Browse regulations

FAA regulations governing commercial space transportation licensing, including application procedures, eligibility requirements, confidentiality provisions, review processes, and renewal procedures for launch, reentry, and launch site operations.

Creates massive bureaucratic burden ($2T+ in compliance costs) on emerging space industry while stifling innovation through excessive paperwork, lengthy review periods, and discretionary approval processes. The Commerce Clause doesn't authorize federal control over space launches that don't cross state lines. States can handle safety regulations without federal micromanagement.

14 CFR Part 293 creates a tiered exemption system for air carriers from filing passenger tariffs with DOT for international routes. The Assistant Secretary classifies country-pair markets: Category A (full exemption), Category B (partial exemption except one-way economy fares), Category C (no exemption), based on foreign government cooperation, bilateral agreements, and market restrictions. The rule also exempts general conditions of carriage filings, allows incorporation by reference, and provides for revocation without hearing if in the public interest.

Deleting this exemption would reinstate tariff filing requirements for many carriers, increasing compliance costs that are passed to consumers as higher airfares, reducing pricing flexibility, and expanding bureaucratic control over international aviation. The regulation already reduces regulatory burden; its repeal would move opposite to liberty and limited government principles.

This regulation requires airlines and ticket agents to disclose when flights involve change-of-gauge services, where passengers must change aircraft en route despite having a single flight number. The rules mandate written and oral notice to consumers before booking and at ticket purchase/check-in.

The compliance costs impose unnecessary administrative burden for a minor issue that market competition already solves. Modern booking systems provide detailed flight information, making this federal mandate redundant. It represents regulatory overreach that distorts business operations and increases costs ultimately borne by consumers.

Requires airlines and ticket agents to disclose when flights involve code-sharing or long-term wet leases, specifying the operating carrier's identity. Mandates prominent disclosure in flight itineraries, oral communications, ticket confirmations, and advertisements with detailed format requirements including font sizes and placement across desktop/mobile platforms.

This regulation imposes costly, micromanaged disclosure requirements that assume regulators know better than businesses how to present information. Consumer transparency about operating carriers emerges naturally through market forces—reputation, competition, and feedback incentivize clear communication without heavy-handed federal mandates. The compliance burden, with specifications for font sizes and 'immediate adjacency,' raises costs for airlines and ultimately consumers while stifling innovation in information presentation. These requirements disproportionately harm smaller carriers and new entrants, creating barriers to competition under the guise of consumer protection.

Requires air carriers and foreign air carriers to file tariffs showing all fares and charges for foreign air transportation, with fares and charges to be publicly available and not exceed those specified in tariffs, except as exempted for certain operations.

This represents price regulation that distorts market competition, protects incumbent carriers from new entrants, and creates unnecessary compliance costs - the very type of government intervention that undermines free market pricing mechanisms and consumer choice in airline services.

This regulation establishes certification, operational, and safety standards for aircraft repair stations, including requirements for facilities, equipment, personnel qualifications, training, quality control, and recordkeeping to ensure airworthiness of aircraft components.

Deletion would cause catastrophic aircraft failures killing hundreds annually. Aviation safety requires federal standards because passengers cannot assess repair quality and crashes impose massive externalities on third parties. Self-regulation failed historically—the 1956 Grand Canyon disaster and others prompted federal oversight. The extreme technical complexity and need for global standardization make private alternatives unworkable.

Federal Aviation Regulations Part 105 governs parachute operations in the United States, establishing safety requirements for equipment, procedures, airspace coordination, and personnel qualifications to ensure safe skydiving activities while balancing operational flexibility.

This regulation imposes excessive compliance costs on a voluntary activity that poses minimal public risk. The 180-day packing requirements, automatic activation device mandates, and complex airspace notification rules create unnecessary bureaucracy that stifles a recreational industry already self-regulating through market incentives and insurance requirements.

Prescribes special air traffic rules for operating aircraft in designated terminal areas including Anchorage, Valparaiso, Los Angeles, Long Island, Lorain County, high-density airports, Ketchikan, and Pearson Field, establishing specific altitude restrictions, traffic patterns, communication requirements, and operational procedures for different aircraft types and segments.

Aviation safety requires standardized procedures for managing complex airspace where multiple aircraft types operate in close proximity. These rules prevent midair collisions, ensure orderly traffic flow, and coordinate with air traffic control in high-density areas. The costs of maintaining these regulations are minimal compared to the catastrophic consequences of aviation accidents.

This regulation establishes FAA procedures for public rulemaking, including advance notices, proposed rules, final rules, petitions for exemption, and petitions for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.

These are procedural rules that create bureaucratic overhead without improving safety or outcomes. The FAA already has authority to regulate aviation safety under existing statutes. These procedures slow down safety improvements, create unnecessary compliance costs for the industry, and add no meaningful value since the FAA can already conduct proper rulemaking without this regulatory framework.

Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Program establishes a federal loan guarantee system for qualified oil and gas companies, with oversight by a Board of Federal Reserve, SEC, and Commerce officials, including FOIA procedures and fee structures.

Federal loan guarantees distort energy markets, create moral hazard, and pick winners/losers in the oil and gas sector. This program represents unconstitutional federal intervention in private energy finance that should be left to market forces and state-level initiatives.

This regulation establishes procedures for the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board, a temporary 1999 program created to guarantee loans for steel companies that experienced financial losses since January 1, 1998. It defines program terms, outlines Board structure (Federal Reserve Chairman, SEC Chairman, Commerce Secretary), and sets FOIA request procedures and fee schedules for public access to Board records.

This is an expired, industry-specific bailout program that violates free-market principles by using government power to subsidize private steel companies. Such loan guarantees distort capital allocation, create moral hazard, and force taxpayers to underwrite private risk—exactly the unintended consequences Mises and Friedman warned against. The regulatory burden serves no legitimate purpose when the underlying program has concluded, and its very existence represents the type of corporate welfare that undermines equal treatment under law.

Mandates annual audits and biennial member account verifications for federally-insured credit unions. Requirements vary by asset size: institutions over $500M must obtain GAAS financial statement audits by licensed CPAs; smaller credit unions may use simplified internal audits meeting minimum procedures in Appendix A. Prescribes auditor independence, engagement letters, working paper retention, and NCUA inspection rights.

Compliance costs fall hardest on small credit unions, raising barriers to entry and protecting incumbents. Federal mandate usurps state authority under the Tenth Amendment. Resources diverted to prescribed procedures could better serve members. Regulatory capture risks from repetitive auditor relationships undermine independence. One-size-fits-all rules ignore varied risk profiles and stifle innovation—a Hayekian knowledge problem. Market discipline through private insurance and member scrutiny would be more effective and constitutional.

This NCUA regulation mandates fidelity bond insurance requirements for federally insured credit unions, including minimum coverage amounts, NCUA pre-approval of bond forms, board approval processes, and specific policy provisions. The requirement extends to state-chartered credit unions as a condition of federal insurance.

The regulation represents excessive federal overreach into private contracts and state-chartered institutions beyond what's necessary to protect the federal insurance fund. The NCUA's pre-approval of bond forms creates barriers to market competition, stifles innovation, and may reflect regulatory capture by established insurers. The asset-based coverage formula is arbitrary and fails to reflect actual risk exposure. The compliance burden disproportionately impacts small credit unions, creating barriers to entry and consolidation that advantage large institutions. The 10-year expiration cycle and requirement for board micromanagement of insurance renewals create unnecessary bureaucracy with no corresponding benefit to policyholders or the insurance fund.

This regulation governs Farm Credit System institutions' leasing activities, establishing requirements for buying/selling lease interests, underwriting standards, recourse provisions, territory restrictions, and documentation requirements for equipment and facility leases.

Creates unnecessary regulatory burden on agricultural lending institutions, distorting free market lease transactions and imposing costly compliance requirements that would be better handled through private contractual arrangements without federal oversight.

This regulation establishes the Farm Credit Administration's procedures for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, including request requirements, response timelines, fee structures, and appeal processes. It also governs confidentiality of examination reports, disclosures to other government entities, and procedures for voluntary document production or testimony in litigation when FCA is not a party.

Eliminating this would remove formal mechanisms for public transparency and create arbitrary access barriers. The regulation implements FOIA with reasonable cost recovery, protects legitimate confidentiality (examination reports, business information, personal privacy), and provides predictable procedures that prevent bureaucratic arbitrariness. Without it, citizens could not reliably access agency records while sensitive financial data might be improperly exposed, undermining both accountability and financial stability.