Browse regulations

The Technical Assistance for Public Participation (TAPP) program enables DoD installations to fund, via purchase orders up to $100,000, technical consultants for community members of Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs) and Technical Review Committees (TRCs) to interpret environmental cleanup documents, assess technologies, participate in risk evaluations, understand health implications, and receive training related to installation restoration activities.

Diverts limited environmental restoration funds to community advocacy, imposing direct monetary costs, significant bureaucratic overhead, and creating incentives for adversarial delays. Unseen effects include rent-seeking behavior, politicization of technical decisions, and erosion of private responsibility - taxpayers subsidize consultants to second-guess the very agency conducting cleanup, violating principles of limited government and federalism.

This regulation establishes interagency reciprocity for security policies and procedures for shared classified facilities, requiring government organizations to accept existing security authorizations without change and creating standardized review processes to reduce costs and promote interoperability.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it prevents costly duplication of security reviews across agencies, reduces compliance burdens on cleared contractors by avoiding redundant inspections, and ensures consistent security standards that protect classified information while enabling efficient multi-agency use of secure facilities.

Federal personnel security guidelines establishing criteria for granting/revoking security clearances, covering 13 behavioral/conduct areas with specific mitigating factors and investigative standards.

National security requires consistent standards for classified information access. The guidelines provide objective criteria for evaluating trustworthiness across multiple agencies, ensuring qualified personnel handle sensitive data while protecting constitutional rights through due process and appeal mechanisms.

DoD regulation prescribing detailed administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements with for-profit organizations, including financial management systems, payment methods, cost sharing rules, program income handling, and budget revision approvals.

Imposes substantial compliance costs—especially on small businesses—while achieving accountability goals could be done through simpler, risk-based audits and contractual terms. The prescriptive requirements create barriers to entry, protect incumbents, and divert resources from productive work to bureaucratic compliance, violating principles of limited government and free enterprise.

This regulation establishes policies and procedures for DoD grants officers regarding the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements, including definitions, qualification standards, competitive procedures, and compliance requirements.

This regulation creates excessive bureaucratic complexity and compliance costs for DoD research funding, imposing paperwork burdens and administrative procedures that could be handled through simpler procurement contracts. The extensive definitions and qualification requirements add unnecessary layers of government oversight that hinder efficient research funding and create barriers to entry for qualified researchers.

Security and conduct regulations for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) facilities, covering access control, property protection, behavioral standards, drug/alcohol prohibitions, solicitation restrictions, photography rules, vehicle regulations, weapons bans, search authority, anti-discrimination policies, and smoking prohibitions. The rules apply to all persons entering FLETC properties and are designed to maintain security, order, and the smooth operation of this critical federal law enforcement training facility.

FLETC is a critical national security training facility for federal law enforcement. These regulations maintain essential security protocols, operational order, and training integrity. Deleting them would create security vulnerabilities, operational chaos, and risk disruption of vital officer training. The rules are proportionate to the facility's sensitive mission and mirror standard federal security protocols. The alternative—no clear guidelines for access and conduct—would endanger personnel, compromise training, and potentially damage federal property. These are minimal, necessary restrictions on a government installation, not overreach into private enterprise or state domains.

Regulations govern definitive (paper) Series I savings bonds, including ownership, registration, limitations, and procedures for reissue, payment, and relief for lost/stolen bonds, with Treasury maintaining records and delegating processing to Federal Reserve Banks.

This regulation creates a costly paper-based system for savings bonds that is obsolete in the digital age, requiring extensive record-keeping, processing infrastructure, and compliance mechanisms that impose hidden costs on taxpayers while serving a diminishing population of bond holders who could easily transition to electronic TreasuryDirect accounts.

DOL's implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974, establishing detailed procedures for individuals to access, correct, or amend records in systems of records maintained by the Department, including request requirements, fee schedules, appeal processes to the Solicitor of Labor, and employee training obligations.

Imposes significant bureaucratic overhead with little benefit: complex procedures, fee structures, multi-level appeals, and training requirements create barriers that deter individuals from exercising their rights while consuming substantial agency resources. The statutory mandate could be fulfilled with simpler, lower-cost procedures that don't require this extensive regulatory apparatus.

Establishes the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to prevent firearm transfers to prohibited persons, requiring background checks through the FBI or state points of contact for licensed firearm dealers.

Creates a massive federal database of gun owners that could be misused for confiscation, imposes costly compliance burdens on small businesses, and infringes on Second Amendment rights through bureaucratic delays and potential errors in the system.

This regulation implements the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program under NAHASDA, providing formula-based grants to Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages for low-income housing development and operations. It sets administrative requirements, Davis-Bacon wage requirements, environmental review procedures, civil rights compliance, relocation assistance standards, and procurement rules. The program emphasizes tribal self-determination by channeling funds directly to tribes rather than through states.

Americans would be worse off without this program because it fulfills a unique federal trust responsibility to address acute housing shortages on Indian reservations—conditions that state and local governments cannot adequately remedy due to tribal sovereignty, jurisdictional complexities, and the federal government's treaty-based obligations. The grant-based, self-determination model empowers tribes to develop housing solutions tailored to their communities while building private finance capacity; eliminating it would worsen substandard housing, undermine tribal economic development, and breach longstanding fiduciary duties. The compliance costs are necessary safeguards given the federal funding stream and historical mismanagement concerns.

The Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) establishes a complex performance measurement system requiring Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to comply with 16 detailed indicators covering waiting list procedures, rent determinations, income verifications, inspections, lease-up rates, and other administrative processes. PHAs must conduct internal quality control sampling, undergo independent audits, and submit annual certifications to HUD for scoring and performance ratings (high performer, standard, troubled). The regulation dictates specific compliance thresholds (e.g., 98% accuracy for certain samples) and triggers potential corrective action plans for deficiencies.

SEMAP imposes massive compliance costs on local housing authorities while violating the knowledge problem - Washington bureaucrats cannot design appropriate performance metrics for thousands of diverse local PHAs. The 16-point scoring system with precise percentage thresholds creates expensive administrative overhead, incentives for metric-gaming, and federal micromanagement that stifles local innovation. Resources diverted to documentation, sampling, and certification paperwork could better serve actual housing needs. Accountability can be achieved through simpler outcome-based measures and local oversight, not this burdensome federal rating apparatus that exemplifies regulatory overreach.

Sets terms for HUD renewal of project-based assistance contracts under MAHRA, including rent calculation methods, eligibility criteria, restructuring requirements, and notice provisions.

Creates market distortions that raise housing costs for all, imposes massive compliance burdens (especially on small landlords), federalizes local housing decisions unconstitutionally, and perpetuates dependency on subsidies that prevent efficient resource allocation.

This regulation establishes a federal program allocating highway funds to states based on seat belt use rates, with states exceeding national averages or showing improvement receiving funds proportional to estimated federal medical savings from reduced crash injuries and fatalities.

This is a federal intrusion into state highway safety policy that distorts local priorities, creates compliance costs for states, and uses coercive funding mechanisms to enforce federal preferences on seat belt usage rather than allowing states to determine their own safety approaches.

Implements Section 487 of the Foreign Assistance Act, barring U.S. foreign assistance (grants, loans, contracts, training) to individuals or entities convicted of narcotics offenses or engaged in drug trafficking. Establishes Country Narcotics Coordinator review, defines covered countries (major drug-producing/transit) and assistance types, includes exemptions (disaster relief, sub-$100k), and requires certifications from key individuals. Applies to first-tier and designated downstream recipients.

Deleting would allow U.S. foreign aid to fund drug traffickers and convicted narcotics offenders, wasting taxpayer money and supporting criminal enterprises. Its structured review process with clear criteria and certifications ensures consistent enforcement across agencies—a system hard to replace with ad hoc decisions.

FDA regulation establishing safety and effectiveness standards for over-the-counter aspirin products, including dosage forms, labeling requirements, and dissolution testing standards

This regulation creates unnecessary barriers to entry in the aspirin market, imposes costly compliance requirements on manufacturers, and represents federal overreach into an area where state regulation or market competition could adequately protect consumers without the $2 trillion+ annual compliance burden