Browse regulations

This DoD regulation establishes the Personnel Security Program (PSP) for all DoD components, setting uniform policies for background investigations, adjudications, and eligibility determinations for national security positions and Common Access Card (CAC) issuance. It defines standards, procedures, and responsibilities across the Department, incorporating numerous executive orders, statutes, and federal regulations on security clearances, credentialing (HSPD-12), reciprocal recognition, continuous evaluation, and appeals. It applies to military, civilian employees, and contractors with access to classified information, sensitive facilities, or critical systems.

The DoD's personnel security program is a constitutionally sound and necessary function to protect national defense secrets. While vigilance against overreach is essential, this regulation balances legitimate security needs with individual rights protections—explicitly prohibiting discrimination, limiting negative inferences from mental health counseling, and providing appeal rights. Deleting it would create a critical vulnerability, potentially exposing classified military information to hostile actors. The costs are primarily internal to government operations rather than burdens on the general public or private enterprise, and the program's existence is fundamental to the Department of Defense's core national security mission.

DoD child care regulation establishing comprehensive policies, procedures, and standards for center-based and home-based care for military and DoD civilian families' children from birth through age 12, including eligibility criteria, fee structures, staffing requirements, and safety standards.

This regulation provides essential child care services for military families who serve our nation, ensuring quality care standards, safety protocols, and affordability for those who cannot access traditional employment benefits. The program supports military readiness by enabling service members to focus on their duties while their children receive developmentally appropriate care.

This regulation implements DoD voluntary education programs, establishing TA eligibility, institutional requirements, complaint systems, and administrative procedures for military education benefits and support services.

Creates bureaucratic overhead and regulatory capture risks in military education while imposing compliance costs on institutions that could better serve service members through market competition and direct funding.

This regulation establishes the Family Advocacy Child Abuse Tracking (FACAT) system for the Department of Defense, creating a multidisciplinary response team to investigate and address child sexual abuse allegations in DoD-sanctioned activities. It defines child abuse terms, assigns responsibilities to various DoD officials, establishes reporting requirements, and outlines deployment procedures for FACAT teams when incidents occur in DoD childcare facilities, schools, and programs.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it provides critical protection for military children in DoD childcare and educational facilities. Without this coordinated response system, child abuse investigations would be fragmented across military branches, potentially allowing perpetrators to exploit jurisdictional gaps. The FACAT ensures specialized expertise is deployed when multiple victims are involved, coordinating with law enforcement and providing comprehensive support for victims and families that individual services might not be able to deliver independently.

This regulation requires Housing Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement anti-money laundering programs and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions of at least $5,000 that involve potential criminal activity, with specific requirements for policies, compliance officers, training, independent testing, and recordkeeping enforced by FinCEN under the Bank Secrecy Act.

While preventing money laundering is a legitimate government function, this regulation imposes significant compliance costs on GSEs that ultimately get passed to taxpayers and homebuyers. The AML/SAR regime creates reporting burdens that distort financial intermediation, reduce market efficiency, and generate false positives that waste resources. As government-sponsored entities, GSEs already face extensive oversight; duplicative AML requirements add another layer of bureaucracy without clear marginal benefit. The $5,000 threshold captures countless legitimate housing-related transactions, creating compliance friction in the housing finance market. A targeted, risk-based approach focused on actual threats rather than blanket requirements would be more proportional and less economically damaging.

This regulation governs Treasury's retirement savings bonds program, which issues nonmarketable savings bonds to IRA custodians for Treasury's retirement savings program and state Auto-IRA programs. The bonds earn interest at the same rate as the G Fund in the federal Thrift Savings Plan, have a maximum value of $15,000 per participant, and mature after 30 years or when reaching the value limit. States must provide annual documentation on program administration, consumer protection, and oversight.

This regulation creates a government-managed retirement savings vehicle that distorts capital markets by channeling private retirement savings into Treasury bonds rather than allowing individuals to invest in productive enterprises. The $15,000 cap and mandatory interest rate create artificial constraints that limit investment options and returns. States are burdened with extensive documentation requirements and oversight responsibilities that could be handled through market-based solutions. The program represents federal overreach into retirement planning that should be left to individuals and the private sector.

This regulation implements Executive Order 13658, establishing a minimum wage requirement for federal contractors. It sets the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour starting January 1, 2015, with annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. The rule applies to new federal contracts for construction, services, concessions, and related activities where workers' wages are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act, Davis-Bacon Act, or Service Contract Act. The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcement and investigating violations.

This regulation represents federal price-fixing in labor markets, distorting wage signals and creating artificial price floors that reduce employment opportunities for low-skilled workers. It imposes compliance costs on federal contractors, creates administrative burdens, and undermines market-determined wages. The claimed productivity benefits are speculative while the direct costs to taxpayers and reduced employment are certain. Such wage mandates belong to states under the Tenth Amendment, not federal contractors.

Requires personal guarantees from corporate officers/principal stockholders or all partners in partnerships for section 312 loans, with property mortgage requirements remaining regardless of personal guarantees.

Creates artificial barriers to entry for small businesses and partnerships by forcing personal liability on business owners. This discourages entrepreneurship, increases risk for minority and immigrant-owned businesses who may lack personal assets to guarantee loans, and violates the principle of limited liability that makes modern business possible. The property mortgage requirement already provides sufficient security without forcing personal financial ruin on business owners.

Announces cessation of new grants under specific HUD programs (24 CFR parts 500–699). Existing grants remain governed by pre-October 2, 2014 rules.

Deletion would restart federal grantmaking, increasing spending and regulatory burdens while distorting housing markets. The freeze's simple prohibition effectively limits government expansion without new legislation.

Dodd-Frank era regulation requiring securitization sponsors to retain at least 5% of credit risk through vertical/horizontal interests or seller's interests, with extensive valuation and disclosure requirements. Aims to align incentives by giving sponsors 'skin in the game'.

Arbitrary 5% mandate imposes heavy compliance costs, distorts voluntary contracting, and concentrates risk at large institutions. Moral hazard better addressed through enhanced disclosure standards, fraud enforcement, and market discipline. Unseen effects include reduced market liquidity, higher borrowing costs, and regulatory arbitrage.

This regulation establishes the application process for states to participate in the Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program, allowing states to assume federal environmental review responsibilities (NEPA and other Federal environmental laws) for highway, railroad, public transportation, and multimodal projects within their borders. It details eligibility requirements, application contents, public comment procedures, MOU execution, amendments, renewals, and termination processes for delegating Federal environmental review functions from DOT operating administrations to state agencies.

This regulation perpetuates the administrative state by creating a complex bureaucratic mechanism for states to assume federal environmental review responsibilities. While nominally returning authority to states, it actually extends federal regulatory reach deeper into state operations under the guise of delegation. States must waive sovereign immunity to Federal court jurisdiction, maintain resources to replicate federal bureaucracy, and comply with all federal environmental laws that themselves impose massive hidden costs ($2 trillion annually) that distort incentives, reduce supply, and raise barriers to entry. The regulation's 11 sections of intricate procedural requirements add another layer of compliance burden without eliminating the underlying harmful environmental statutes. True federalism requires eliminating federal environmental mandates altogether, not creating elaborate delegation schemes that bind states to Federal court enforcement of regulations Mises identified as causing unintended consequences that harm the very people they claim to protect.

Mandates State Transportation Agencies to establish Value Engineering programs requiring systematic independent review of federal-aid highway projects exceeding specific cost thresholds ($50M for NHS projects, $40M for NHS bridges, etc.) before final design completion. Requires 7-phase VE Job Plan, annual reporting to FHWA, and VECP provisions in contracts.

This federal mandate imposes significant bureaucratic overhead on states while violating principles of federalism. The administrative costs of maintaining VE programs, conducting required analyses, and producing annual reports represent an unseen burden on taxpayers. Competitive bidding and contractor incentives already drive cost optimization in highway projects; the mandate substitutes centralized planning for market-based solutions, creating delays and distortions. States should retain sovereignty to determine whether VE aligns with their project needs without risking federal funding.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) regulation establishes internal procedures for responding to legal demands (subpoenas, orders, etc.) for its documents or employee testimony. It requires all such demands to be submitted to the General Counsel for review and approval, sets forth factors for consideration (burden, relevance, privilege, confidentiality, etc.), outlines mandatory conditions for authorized disclosures, and provides that employees must respectfully decline non-compliant demands despite court orders, based on Touhy authority.

This is a minimal internal administrative safeguard, not a public regulatory burden. It prevents individual employee harassment, protects confidential information and deliberative processes, ensures consistent handling of legal demands, and conserves agency resources. Deleting it would create chaos, expose sensitive data, and waste employee time without any corresponding reduction in compliance costs for the public or businesses. The regulation merely implements existing statutory authority (5 U.S.C. 301) in a prudent, low-cost manner.

This regulation implements the Privacy Act of 1974 for DFC (Development Finance Corporation), establishing procedures for individuals to access, amend, or obtain accounting of disclosures of their personal records. It defines key terms, verification requirements, and appeal processes for record requests.

This regulation creates a massive bureaucratic compliance burden with extensive identity verification requirements, notary public mandates, and complex procedural rules that create barriers to accessing personal information. It exemplifies regulatory capture where agencies create self-serving procedures that protect their interests while imposing substantial hidden costs on citizens seeking to exercise their rights under the Privacy Act. The administrative overhead and technical barriers to legitimate requests far exceed any benefits while enabling agencies to deny access through procedural non-compliance.

This regulation prescribes procedures for a $500 million USAID loan guarantee program backing 100% of principal and interest on eligible debt securities issued by Tunisia's central bank. It defines eligibility criteria, application processes for compensation, noteholder rights, subrogation, and arbitration provisions for this specific foreign aid program.

Taxpayers assume $500 million contingent liability to subsidize foreign borrowing, distorting credit markets and creating moral hazard. This expands federal power beyond core constitutional functions into foreign lending—a role properly filled by private capital markets without regulatory intervention.