Browse regulations

This regulation implements 30 U.S.C. § 921 by establishing procedures for states to obtain listing of their workers' compensation laws as providing 'adequate coverage' for black lung benefits. It defines terms, sets application requirements, outlines the Secretary's criteria for inclusion (benefits no less than federal), requires periodic reporting, and provides removal procedures. It also contains a static list of approved states.

The regulation imposes ongoing federal oversight of state workers' compensation systems, requiring states to submit to bureaucratic review and regular reporting. This infringes on Tenth Amendment state sovereignty, creates compliance costs for states, and centralizes authority in the Secretary. The statute's coordination purpose could be achieved through simpler mechanisms—such as a direct statutory definition of adequacy or ad hoc determinations—without a permanent federal list and administrative apparatus. Keeping it entrenches a problematic federal review process that discourages state innovation and expands bureaucratic power.

Regulation governs when final decisions on Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act benefits can be reopened and revised, establishing time limits (12 months for any reason, 4 years for new evidence or inconsistency) and exceptions (fraud, clerical errors, qualified employee issues), plus procedures for revisions based on ongoing investigations and notice requirements.

Without this regulation, there would be no fair, predictable process to correct erroneous benefit decisions. New evidence, clerical mistakes, or fraud would be unremediable, violating basic principles of justice and due process. The minimal administrative cost is essential to ensure the agency can rectify its own errors and maintain legitimacy in the unemployment insurance system.

This regulation establishes procedures for petitioning relief from Customs bond-related penalties and liquidated damages, including filing requirements, time limits, authority for mitigation/cancellation, and appeal processes through Customs officials.

This creates a complex bureaucratic appeals process for Customs penalties that adds administrative costs and delays enforcement. The underlying Customs bond system itself is legitimate for securing compliance, but this separate regulatory framework for appeals is an unnecessary layer that protects bad actors while burdening honest businesses with paperwork and delays.

This regulation establishes the licensing and permitting system for customs brokers who facilitate international trade by handling customs documentation, classification, valuation, and duty payments on behalf of importers and exporters. It sets qualifications, examination requirements, continuing education mandates, and disciplinary procedures for licensed brokers who must operate under responsible supervision and control.

This regulation creates a government-licensed monopoly that restricts competition in customs brokerage services. The licensing requirements, continuing education mandates, and permit fees raise barriers to entry, protect incumbent brokers from competition, and increase costs for importers and exporters. These artificial constraints on who can provide customs services reduce market efficiency and innovation while protecting established players from new entrants who could offer better service at lower prices.

The regulation implements Title IX by prohibiting sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It requires recipients to conduct self-evaluations, adopt grievance procedures, designate coordinators, provide notifications, and take remedial action if discrimination is found. It applies broadly to educational institutions but includes exemptions for religious organizations, military training, and certain youth groups.

Compliance imposes significant hidden costs: paperwork, training, administrative burden, and required staffing divert resources from educational missions, especially burdening smaller institutions. Federalizing education policy violates Tenth Amendment principles of state and local control, and the one-size-fits-all approach ignores local contexts. The knowledge problem prevents regulators from foreseeing all consequences; unintended effects include chilling legitimate single-sex programs, increased litigation, and bureaucratic mission creep. These unseen costs far exceed any marginal benefits, which could be more effectively and efficiently pursued through state-level policies, market forces, or private rights of action without centralized coercion.

Federal regulation requiring oil pipeline companies to preserve accounting and operational records for specific periods, with provisions for storage, destruction, and access by regulatory authorities

Creates unnecessary compliance costs for pipeline companies without providing commensurate benefits - companies already have strong incentives to maintain accurate records for business operations, tax purposes, and liability protection. The regulatory burden falls disproportionately on smaller operators while the Commission can obtain needed information through targeted requests when necessary.

The regulation defines terms and procedures related to the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA) and specifies the process for jurisdictional agencies to determine the classification of natural gas from various formations, including tight formations, coal seams, and Devonian shale. It outlines the requirements for applications, data submission, and notice to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on natural gas producers, particularly small businesses, without clear evidence of substantial public benefit. The detailed procedural requirements and data submission mandates create barriers to entry and stifle innovation. Additionally, the regulation's focus on specific geological formations may distort market incentives and reduce overall supply, leading to higher prices for consumers. The costs of maintaining and enforcing this regulation outweigh its benefits, making it a candidate for deletion.

This regulation requires federal authorization for public utilities and holding companies to engage in certain transactions involving power facilities or securities exceeding $10 million, including sales, mergers, acquisitions, and transfers. It establishes detailed definitions, exemptions via blanket authorizations for minor or internal transfers, and mandates extensive reporting and competitive analysis for transactions that could affect market competition, rates, or cross-subsidization.

The regulation imposes massive compliance costs—documented by thousands of pages of forms, exhibits, and analyses—on market participants to prevent hypothetical harms that markets and state oversight can better manage. It entrenches bureaucratic control over private contracts, distracts capital from productive investment, and stifles competition under the guise of protecting consumers. The original intent of preventing monopolistic behavior is obsolete: modern markets, transparency laws, and state-level utility commissions already serve this function more efficiently. The costs to innovation and entrepreneurship vastly outweigh any imagined benefits.

Rule requiring brokers, dealers, investment companies, and registered investment advisers to provide privacy notices to customers and consumers, and to offer opt-out rights for sharing nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties, with exceptions for affiliates, joint marketing, and servicing.

Imposes substantial compliance costs on financial institutions, especially small firms, while providing minimal consumer benefit due to information overload and low opt-out rates. Preempts more flexible state-level solutions and stifles beneficial data sharing that enables personalized financial services, reducing competition and innovation.

Regulation FD requires issuers to make simultaneous or prompt public disclosure of material nonpublic information disclosed to certain individuals or entities, ensuring fair and equal access to information for all investors.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on issuers, potentially discouraging public disclosure of information. It also creates a bureaucratic burden and may lead to unintended consequences such as delayed or less transparent information sharing. The market can often self-regulate to ensure fair disclosure without such stringent rules.

Regulation governing commodity trading firms: requires pre-transaction customer authorization, diligent supervision of employees, branch office naming rules, and detailed standards for voluntary arbitration agreements with dispute resolution protections including mixed panels, forum choice, and preserved CFTC reparations rights. Exempts eligible contract participants from certain arbitration restrictions.

Prevents unauthorized trading and ensures genuinely voluntary arbitration with fair forums—protections the market cannot provide due to information asymmetry and industry bias. Sophisticated parties are exempted, recognizing their ability to self-protect. Without this, retail customers face high risks of fraud, coercion, and biased dispute resolution in complex financial transactions.

Federal privacy regulation requiring financial institutions to provide privacy notices to customers and allow opt-out of information sharing with nonaffiliated third parties

Imposes substantial compliance costs on financial institutions while providing minimal consumer benefit - consumers rarely exercise opt-out rights and the regulation creates a false sense of privacy protection while distorting market incentives and increasing costs for all consumers

This regulation administers export certificates for lamb meat imports under a tariff-rate quota established by presidential proclamations, requiring importers to declare valid export certificates issued by participating countries to qualify for lower in-quota duty rates.

This is a narrow trade procedural rule tied to expired presidential proclamations; it enforces a protectionist quota system benefiting foreign producers and domestic importers while distorting market entry, raising prices for consumers, and creating bureaucratic overhead — all without constitutional or statutory justification beyond discretionary executive action.

Establishes federal consistency requirements for coastal zone management, mandating that federal agencies ensure their activities affecting coastal uses/resources align with state-approved management programs while providing procedural frameworks for intergovernmental coordination and dispute resolution.

Creates costly bureaucratic coordination requirements that duplicate existing environmental review processes, imposes state veto power over federal activities, and generates significant compliance costs for federal agencies without clear evidence of improved coastal outcomes.

Title IX regulations implement federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funds, covering admissions, treatment of students, employment, and requiring coordination and grievance procedures.

Americans would be worse off without Title IX protections that ensure equal educational opportunities regardless of sex, preventing discriminatory admissions practices, hostile environments, and employment barriers that would disproportionately harm women and girls in education.