• Ryan Young • 09/05/2023
• Food and Beverage Regulation
• This article is republished with permission from our friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Photo Credit: Getty

The 2023 Federal Register topped 60,000 pages. Price controls are on the way for 10 common prescription drugs. Hurricane Idalia hit Florida. Culture warriors shouted at each other over a country song. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from homework gaps to steel tariffs.

 On to the data:

• Agencies issued 65 final regulations last week, after 63 the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 35 minutes.
• With 2,072 final regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 3,065 final regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 3,168 new final regulations in 2022, and 3,257 new final regulations in 2021.
• Agencies issued 42 proposed regulations in the Federal Register last week, after 52 the previous week.
• With 1,450 proposed regulations so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 2,145 proposed regulations this year.
• For comparison, there were 2,044 new proposed regulations in 2022, and 2,094 in 2021.
• Agencies published 478 notices last week, after 450 notices the previous week.
• With 15,093 notices so far in 2023, agencies are on pace to issue 22,327 notices this year.
• For comparison, there were 22,505 notices in 2022, and 20,018 in 2021.
• Last week, 2,068 new pages were added to the Federal Register, after 1,746 pages the previous week.
• The average Federal Register issue in 2023 contains 357 pages.
• With 60,564 pages so far, the 2023 Federal Register is on pace for 89,592 pages.
• For comparison, the 2022 Federal Register totals 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 are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. This recently changed to $200 million. There are 12 such rules so far in 2023, two in the last week.
• This is on pace for 18 economically significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 43 economically significant rules in 2022, and 26 in 2021. The higher threshold will likely lower this year’s number.
• The total estimated cost of 2023’s economically significant regulations so far ranges from $58.01 billion to $81.17 billion, according to numbers self-reported by agencies.
• For comparison, the running cost tally for 2022’s economically significant rules ranges from net costs of $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 11 regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant” last week, after nine the previous week.
• So far this year, there are 190 new regulations meeting the broader definition of “significant.” This is on pace for 281 significant regulations in 2023.
• For comparison, there were 255 such new regulations in 2022, and 387 in 2021.
• So far in 2023, 549 new regulations affect small businesses, on pace for 812. Fifty-two of them are significant, on pace for 77.
• For comparison, in 2022 there were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 70 of them significant. 2021’s totals were 912 rules affecting small businesses, 101 of them significant.

Highlights from last week’s new final regulations:

• A fair chance to compete for jobs rule that ignores occupational licensing, permitting regulations, and other government-created barriers to entry.
• Guidance for prescription drug wholesalers.
• Dragon boat races in Portland, Oregon.
• Veterans’ exposure to fine particulate matter.
• Organic solvent cleaning and Rhode Island air quality.
• Updated Medicare payments.
• Rail shipments of liquefied natural gas.
• Migratory bird hunting on Indian reservations.
• The Dairy Donation Program.
• Energy conservation standards for air cleaners.
• Reporting requirements for Medicaid and CHIP, the Children Health Insurance Program.
• Energy conservation tests for room air conditioners.
• Temporary labor camps in Oregon.
• A safety zone for wedding fireworks in Michigan.
• A correction to nuclear non-proliferation rules against China and Macau.
• Interpreting the term “kiosk.”
• The Winters Highlands viticultural area.
• Threatened species status and critical habit for two population segments of the foothill yellow-legged frog.
• Fire assistance for Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon.
• Fuel cylinders for hot air balloons.
• Security requirements for prescription drug distribution.
• Rules for taking pictures and videos of National Archives and Records Administration property.
• Closing the homework gap with telecom subsidies.

And from last week’s proposed regulations:

• A systemic risk report for systemically important bank holding companies.
• Terms of service for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
• Copyright Office rules for accessing electronic works.
• Energy conservation standards for consumer boilers.
• Negotiations for federal student aid programs.
• Cold cleaner degreasing in Indiana.
• Television broadcasts in Winnemucca, Nevada.
• Designating worker walkaround representatives.
• Endangered species status for the dunes sagebrush lizard.
• Tax treatment of apprenticeship wages.
• Using mobile driver’s licenses as IDs.
• Tobacco manufacturing practices.
• Reclassifying the pillar coral from threatened to endangered species.
• Motor carrier safety fitness.
• Reportable animal diseases.
• Exclusions from the Section 232 national security tariffs on steel and aluminum.

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