This week in ridiculous regulations: Natural grass marketing and arms trafficker registration fees

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The 2024 Federal Register surpassed 100,000 pages for the first time ever, and the number of new regulations on the year passed 3,000. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from monarch butterflies to swallowtail butterflies.

On to the data:

• Agencies issued 100 final regulations last week, after 74 the previous week.

• That's the equivalent of a new regulation every one hour and 41 minutes.

• With 3,032 final regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 3,171 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 44 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 29 the previous week.

• With 1,679 proposed regulations so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 1,756 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 544 notices last week, after 540 notices the previous week.

• With 23,948 notices so far in 2024, agencies are on pace to issue 25,046 notices this year.

• For comparison, there were 22,902 notices in 2023, 22,505 in 2022, and 20,952 in 2021.

• Last week, 4,002 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 2,380 pages the previous week.

• The average Federal Register issue in 2024 contains 423 pages.

• With 101,462 pages so far, the 2024 Federal Register is on pace for 106,112 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 95,894, 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 20 such rules so far in 2024, with two in the last week.

• This is on pace for 21 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 $16.42 billion to net savings of $26.45 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 three the previous week.

• So far this year, there are 296 new regulations meeting the broader definition of "significant." This is on pace for 309significant regulations in 2024.

• For comparison, there were 290 such regulations in 2023, 255 in 2022, and 387 in 2021.

• So far in 2024, 736 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 770. Sixty-seven 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:

• Establishing a Natural Grass Sod Promotion, Research, and Information Order.

• Subsidies for 5G in rural areas.

• Mortgage disbursements.

• EPA rules for submitting unpublished health and safety data.

• Employment and training services for noncustodial parents.

• Automatic extension periods for certain employment visas.

• 30-day notification requirement for evictions due to not paying the rent.

• Statutory license reporting practices for cable, satellite, and DART.

• Mandatory electricity transmission and distribution planning support activities.

• Procedures and rules for Article 10.12 of the USMCA.

• Black lung benefits.

• PPE for construction workers.

• Significant new use rules on certain chemical substances.

• Phasing down hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerators.

• Administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for federal contractors.

• Housing subsidies.

• Technical corrections to EPA hazardous waste regulations.

• Permitting rights-of-way in national wildlife refuges.

• Solid waste incinerators that haven't been modified or reconstructed since August 7, 2013.

• Automatic emergency brakes for light vehicles.

• Updates to the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.

• Visas for government employees serving abroad.

• Registration fees for international arms traffickers.

• Requirements for electric mining vehicles.

• Endangered species status for the Fluminense swallowtail butterfly, Harris' mimic swallowtail butterfly, and Hahnel's Amazonian swallowtail butterfly.

• Defining larger market participants for general-use digital consumer payment applications.

• Endangered species status and critical habitat for the Peñasco least chipmunk.

• Farm subsidies.

• Loan guarantees for rural utilities.

• Justice Department regulations for settlement agreements and payments to non-governmental third parties.

• Updates to Medicare payment rules.

• Interstate natural gas pipelines.

• Submitting clinical trial results.

And from last week's proposed regulations:

• Establishing a Natural Grass Sod Promotion, Research, and Information Order.

• High temperature nuclear reactor regulatory guide.

• Identity theft and coerced debt.

• Stormwater discharges from construction projects.

• Endangered species status for the eastern hellbender.

• Critical habitat for the rayed bean, sheepnose, snuffbox, and spectaclecase mussels.

• Performance standards for stationary combustion turbines and stationary gas turbines.

• Data broker practices.

• A shortfall in cellulosic biofuel.

• Instant criminal background checks.

• Americorps Seniors programs restrictions.

• Threatened species status and critical habitat for monarch butterflies.

• Leprino nutrition.

• Making royalty payments with pay.gov.

• A new postal product.

• Airline passenger rights.

• FOIA policies from the Council for Environmental Quality.

• The rough popcornflower is being upgraded from endangered to threatened.

• The Rio Grande cutthroat trout will not be added to the Endangered Species List.

• Drug tests for transportation workers.

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