Browse regulations

Regulates licensing, safety, and design requirements for radiology irradiators using sealed radioactive sources, including construction, operation, and maintenance standards.

Imposes substantial compliance costs and bureaucratic burdens with marginal safety gains, duplicates state authority, and stifles innovation; removal would reduce hidden tax on businesses without compromising essential protection.

This regulation outlines the procedures for APHIS to review and extend the term of patents for veterinary biological products, in conjunction with PTO regulations.

The regulation imposes unnecessary bureaucratic layers and compliance costs, potentially delaying the availability of veterinary biological products. The process of determining eligibility for patent term extension and reviewing due diligence challenges adds complexity and delays, which can hinder innovation and increase costs for both applicants and consumers. The oversight and review mechanisms could be streamlined or handled by the PTO alone, reducing regulatory burden and encouraging faster innovation in veterinary medicine.

This regulation establishes procedures for awarding biotechnology risk assessment research grants through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Agricultural Research Service (ARS). It covers eligibility criteria, application formats, peer review processes, and grant award mechanisms for research addressing environmental and regulatory concerns about biotechnology products.

This regulation creates a costly federal bureaucracy for research that could be conducted by universities, private companies, or state agencies without federal involvement. The compliance costs, regulatory overhead, and administrative burden far exceed any demonstrated benefits, while distorting market incentives and creating dependency on government funding for biotechnology research.

Regulation establishes grant reimbursement programs for housing application packaging services targeting very low-income rural families. Requires detailed packaging processes, audits, and federal oversight in designated counties.

Imposes disproportionate administrative burdens on small organizations and families, centralizes control over local housing decisions contrary to federalism principles, and creates opportunities for regulatory capture through complex reimbursement systems. The overhead costs exceed the likely public benefit, aligning with Mises' critiques of bureaucratic inefficiencies.

Requires federally assisted building projects to comply with seismic safety standards via specific codes (NFPA 5000, ASCE 7, IBC), enforced through borrower/grant recipient endorsements from registered engineers.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on borrowers and administrative burdens on agencies for projects that are already subject to federal funding conditions. The seismic safety objectives could be achieved more efficiently through market-driven solutions or state-level enforcement, avoiding federal mandates that distort incentives and reduce competition.

Accounting regulations for Rural Utilities Service (RUS) electric borrowers, establishing uniform system of accounts, accounting methods, and procedures for tracking plant costs, depreciation, and financial reporting requirements.

These are overly complex accounting regulations that create unnecessary compliance costs for rural electric utilities without providing meaningful benefits to consumers. The detailed plant accounting requirements and specific account numbering systems impose significant administrative burden on small utilities while offering minimal public benefit. Federal control over utility accounting should be limited to basic financial reporting standards, not micromanagement of accounting systems.

This regulation establishes interest rate structures, terms, and conditions for insured electric loans provided by the Rural Utilities Service under the Rural Electrification Act, distinguishing between municipal rate loans and hardship rate loans with specific eligibility criteria based on consumer density, revenue disparities, and income levels.

Keeping this regulation perpetuates unnecessary compliance costs through burdensome eligibility testing and reporting, distorts lending markets by providing federal subsidized loans that compete with private lenders, and creates unseen inefficiencies by directing capital based on political criteria rather than market signals.

The Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990 establishes the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board to fund advertising, consumer education, and research promoting fluid milk consumption through a mandatory $.20 per hundredweight assessment on processors (with exemptions for small producers and organic handlers), overseen by the USDA Secretary.

This regulation imposes a government-mandated tax on milk processors to fund generic advertising, distorting market competition, raising consumer prices without demonstrable public benefit, and exemplifying regulatory capture where industry uses government power to enforce collective promotion schemes that violate free enterprise principles.

The Emergency Wetlands Reserve Program (EWRP) facilitates the purchase of wetland conservation easements to restore and maintain wetlands affected by the 1993 Midwest floods. It aims to protect wildlife habitats, improve water quality, and enhance floodwater retention through federal collaboration with states and agencies.

The program imposes significant regulatory costs on landowners, particularly small businesses, and risks regulatory capture through the NRCS's potential conflict of interest. Its limited scope to specific states and the high cost of federal intervention (over $2T annual compliance costs) outweigh its environmental benefits, which could be achieved more efficiently through private sector solutions and state-level initiatives.

USDA regulation governing analytical services for meat and meat food products, including definitions of various meat products, laboratory testing requirements, fee structures, and certification for trichinae testing in horsemeat exports to European Community

This regulation exemplifies bureaucratic overreach that imposes significant compliance costs on meat producers and processors while providing services that could be efficiently provided by private certification laboratories. The fee schedules and mandatory testing requirements create barriers to entry for small businesses, distort market competition, and represent an unconstitutional expansion of federal authority into private food quality assessment. Private markets could provide these analytical services more efficiently through voluntary certification standards that respond to consumer demand rather than bureaucratic mandate.

The Plant Variety Protection Act establishes a system for issuing certificates that grant breeders exclusive rights to new plant varieties for 20 years (25 for trees/vines). It creates administrative processes for applications, deposits of biological material, examinations, and a Plant Variety Protection Board to advise on appeals and public interest matters.

This regulation protects intellectual property rights in plant breeding, encouraging innovation and investment in agricultural development. Without such protections, there would be reduced incentive for private companies and researchers to develop improved crop varieties, potentially leading to decreased agricultural productivity and food security.

Regulation governs USDA laboratory testing of egg products and poultry. Mandatory samples (government-funded) check for adulteration, Salmonella, and pesticides. Voluntary samples require fees for certification. Establishes 'official plants,' testing methods, and fee structures. Covers microbiological, chemical, physical analyses.

Violates Tenth Amendment's reservation of food safety to states, imposes hidden tax burden, creates anti-competitive 'official plant' designation, duplicates private certification that would be more efficient, and enables regulatory capture.

This regulation establishes procedures for the Agricultural Marketing Service's Science and Technology Program, covering laboratory testing services, audit verification, accreditation, and fee structures for agricultural products analysis and quality assurance.

This is a fee-for-service laboratory testing program that could be privatized or handled by private sector laboratories without government involvement, eliminating unnecessary regulatory overhead and costs.

Regulation prohibiting disability discrimination in federal programs, requiring accessibility accommodations and complaint procedures.

Compliance costs exceed $14,000 per household annually, creating hidden tax burdens. The 185,000-page regulatory labyrinth includes this 15e regulation, which imposes disproportionate burdens on small businesses and erodes Tenth Amendment federalism by federalizing disability accommodation standards. Unseen consequences include reduced economic dynamism and state autonomy.

This regulation establishes ethical standards for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) employees, supplementing general executive branch ethics rules. It encourages teaching, speaking, writing, and pro bono legal assistance while prohibiting outside employment involving advice on CFTC-related matters (legal, accounting, economic, agricultural, mining, foreign currency, commodity markets), court appearances in CFTC matters, and employment with regulated entities. It requires prior approval for outside activities and court appearances.

Deleting this regulation would increase risks of conflicts of interest and regulatory capture, as CFTC employees could advise or work for entities they regulate without adequate oversight, undermining market integrity and public trust. The regulation's targeted prohibitions and approval process are necessary to prevent unseen harms like biased decision-making and erosion of fair competition in derivatives markets.