This week in ridiculous regulations: Watermelon taxes and crash test dummies

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CEI's home distillery court case had a good week. President Biden had a bad week. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from rotorcraft to desert air.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 49 final regulations last week, after 49 the previous week.
• That's the equivalent of a new regulation every three hours and 26 minutes.
• With 1,654 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 24 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 23 the previous week.
• With 927 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,729 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 472 notices last week, after 349 notices the previous week.
• With 12,497 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 23,315 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 1,553 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,455 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 428 pages.
• With 57,338 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 106,974 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 24 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 was two new final regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant" last week, after eight the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 195 new regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant." This is on pace for 364 significant regulations in 2024.
• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2024, 397 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 741. Forty-two of them are significant, on pace for 78.
• 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:

• The Cranberry Marketing Order has been abolished.
• The FTC issued new franchising regulations.
• The Federal Flood Risk Standard.
• Valparaiso, Florida's terminal area.
• The FDA is removing the Allergenic Products Advisory Committee from its list of standing committees.
• The Education Department is improving state capacity to collect IDEA Part B data.
• The Education Department is giving out State Personnel Development Grants.
• Termination rights for music royalties.
• California vehicle inspections.
• Tax treatment of digital asset transactions.
• Resolution plans for big banks.
• More nuclear plant regulations: a required assessment of US Department of Energy Laboratories by licensees, applicants, and their suppliers to verify the effective implementation of their quality assurance programs.
• Pacific sardine management.
• Inflatable lapbelts on Gulfstream airplanes.
• Tax cut for California olive growers.
• Threatened species status for the Pearl River map turtle, plus four other turtle species that resemble it in appearance but are not themselves threatened.

And from last week's proposed regulations:

• Tax increase on watermelons from the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
• Extended comment period on protective regulations for the oceanic whitetip shark.
• Mojave desert air quality.
• New Hampshire ambient air quality.
• Minnesota's second period regional haze plan.
• North Dakota's second period regional haze plan.
• Kansas ozone.
• New Jersey ozone.
• Draft regulations for rotorcraft.
• Performance measurement for market dominant postal products.
• Critical habitat for Barrens topminnow.
• Enhancing anti-dumping duty law administration.
• Federal acknowledgement of American Indian tribes.

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