equivalent of a new regulation every four hours and 6 minutes.
• With 2,531 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 3,132 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 12 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 26 the previous week.
• With 1,424 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,762 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 467 notices last week, after 492 notices the previous week.
• With 19,628 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 24,292 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,132 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,935 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 419 pages.
• With 84,063 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 104,038 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 20 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 $1992 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
• There were six new final regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant" last week, after nine the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 270 new regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant." This is on pace for 334 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 615 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 761. Fifty-eight of them are significant, on pace for 72.
• 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:

• Nuclear fuel casks.
• Nuclear fuel casks again.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer furnace fans.
• Energy conservation standards for oil, electric, and weatherized gas consumer furnaces.
• Energy conservation standards for dishwashers.
• Federal oversight of state transit systems.
• Identifying and listing hazardous waste.
• Eagle and eagle nest casualties.
• Arrival restrictions on people who were recently in Rwanda.
• Don't fly over Baghdad.
• Corrected amended quality system regulations for medical devices.
• Special appraisal standards for higher-risk mortgages.
• Consumer leasing.
• Truth in lending.
• Appeal rights for changes in patient status.
• Guidance for listing voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts.

And from last week's proposed regulations:

• Paying taxes by "commercially acceptable means."
• Abating highway and construction noise.
• Generic environmental impact statement for new nuclear reactors.
• Discontinued dual shipping labels.
• Electronic signatures for drug and alcohol tests for certain transportation workers.

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