Browse regulations

Establishes detailed petition and review process for modifying duty-free eligibility under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Requires extensive economic data submissions (3 years of detailed production, employment, sales information), mandates 20-copy submissions, creates multi-layered interagency review via GSP Subcommittee and Trade Policy Staff Committee, and sets annual review cycles with public hearings and Federal Register notices.

The regulation creates a burdensome bureaucratic apparatus for administering a protectionist trade preference program that distorts free markets. Compliance costs are substantial: petitioners must compile exhaustive economic data packages and submit 20 copies, while the government sustains an interagency review machinery. The process invites rent-seeking, giving well-resourced special interests a formal channel to lobby for selective advantages, contrary to equal treatment. Complexity disproportionately disadvantages small businesses and foreign governments lacking resources. The underlying GSP program itself violates free enterprise principles by granting artificial competitive advantages.

Regulations enabling Department of Commerce to include missing children information on penalty mail to assist in recovery efforts, with specific guidelines on usage, sources, and removal procedures.

This regulation provides a cost-effective mechanism for aiding in the recovery of missing children through existing government mail systems. The program leverages penalty mail infrastructure without creating new bureaucracy, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children serves as a centralized, authoritative source for verified information. Deleting this would eliminate a proven tool that has helped recover numerous missing children at minimal cost to taxpayers.

Sets policies for age discrimination in federally funded programs, prohibiting age-based exclusion while allowing certain age distinctions for normal operations or statutory objectives. Applies to DOC recipients and their programs receiving federal financial assistance.

Creates costly compliance bureaucracy that burdens small organizations with paperwork, investigations, and potential federal funding termination threats. Age discrimination is already prohibited under broader civil rights laws, making this regulation redundant. The extensive enforcement mechanisms and complaint processes impose regulatory overhead without providing meaningful protection beyond existing legal frameworks.

Federal sponsorship of voluntary product standards development, with Department of Commerce coordinating industry-led standardization efforts for public benefit through technical review and consensus-building processes

Creates unnecessary federal bureaucracy for standards that should emerge from private industry associations and ANSI. Government involvement distorts market signals, creates regulatory capture opportunities, and imposes compliance costs on businesses that could develop standards independently through voluntary associations.

NASA's implementing regulations for the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which allows eligible parties who prevail in certain administrative proceedings to recover attorney fees and expenses when the agency's position was not 'substantially justified.' The rules define covered adversary adjudications, eligibility criteria (individuals with net worth ≤$2M, small businesses/orgs with net worth ≤$7M and ≤500 employees), fee limitations ($75/hour for attorneys, $20/hour for experts), application procedures, and review processes.

EAJA serves as a critical check on administrative overreach by requiring agencies to bear the costs when they pursue unjustified positions, leveling the playing field against the government's virtually unlimited resources. Without this safeguard, the government could use its superior funding to exhaust private parties and deter meritorious challenges, undermining due process and the rule of law. The fee caps and eligibility thresholds reasonably constrain costs while preserving access to justice for individuals and small entities most vulnerable to agency bullying.

Implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to prohibit disability discrimination in NASA-funded programs, requiring reasonable accommodations, accessibility, and nondiscriminatory practices for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Americans with disabilities would face significant barriers to accessing federal programs and services without these protections, as they ensure equal opportunity and prevent discrimination in federally funded activities.

Continues NASA's Contract Adjustment Board for extraordinary defense-related contract modifications and the Inventions and Contributions Board for invention waivers and monetary awards, specifying their authority, composition, and procedures.

These boards create an unnecessary discretionary bureaucracy that distorts market incentives, fosters cronyism among contractors, imposes administrative costs, and could be replaced by ordinary contracting and IP management without special favors.

This regulation governs the admission and navigation of foreign civil aircraft in U.S. airspace, establishing definitions, permit requirements, operational limitations, and reciprocity conditions for non-U.S. aircraft operations including commercial, agricultural, and private flights.

This regulation creates unnecessary federal bureaucracy over aircraft operations that properly belong to states and the FAA. It duplicates existing FAA authority, imposes costly permit requirements on foreign operators, and restricts legitimate aviation activities through excessive federal control. The Commerce Clause should not extend to foreign aircraft operations that don't involve interstate commerce.

This regulation implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, prohibiting discrimination against handicapped persons in federal agency programs and activities, establishing definitions, accessibility requirements, and complaint procedures to ensure equal participation and benefits for individuals with disabilities.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it protects fundamental civil rights for disabled citizens, ensuring they can access federal services, employment, and programs. Without it, millions of Americans with disabilities would face discrimination, exclusion from public services, and loss of equal opportunity in federal programs that they've paid for through taxes.

NCUA regulation governing federal share insurance for credit union accounts, establishing $250,000 coverage limits and detailed rules for determining insurance eligibility across ownership structures including individual, joint, trust, corporate, and retirement accounts.

Creates moral hazard by guaranteeing deposits, encouraging risky behavior by credit unions and reducing depositor vigilance. Government insurance distorts market discipline, substitutes political calculation for risk-based pricing, and imposes substantial compliance costs that ultimately fall on members. Private risk-sharing mechanisms and market-based vetting would provide depositor protection without the unseen consequences of systemic instability and taxpayer exposure.

The regulation establishes rules governing who may practice before the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), including attorneys, accountants, and appraisers. It defines discretionary grounds for censure, suspension, or debarment (lacking qualifications, character, improper conduct, or violations) and automatic suspensions based on criminal convictions or professional license revocations. It also sets procedures for hearings, temporary suspensions, reinstatement, and mandatory disclosure of adverse actions.

This regulation creates a subjective licensing and debarment regime that raises barriers to entry, imposes significant compliance costs, and lacks clear standards—particularly the vague 'character' and 'requisite qualifications' grounds invite arbitrary enforcement and regulatory capture. The FCA can adequately protect the integrity of its proceedings through rules of practice and case-specific sanctions without acting as a gatekeeper to the profession. Existing state professional licensing systems and market discipline are sufficient to protect clients, and eliminating this federal overlay aligns with liberty and free enterprise by removing unnecessary federal barriers to representation.

Procedural rules governing formal administrative hearings before the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), including appearance requirements, evidence submission, subpoena authority, deposition procedures, motion practice, and decision-making processes. These rules implement the Administrative Procedure Act's hearing requirements for agency adjudications involving Farm Credit System institutions.

These rules provide essential due process protections for regulated entities facing agency enforcement actions. They establish clear, neutral procedures that limit agency discretion, ensure fair hearings, and protect against arbitrary government power—core rule-of-law requirements. Deleting these would create procedural arbitrariness that could be exploited for regulatory overreach, chilling legitimate business activity. The modest administrative burden is the price of predictable, fair hearings that constrain bureaucratic power rather than enable it.

Implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for the Export-Import Bank, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in its programs and activities, and requiring accessibility, auxiliary aids, self-evaluations, and a complaint process.

Imposes significant compliance costs and administrative burdens on the agency; invites frivolous complaints; duplicates broader government-wide disability regulations; and diverts resources from the bank's export financing mission.

Establishes pricing methodology and charge structures for electricity sales from the Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover Dam), including base charges for capacity and energy, development fund contributions, and dispute resolution procedures for contractors.

Federal regulation of hydroelectric power pricing creates price distortions and prevents market-based rate setting. The complex regulatory framework adds administrative costs and bureaucratic overhead while potentially protecting incumbent utilities from competition. States and local utilities could develop more efficient pricing mechanisms tailored to regional needs without federal micromanagement of power rates.

Sets annual fees for nuclear facilities including power reactors, SMRs, materials licenses, and government agencies to fund NRC regulatory activities. Fees are based on facility type, thermal power capacity, and regulatory scope, with exemptions for educational and research reactors.

Nuclear safety requires specialized oversight that only the NRC can provide. Without these fees, taxpayers would subsidize the entire regulatory burden while nuclear facilities would operate without proportional contribution to safety oversight, creating an unfair cost distribution and potential underfunding of critical safety functions.