Browse regulations

Prohibits use of federal funds for lobbying on covered federal actions (contracts, grants, loans, cooperative agreements). Requires certifications (Appendix A) and disclosure forms (Appendix B) from recipients and subcontractors above thresholds. Exempts reasonable compensation for professional services and certain liaison activities. Imposes $10,000-$100,000 civil penalties per violation.

Massive paperwork burden with certifications, quarterly disclosures, and multi-tier flow-down multiplies compliance costs while chilling legitimate contractor-agency communication. Complex exemptions require expensive legal counsel to navigate. Disproportionate penalties ($10k-$100k) are weaponizable. Bribery is already criminal; this regulation merely expands bureaucracy and harms small businesses.

Federal regulation establishing compensation programs for work-related injuries to federal prison inmates, covering both lost-time wages during incarceration and disability compensation after release, with administrative procedures and appeals processes.

Creates special compensation system for inmates that duplicates existing worker's compensation frameworks, adding bureaucratic overhead and administrative costs while inmates are already receiving room, board, and other services at taxpayer expense. The system creates perverse incentives for fraudulent claims and administrative complexity without clear public benefit.

Prohibits use of federal funds for lobbying activities related to federal contracts, grants, loans, and cooperative agreements; requires certification and disclosure of lobbying payments; establishes civil penalties for violations; mandates reporting to Congress on lobbying activities.

Creates costly compliance bureaucracy, violates First Amendment by restricting political speech, enables regulatory capture through disclosure requirements, and imposes hidden compliance costs that disproportionately burden small businesses while providing minimal anti-corruption benefit.

This regulation implements statutory requirements for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to award grants through competitive processes, including peer review. It establishes application procedures, selection criteria, exceptions to competition, and detailed peer review processes for distributing federal funds for juvenile justice programs.

This regulation implements a federal grant program in an area properly reserved to states under the 10th Amendment. The administrative and compliance burdens impose significant hidden costs on taxpayers and applicants, crowd out local solutions and private charity, and create barriers to innovation through rigid selection criteria and peer review processes captured by insiders. Federal involvement in juvenile justice represents improper federal overreach that undermines constitutional federalism. Americans would be better off with juvenile justice decision-making returned to states and communities, where it can be tailored to local needs without bureaucratic interference.

This regulation (27 CFR Part 24) governs the establishment, bonding, operation, and tax treatment of wine premises in the United States. It defines numerous wine categories, establishes bonding requirements for producers, mandates extensive recordkeeping and reporting, grants expansive inspection and supervisory authority to TTB officers, and enforces the three-tier alcohol distribution system that separates producers, distributors, and retailers.

The regulation imposes massive compliance costs on wineries—disproportionately harming small producers—while serving primarily to protect incumbent distributors and large wineries through the three-tier mandate. Tax collection could be achieved through vastly simpler means; the complex bonding, reporting, and operational rules create artificial barriers to entry that distort competition and raise consumer prices. The inspectorial powers enable bureaucratic harassment, and the entire structure represents classic regulatory capture from the post-Prohibition era that should have been dismantled decades ago.

The Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act regulations mandate specific health warning statements on all alcoholic beverage containers, including warnings about drinking and driving, fetal alcohol syndrome, and impaired ability to operate machinery. These federal requirements preempt state laws and impose uniform labeling obligations on producers.

This federal mandate violates the Tenth Amendment by usurping state police powers traditionally reserved for product safety regulation. It imposes hidden compliance costs that disproportionately burden small producers, creating barriers to entry while protecting incumbent firms. In a free society, such information should flow through market demand, tort law, and state-level regulation—not federal coercion that treats consumers as incapable of making their own risk assessments.

Regulation prohibits American wineries from using foreign geographic names on wine labels, listing hundreds of protected names from countries like France, Italy, Germany, etc. The TTB maintains that these are distinctive designations that must be reserved for wines actually from those regions.

This protectionist regulation imposes federal compliance costs on domestic wineries while restricting consumer choice and competition. Geographic indications can be protected through private trademark systems or state laws, not a federal mandate that primarily benefits foreign producers at the expense of American businesses and consumers. The rule creates a barrier to entry for small wineries and distorts market signaling.

Regulation implements 26 U.S.C. 4911, imposing a 25% excise tax on public charities' excess lobbying expenditures after they make a 501(h) election. It defines direct and grass roots lobbying, sets nontaxable amounts (up to $1M base, scaled as % of exempt expenditures), provides exceptions for nonpartisan analysis, and establishes affiliation rules for organizations.

These regulations constitute federal restriction on charitable advocacy, chilling First Amendment speech and association. The complex definitions create compliance costs that disproportionately burden small charities, diverting resources from their missions. The 'unseen' damage includes self-censorship on important public issues, barriers to new advocacy organizations, and bureaucratic determination of which communications are 'partisan'—a knowledge problem no regulator can solve. The tax-exempt subsidy condition violates the principle that government should not condition benefits on surrendering free speech rights.

Excise tax of $3 per passenger on covered voyages over 1 night that extend beyond US territorial waters, excluding crew and business personnel, with specific definitions for gambling engagement and voyage duration.

Hidden tax burden on families and small cruise operators, distorts market pricing for voluntary recreational activity, and represents unnecessary federal intervention that raises costs without addressing market failures.

This regulation establishes procedures for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to charge non-Federal users for goods and services provided on or near Indian reservations, including utilities like electricity, water, sewage, telecommunications, and other services. It covers billing cycles, payment terms, service discontinuation for non-payment, and standard agreements with users.

This regulation provides a framework for cost recovery of essential services provided to non-Federal users on reservations. Without it, the BIA would lack clear procedures for billing and collecting payments for utilities and services that benefit specific users rather than the public at large. The framework ensures these services can be sustainably provided while maintaining accountability through standardized agreements and payment terms.

Regulation prohibits use of federal appropriated funds for lobbying activities related to federal contracts, grants, loans, and cooperative agreements. Requires certifications and disclosures from recipients above thresholds ($100k for contracts/grants, $150k for loans), imposes civil penalties ($25k-$250k), with limited exceptions for legitimate agency/legislative liaison and professional services directly in proposal preparation.

Deleting this would allow contractors and grantees to use taxpayer dollars to lobby for more federal funds—a corrupt circular incentive that multiplies spending and distorts procurement. The minimal reporting burden is trivial compared to preventing billions in wasted expenditures and preserving integrity in federal funding decisions. Existing anti-bribery laws don't address this specific misuse of appropriations.

This regulation implements the Freedom of Information Act for the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. It establishes procedures for requesting records, defines fee structures based on requester type (commercial, educational, media, general), sets forth nine standard FOIA exemptions, and provides an appeals process. Its purpose is to balance public access to government records with reasonable cost recovery and protection of exempt information.

Deleting this would leave the IBWC without clear, standardized procedures for handling FOIA requests, resulting in inconsistent and potentially arbitrary decisions that could deny legitimate public access to records. The regulation achieves transparency in a cost-effective manner that self-limits frivolous requests through tiered fees while preserving access for journalists, researchers, and public interest requesters via waivers—a balanced system unlikely to be replaced by a superior alternative given bureaucratic incentives to restrict disclosure.

Prohibits recipients of federal contracts, grants, loans, and cooperative agreements from using appropriated funds to lobby Congress or federal agencies for covered actions. Requires certifications and disclosures regarding lobbying activities funded with non-appropriated sources. Imposes civil penalties for violations ($10,000-$100,000).

Prevents the perverse incentive of using taxpayer money to lobby for more taxpayer money, which would otherwise create a self-reinforcing cycle of rent-seeking and escalating government spending. The modest compliance costs are justified by protecting against this specific form of corruption and misuse of public funds. While the underlying federal spending programs themselves should be reduced, this prohibition is a necessary guardrail that prevents an especially egregious abuse.

Prohibits use of federal funds for lobbying activities related to federal contracts, grants, loans, and cooperative agreements. Requires certification and disclosure forms for payments made with non-appropriated funds. Establishes civil penalties for violations and reporting requirements to Congress.

Creates massive regulatory burden with extensive paperwork requirements that cost taxpayers millions in compliance costs. The complex certification and disclosure system generates bureaucracy without clear evidence of preventing corruption. Small businesses and non-profits face disproportionate compliance costs, creating barriers to federal contracting. The regulation's broad scope and vague definitions enable regulatory overreach and mission creep beyond congressional intent.

Prohibits use of federal funds for lobbying related to federal contracts, grants, loans, and cooperative agreements. Requires certifications and disclosure forms for lobbying activities, with civil penalties for violations.

Creates bureaucratic compliance costs exceeding $100 million annually, discourages legitimate advocacy, and represents government overreach into protected First Amendment political speech. The regulatory burden on small businesses and nonprofits is disproportionate to any benefit.