Browse regulations

Federal regulation governing Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) investment allocation, fund transfers, and administrative procedures for federal employees' retirement accounts. Establishes default investment rules, contribution allocation requirements, fund reallocation/transfer limits, and mutual fund window operations.

Americans would be worse off if deleted because this regulation protects federal employees' retirement savings by ensuring proper investment diversification, preventing excessive trading, and maintaining low-cost investment options. Without these safeguards, inexperienced investors could make poor allocation decisions, face higher fees, and risk losing retirement security.

Regulation governing the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for federal employees and uniformed services, covering contribution elections, automatic enrollment with 5% default, agency matching contributions, investment rules, rollovers, account combinations, and refund procedures.

The TSP imposes unnecessary taxpayer costs through automatic matching contributions, complex bureaucracy, and coercive automatic enrollment that distorts labor markets. Constitutional overreach via federalizing retirement policy, administrative burden exceeding $2 trillion nationwide, and protection of incumbent government employment over private sector competition where voluntary retirement markets already function efficiently.

The Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act (FERCCA) provides a correction mechanism for federal employees erroneously placed in the wrong retirement plan (CSRS, CSRS Offset, FERS, or Social Security-Only) for at least three years. It offers election rights between plans, crediting of service, payment of lost earnings on Thrift Savings Plan make-up contributions, and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses caused by the error.

This regulation imposes substantial administrative and financial burdens on federal agencies to implement complex correction procedures, process elections, compute lost earnings, and reimburse expenses—all funded by taxpayers. The detailed, prescriptive rules create compliance costs and encourage claims that drain resources. The same objectives could be achieved through simpler, less costly administrative processes or targeted statutory fixes, reducing bureaucratic overhead and hidden tax burdens on Americans.

Grants OPM authority to require federal agencies to implement accountability systems for merit system principles and to conduct oversight reviews of agency HR programs.

Creates redundant bureaucratic oversight layer imposing compliance costs on agencies without clear marginal benefit over existing mechanisms (MSPB, OSC, IGs). Enables OPM mission creep and regulatory capture while expanding federal personnel bureaucracy that taxpayers fund. Merit principles can be enforced through clearer statutory standards rather than this compliance regime.

This regulation defines 'Executive agency' for personnel reporting purposes and establishes reporting requirements for civilian employee information, with specific exemptions for intelligence agencies and special circumstances.

Creates unnecessary federal oversight of personnel data collection that could be handled by individual agencies, imposes compliance costs without clear benefit, and centralizes information that could be misused - violating principles of limited government and privacy

Procedural rules for administrative hearings under the Marine Mammal Protection Act governing notice, participation, testimony submission, hearing conduct, and decision-making for proposed regulations and waivers.

Redundant with the Administrative Procedure Act; adds unnecessary complexity and burdensome submission requirements that increase legal costs and discourage public participation while contributing to the inflated CFR that undermines rule of law.

This regulation from the late 1990s establishes a five-phase Maglev Deployment Program through the Federal Railroad Administration, authorizing up to $1 billion (with $55 million contract authority) in federal funds for high-speed magnetic levitation train development. It requires public-private partnerships with at least 1/3 non-federal matching, imposes 70% U.S. manufactured content requirements, mandates Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, and requires environmental assessments. The program never resulted in a built Maglev system and its timeline expired in the early 2000s.

This regulation is obsolete—representing a failed 25+ year-old industrial policy program that never deployed a single Maglev system. It embodies the flawed central planning these economists opposed: government picking technology winners, protectionist domestic content mandates, and inflationary Davis-Bacon wage requirements that distort market competition. Keeping such dead-letter regulations clogs the Code of Federal Regulations with meaningless text, creating confusion and potential for harmful revival. The program consumed taxpayer planning resources while achieving nothing beyond bureaucratic exercise, violating the principle that regulations must be knowable and purposeful.

Federal loan and loan guarantee program administered by FRA to finance railroad infrastructure projects (equipment, facilities, new development) but not operating expenses. Requires extensive application materials and gives priority to projects meeting government-determined criteria (safety, environment, economic development, etc.). Uses credit risk premiums to offset potential losses.

This program distorts capital allocation by having government decide which rail projects deserve financing, creates moral hazard and regulatory capture risks, imposes heavy compliance burdens on applicants, and exposes taxpayers to potential losses despite credit risk premiums. Railroads are a mature industry with ample access to private capital markets; government involvement is unnecessary and violates principles of limited government and free enterprise. The program picks winners and losers based on political priorities (e.g., rural service, environmental benefits) rather than economic merit, and raises barriers to entry through its complex application requirements that favor larger, established players.

Regulation establishes mandatory drug and alcohol testing procedures for safety-sensitive transportation employees. It defines roles (employers, collectors, MROs, service agents), testing protocols, chain of custody, lab certification, and consequences for positive tests (immediate removal from safety duties). It requires strict separation of DOT and non-DOT tests, and provides a framework for 'stand-down' waivers under limited circumstances.

The regulation imposes heavy compliance costs on transportation employers, particularly small businesses, and creates a sprawling federal bureaucracy that intrudes on private employment relationships. It preempts state law, violating Tenth Amendment principles of federalism. While safety is a valid concern, the same objectives can be achieved through tort law, criminal enforcement of impaired operation, and market-based incentives such as insurance requirements and industry standards. The regulation's prescriptive nature stifles innovation, generates unnecessary administrative overhead, and produces unintended harms like privacy violations and career-ending false positives. The unseen costs far outweigh its marginal safety benefits.

Title IX regulations prohibit sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs, requiring equal access to admissions, programs, and activities while establishing compliance procedures and exemptions for religious institutions and single-sex organizations.

Americans would be worse off without Title IX as it ensures equal educational opportunities regardless of sex, preventing discrimination in admissions, programs, and employment that would disproportionately harm women and other protected groups in education.

This regulation provides procurement exemptions for Canadian products under $25,000 from Buy American Act restrictions, allows duty-free entry for space-related equipment, and addresses export control requirements for NASA contracts involving foreign partners.

Americans would be worse off if deleted because these provisions facilitate critical international space collaboration, reduce costs for NASA missions, and ensure compliance with complex export control laws that protect national security while enabling beneficial foreign partnerships.

Mandatory FAR clause requiring contractors to follow specific packaging, handling, and transportation protocols for classified government deliverable items: Class I (mission essential), Class II (delicate/sensitive), or Class III (special handling). Applies to all solicitations and contracts for such items across federal agencies.

Imposes disproportionate compliance costs on small government contractors, raising barriers to entry and protecting large incumbents. Standardization is unnecessary—agencies can specify handling requirements in individual contracts. The hidden tax on contract prices harms taxpayers while creating bureaucratic complexity with minimal offsetting benefit to government asset protection.

Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) Part 970 establishes policies and procedures for managing and operating contracts, typically used for national laboratories and nuclear facilities. It covers management controls, quality assurance, employee conduct standards, conflicts of interest, security requirements, records management, fee structures, and performance incentives for these high-value, complex contracts. The regulation prescribes mandatory clauses to be inserted in all M&O contracts.

While this regulation adds compliance complexity, it governs the stewardship of critical national security assets and billions in taxpayer funds. The requirements for management controls, financial safeguards, conflicts of interest policies, and security protocols are necessary to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in contracts involving nuclear materials, classified information, and dangerous facilities. The fee structure provisions align contractor incentives with government objectives. These protections cannot be adequately replicated through market mechanisms alone given the unique nature of government-owned nuclear facilities and the absence of traditional profit motives.

Maritime regulation requiring U.S. citizenship for ownership of vessels 100+ feet engaged in commercial fishing, with detailed ownership requirements and annual citizenship verification

This regulation creates massive bureaucratic compliance costs and barriers to entry in commercial fishing. The complex citizenship requirements, annual verification, and extensive documentation burden small businesses disproportionately while protecting incumbent operators from foreign competition. The $2+ trillion annual regulatory compliance cost burden on Americans includes these hidden costs that distort market efficiency and raise consumer prices.

This regulation establishes the Maritime Administration's Title XI federal ship financing guarantee program, providing government backing for loans to construct, reconstruct, or recondition vessels and shipyard facilities. It defines eligibility requirements, application procedures, citizenship certifications, vessel standards, and priority processing criteria for participants seeking federal guarantees on private debt obligations.

This program represents corporate welfare that socializes losses while privatizing gains, distorting maritime markets through moral hazard and creating barriers to entry for smaller competitors. It uses taxpayer funds to subsidize politically connected shipping interests while undermining sound market pricing mechanisms that would otherwise allocate capital efficiently. The unseen costs include misallocation of resources, higher taxes, and constitutional overreach into industrial policy that properly belongs to the private sector under a system of limited government and free enterprise.