This week in absurd regulations: electric programs and EV drivetrains

The midnight rush to beat the 60-day legislative deadline for possible repeals of the Congressional Review Act appears to be slowing, but Federal Register activity remains more vigorous than usual. The president of Iran died in a helicopter crash. Agencies have issued new regulations, ranging from spearmint oil to rescheduling marijuana.

Let’s get to the data:

Agencies issued 59 final regulations last week, up from 72 the previous week.
This is the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 51 minutes.
In 2024, 1,261 final regulations have been issued so far, and agencies are on track to issue 3,091 final regulations this year.
For comparison, in 2023 there were 3,018 new final regulations, in 2022 – 3,168, and in 2021 – 3,257.
Agencies published 31 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, up from 45 the previous week.
With 740 regulations proposed so far in 2024, agencies are on track to issue 1,814 proposed regulations this year.
For comparison, 2,102 regulatory proposals were submitted in 2023, 2,044 in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
Last week, agencies published 508 advertisements, after 518 advertisements in the previous week.
In 2024, 9,376 notices have been issued so far, and agencies are on track to issue 22,980 notices this year.
For comparison, in 2023 there were 22,902, in 2022 – 22,505, and in 2021 – 20,018.
Last week, 2,280 new pages were added to the Federal Register, following 2,443 pages the previous week.
The average 2024 Federal Register issue contains 449 pages.
The Federal Register for 2024 has so far 45,748 pages and is already 112,127 pages long.
For comparison, the 2023 Federal Register has 90,402 pages, the 2022 Federal Register has 80,756 pages, and the 2021 Federal Register has 74,352 pages. The all-time record adjusted page count (subtracting skips, skips and blank pages) is 96,994, set in 2016.
Rules that have an economic impact of $200 million or more over at least one year qualify as significant rules under section 3(f)(1). This replaces a previously economically significant regulatory tag of more than $100 million. There have been 13 such rules in place so far in 2024, and none in the last week.
This pace is in accordance with Art. 32 regulations 3 letters f) point 1 in 2024
For comparison, there were 28 3(f)(1) regulations and/or economically significant regulations in force in 2023, 43 economically significant regulations in 2022, and 26 in 2021. It is important to note that these are not apples to apples comparisons ” because 3(f )(1) and the economically significant rules have different thresholds.
The total estimated cost of major 3(f)(1) regulations for 2024 ranges from a net savings of $17.82 billion to a net savings of $22.87 billion, according to the Office of Management and the Office of Information and Budget Affairs.
By comparison, the total cost of major and economically significant regulations for 2023 ranges from $62.60 billion to $90.48 billion. Cost estimates for economically significant rules for 2022 range from $45.28 billion to $78.05 billion. In 2021, net costs ranged from $13.54 billion to $1,992 billion. The exact numbers depend on discount rates and other assumptions.
Last week, following seven the previous week, two new final regulations that met the broader definition of the word “significant” were released.
So far this year, there have been 164 new regulations that meet the broader definition of “significant.” This is a pace consistent with 402 significant regulations in 2024.
For comparison, in 2023 there were 290 such regulations, in 2022 – 255, and in 2021 – 387.
So far in 2024, 300 new regulations will affect small businesses, at a rate of 735. Thirty-one of them are significant, at a rate of 76.
For comparison, in 2023, there were 789 regulations affecting small entrepreneurs, of which 79 were significant. In 2022, there were 912 regulations applicable to small businesses, of which 70 were significant. In 2021, there were a total of 912 regulations affecting small businesses, of which 101 were significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

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