This week in ridiculous regulations: Horse race integrity and threatening air cargo

Photo Credit: Getty

Now that it's August, agencies began publishing their Spring 2024 Unified Agenda entries for their planned regulations. Economists had a frustrating week, with Kamala Harris proposed price controls for groceries, and Donald Trump countering with a proposed 20 percent universal tariff. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from California walnut taxes to sustainable procurement.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 72 final regulations last week, after 64 the previous week.
• That's the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 20 minutes.
• With 1,970 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 3,097 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 53 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 40 the previous week.
• With 1,0142 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,796 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 535 notices last week, after 520 notices the previous week.
• With 14,931 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 23,476 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,469 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,232 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 425 pages.
• With 66,901 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 105,190 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 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 $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 three new final regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant" last week, after seven the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 226 new regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant." This is on pace for 355 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 453 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 712. Fifty-three of them are significant, on pace for 83.
• 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:

• New FTC regulations for horse racing integrity.
• Rules of procedure before the Postal Service's Judicial Officer.
• The Selective Service's FOIA policies.
• Simplified Postal Service parcel processing categories.
• Device classification for intravenous catheters.
• Reclaiming abandoned mines in Pennsylvania.
• User fees for agricultural quarantines and inspections.
• Stricter recordkeeping requirements as part of the FAST Act.
• Deletions from the EPA's National Priority List.
• The International Aviation Safety Assessment Program.
• Housing subsidies.
• Threatening air cargo.
• Updated arms trafficking rules.
• Sustainable procurement.
• Foreign boards of trade.
• College tuition subsidies.
• Video programming guides and menus.
• Reciprocal switching.
• Russia sanctions.
• Environmental reviews for nuclear plants.
• The Federal Maritime Commission's agency seal.
• Free and restricted percentages for Michigan-grown tart cherries.
• Importing Algerian archaeological artifacts.
• Refunds for airline passengers.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer cooking products.
• Updated Endangered Species Listings for five coral species and three nonessential experimental populations of chinook salmon.

And from last week's proposed regulations:

• The Self-Governance PROCESS Act Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Native American tribes.
• The automated commercial environment for certain tobacco products.
• Tax increase for California-grown walnuts.
• Proposed deletions from the EPA's National Priorities List.
• Delaware's vehicle inspections.
• Phasing down hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerants.
• New safety requirements for toys containing button cell or coin cell batteries.
• Threatened species status for the Santa Ana speckled dace.

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