Browse regulations

Regulation governs importation of motor vehicles/equipment, mandating compliance with federal safety, bumper, and theft standards via certifications, bonds, and NHTSA approvals for various eligibility categories.

Imposes huge hidden tax (>$14,000/household/year), raises prices, reduces consumer choice, and Crushes small importers while protecting incumbent manufacturers through regulatory capture. Federal overreach beyond constitutional authority; states or market mechanisms (insurance, inspections) could ensure safety at far lower cost, avoiding unseen harms: innovation suppression, limited vehicle availability, and resource misallocation.

Regulates maintenance, requalification, repair, inspection, and testing of DOT specification and UN pressure receptacles used for hazardous material transportation, establishing safety standards and marking requirements to ensure continued serviceability.

Creates costly regulatory burden on cylinder industry with extensive testing requirements, marking mandates, and record-keeping that drives up consumer prices while providing minimal safety benefit over market-based quality assurance systems. The $2+ trillion annual compliance costs across all federal regulations disproportionately harm small businesses and consumers through higher prices and reduced competition.

Comprehensive NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) provisions governing procurement, security, IT requirements, small business certifications, and labor standards for federal contracts

These provisions create massive compliance costs, regulatory complexity, and bureaucratic overhead that burden small businesses disproportionately while enabling regulatory capture through extensive paperwork requirements and security mandates that exceed constitutional limits on federal authority

Requires federal contractors to determine and obtain available state and local tax exemptions for themselves and their subcontractors, unless a Contracting Officer determines the administrative burden outweighs the benefit.

Imposes administrative costs on contractors that likely exceed government savings; distorts resource allocation away from productive work; small businesses bear disproportionate burden navigating complex tax codes; contractors should be free to decide whether pursuing exemptions is worth the cost without regulatory mandate.

This regulation (FCC Part 97) governs amateur radio services, establishing licensing requirements, technical standards, and operational rules for voluntary noncommercial radiocommunications. Key elements include license classes (Novice through Amateur Extra), call sign systems, station control requirements, frequency allocations, emission types, and protections for RF exposure, antenna structures, and monitoring facilities. The stated purpose is to provide emergency communications, advance the radio art, and promote international goodwill.

Amateur radio manages a scarce public resource (radio spectrum) to prevent interference while enabling a voluntary service that provides critical public benefits: emergency communications during disasters, technological innovation, and a reservoir of trained radio operators/technicians. The regulatory costs are modest and borne by voluntary participants, while the public benefits from spillover effects. Without federal coordination, chaotic spectrum use would render the service ineffective, depriving communities of these valuable contributions. The volunteer-examiner system and self-policing nature minimize regulatory burden and capture risks, making this among the most defensible federal regulations.

Sets technical standards and operational requirements for unlicensed radio frequency devices including computers, TVs, and wireless equipment to prevent harmful interference and ensure compliance with FCC regulations.

This regulation imposes unnecessary compliance costs on manufacturers and restricts market innovation. The free market would better handle device compatibility through consumer choice and manufacturer liability. The technical standards create barriers to entry that protect established firms while harming competition and consumer access to emerging technologies.

This regulation implements the Foreign Shipping Practices Act of 1988, establishing procedures for the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate and take action against foreign carriers whose practices create adverse conditions for U.S. carriers in oceanborne trade. It allows investigations based on petitions or Commission initiative, requires evidence of discriminatory practices, and authorizes actions including cargo limitations, tariff suspensions, and vessel restrictions.

This regulation enables protectionist trade restrictions that distort free market shipping competition. The complex investigative procedures and potential for retaliatory actions against foreign carriers create regulatory uncertainty, increase compliance costs for international shipping, and may violate free trade principles by allowing government intervention in market-determined shipping rates and services.

This regulation implements vessel tonnage measurement systems for U.S. vessels, establishing multiple measurement frameworks (Convention, Regulatory, Dual, and Simplified) to determine vessel volume for regulatory compliance, safety standards, and fee assessment purposes. It covers measurement procedures, authorized organizations, tonnage thresholds, and appeals processes.

This regulation creates a complex bureaucratic framework that imposes unnecessary compliance costs on maritime industry. The multiple measurement systems, extensive documentation requirements, and authorized organization structure add regulatory overhead without clear safety benefits. Vessel owners can self-regulate tonnage needs through market mechanisms, and international standards already exist for vessels operating globally. The costs of compliance (estimated in thousands per vessel) outweigh the benefits of federal oversight in this area.

This regulation defines Coast Guard organizational structure, personnel designations, and administrative procedures for marine safety, vessel inspection, and mariner credentialing. It establishes chains of command, appeal processes, and regulatory authority across multiple offices and districts.

This regulation creates a complex bureaucratic structure that increases compliance costs, establishes overlapping jurisdictions, and imposes federal control over maritime activities that could be managed at state or industry levels. The extensive organizational hierarchy and administrative procedures add hidden costs to shipping and commerce while creating regulatory uncertainty for small maritime businesses.

Implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with handicaps in all Foundation programs and activities, requiring accessibility, reasonable accommodations, and establishing complaint procedures.

Deletion would permit discrimination against disabled Americans in a federal scholarship program. The Foundation, as a federal entity, should be held to non-discrimination standards. While voluntary compliance is possible, the regulation provides necessary implementation details and enforceable procedural safeguards that would be hard to replicate through ad hoc measures.

The Emergency Community Services Homeless Grant Program distributes federal funds to states for homeless assistance, including service expansion, building renovation (capped at 50%), foreclosure prevention, violence counseling, and administrative costs (capped at 5%). Grants require applications with assurances, annual reporting, and adherence to referenced regulations, with funds allocated based on Community Services Block Grant formulas.

This program violates constitutional federalism by federalizing local welfare, imposes costly administrative burdens and prescriptive use restrictions that distort state priorities, and crowds out more efficient private and community-based solutions. Its hidden tax funding contributes to the $14,000 annual regulatory burden per household.

These rules establish detailed adjudication procedures for civil penalty and permit enforcement proceedings under the Antarctic Conservation Act, governing how the National Science Foundation conducts hearings, including complaint filing, answers, motions, default, settlement, and prehearing conferences.

These overly specific hearing procedures for Antarctic conservation enforcement add unnecessary complexity to the CFR for a program affecting only a tiny number of individuals. The same due process goals could be achieved through general Administrative Procedure Act procedures or simpler streamlined processes, eliminating this specialized bureaucratic rulebook that contributes to regulatory bloat while providing no unique benefits that cannot be obtained otherwise.

This regulation implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to prohibit discrimination based on disability in National Science Foundation programs and activities. It defines key terms, establishes non-discrimination requirements, mandates accessibility standards, and creates complaint procedures for individuals with disabilities seeking equal participation in NSF programs.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it ensures equal access to scientific education, research opportunities, and federal science funding for individuals with disabilities. Without these protections, people with disabilities would face systemic exclusion from STEM fields, limiting both individual opportunity and the diversity of scientific talent in America.

This regulation establishes procedures for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to nuclear power plant licensees when State or local governments decline or fail to participate adequately in offsite radiological emergency preparedness planning, requiring Federal intervention to ensure public safety compliance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing requirements.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it ensures critical radiological emergency preparedness when local governments fail to participate. Without it, nuclear facilities could operate without adequate offsite emergency plans, leaving communities vulnerable to radiation emergencies and unable to receive proper protective actions like evacuation or sheltering during nuclear incidents.

Establishes FEMA's policies and procedures for disaster relief under the Stafford Act, including definitions, coordination mechanisms, financial assistance, and administrative requirements for responding to major disasters and emergencies declared by the President.

Federal disaster relief creates moral hazard by encouraging risky development in disaster-prone areas, distorts insurance markets, and undermines state and local responsibility for emergency preparedness. The $2 trillion in compliance costs represents an inefficient redistribution of resources from productive uses to bureaucratic administration, while fostering dependency on federal aid rather than local resilience.