Browse regulations

This regulation implements a now-repealed federal housing grant program that imposed extensive restrictions on rental properties, including 20-year occupancy requirements, rent controls, tenant income verification, and affirmative marketing mandates, creating a complex compliance burden that distorts market incentives and raises costs for developers and tenants alike.

The program's extensive regulatory framework creates significant compliance costs, distorts housing market incentives, imposes rent controls that reduce supply, and represents federal overreach into local housing markets that should be left to state and local governments under constitutional federalism principles.

This regulation establishes the Defense Access Roads program, providing federal funding for highway improvements needed to serve defense installations, replace closed roads, repair maneuver damage, and support missile transport. It outlines eligibility, certification by the Defense Secretary, design standards, and administration procedures through the Military Traffic Management Command and Federal Highway Administration.

Federalizes state/local road planning responsibilities, creating a separate funding stream that distorts transportation investment decisions and bypasses normal accountability. National defense is federal, but permanent highway infrastructure serving communities should remain under state/local control with states maintaining roads serving all major traffic generators uniformly. The program's exception-based nature invites mission creep and regulatory capture, taking resources from core defense functions.

Establishes National Network of highways for large commercial vehicles under STAA, setting federal size/weight standards (48' semitrailers, 102' width, 80k lbs GVW, bridge formula) that preempt stricter state limits. Defines specialized equipment (auto/boat transporters, LCVs, etc.) and governs route modifications through FHWA approval.

Federal preemption prevents states from setting optimal standards for local infrastructure conditions, eliminating beneficial competition and policy experimentation. Creates regulatory capture opportunity for large trucking interests to secure uniform favorable rules while externalizing pavement damage costs. Imposes $2T+ compliance burden for minimal efficiency gains; markets can develop efficient interstate standards through mutual recognition without violating Tenth Amendment.

Regulations implementing Executive Order 12356 for Peace Corps document declassification review procedures. Establishes written request process, review committee structure, 60-day timeline, and appeal mechanisms for classified information requests.

Ensures transparency and accountability in government classification while protecting national security. Provides citizens with structured process to access information, preventing arbitrary secrecy and supporting democratic oversight of foreign operations.

Regulation establishes a licensing system for media correspondents to access the Department of State building, with different rules for pass-holders versus the public. Requires extensive personal information, employer letters, background checks, and sets detailed procedures for denial, revocation, appeals, and validity periods.

Creates unnecessary bureaucratic licensing of press access, giving executive branch discretionary power to favor or punish journalists. Intrusive data collection (SSN, spouse name, etc.) and complex procedures impose compliance costs while creating chilling effects on critical reporting. Security screening can occur at entry without pre-approval system. Violates First Amendment principles by conditioning access on government permission. Federal overreach into what should be simple agency policy.

Federal regulations implementing veterans' employment and training programs, establishing priority referral systems, performance standards, and grant mechanisms for State agencies to serve eligible veterans and their families through the public employment service system.

Creates a costly federal bureaucracy that duplicates state-level services, imposes complex compliance requirements on states, and violates federalism by federalizing employment services that should be handled locally. The unseen costs include regulatory burden on state agencies and reduced state autonomy in workforce development.

This regulation establishes a federal lien on personal injury settlements for railroad workers who received sickness benefits, requiring reimbursement to the Railroad Retirement Board from settlement proceeds before the employee receives compensation.

This creates a double penalty for injured workers - they pay into the system through taxes but then must repay benefits from their own settlements, effectively reducing their compensation while the government keeps both the original tax revenue and recovered benefits. The lien also interferes with private contractual relationships between injured parties and their attorneys, distorting settlement negotiations and potentially leaving injured workers undercompensated for their injuries.

This regulation defines military service creditable under the Railroad Retirement Act, establishing which periods of military service can be counted toward railroad retirement benefits and under what conditions. It specifies eligibility criteria, verification methods, and coordination rules with Social Security benefits.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it provides a clear, established mechanism for railroad workers to receive retirement credit for military service, preventing the loss of benefits for those who served during specified periods. The regulation ensures fairness by allowing service members to maintain their retirement security while serving their country, with specific criteria preventing abuse and coordinating with Social Security to maximize benefits.

This regulation defines compensation for Railroad Retirement Act benefits, specifying what payments count toward retirement benefits including wages, bonuses, tips, military pay, separation allowances, and various other forms of employee compensation, while excluding certain payments like tips under $20, nonresident alien payments, and specific benefits provided by employers for employee welfare.

This regulation creates a complex bureaucratic system for defining compensation that adds compliance costs to railroad companies and employees. The detailed rules about what counts as compensation, special exclusions, and time limits for corrections create unnecessary administrative burden. Railroad retirement benefits could be simplified to use standard compensation definitions already established in tax law, reducing compliance costs and regulatory complexity without harming retirement security.

This regulation mandates reporting requirements for railroad employers to the Railroad Retirement Board, including annual service/compensation reports, notifications of ownership changes, employee deaths, separation payments, and electronic filing standards. Employers must provide employee social security numbers and current addresses, and maintain payroll records. Penalties for non-compliance include fines up to $10,000 and up to one year imprisonment.

These reporting requirements are essential to administer the Railroad Retirement Act and ensure thousands of railroad retirees receive their earned benefits. Without accurate, timely data on service and compensation, the Board cannot calculate or distribute legally owed pensions. The requirements are the minimally necessary mechanism to track lifetime work history and prevent both under- and over-payment in a defined-benefit system. While compliance imposes costs on employers, the alternative—a collapse of earned benefit payments to retired railroad workers—would constitute a breach of contract with workers who paid into the system throughout their careers and create severe hardship for a specific industry's retirees.

This regulation establishes the framework for customs bonds that secure payment of duties and ensure compliance with import regulations. It defines bond types (single transaction, continuous), principal/surety qualifications, application procedures, bond amounts, execution requirements, and termination processes. The Commissioner of CBP has authority to require bonds when necessary to protect revenue or assure compliance with customs laws.

Deleting these bond requirements would create significant revenue risk and enforcement challenges for customs operations. The bond system provides a low-cost, predictable mechanism that allows importers to secure transactions while ensuring the government can collect duties and enforce regulations. Alternatives like upfront cash deposits would be more burdensome, especially for frequent importers, and case-by-case determinations would lack transparency. The system balances revenue protection with operational efficiency, and its repeal would likely result in revenue loss, increased enforcement costs, and potentially more arbitrary decision-making by CBP.

Implements the Archaeological Resources Protection Act by establishing uniform rules for protecting archaeological resources on public and Indian lands. Requires permits for excavation/removal, sets qualifications, provides civil penalties, ensures confidentiality, and allows TVA to issue petty offense citations. Defines archaeological resources as any material remains at least 100 years old of archaeological interest, with specific exceptions.

The regulation imposes a costly permit bureaucracy that stifles research, raises barriers for small firms and independent archaeologists, and delays economic activity like mining and infrastructure. The unseen consequence is that it discourages voluntary reporting of discoveries, concentrates control in large institutions, and does little to stop looting—federal stewardship can be achieved through direct agency management without regulating private citizens.

This regulation establishes fees charged by the Commission for services and benefits, including filing fees for various applications, petitions, and requests, with formulas for updating fees annually based on work costs and processing data.

This is a fee schedule regulation that creates unnecessary administrative overhead without providing any substantive benefit to the public. The fees represent a barrier to entry that disproportionately affects small businesses and individuals seeking to engage with regulatory processes, while the complex fee structure and waiver procedures create additional bureaucracy that consumes resources without improving outcomes. The market and voluntary transactions would more efficiently allocate these costs.

Establishes procedural rules for federal power marketing administrations' rate filings to FERC, requiring extensive financial documentation, revenue studies, cost allocations, public comment, and oversight for setting electricity rates.

Repealing this eliminates unconstitutional federal overreach into energy markets (Tenth Amendment) and reduces the $2 trillion annual compliance burden. The regulation perpetuates government monopolies that distort competition and protect incumbents through complex procedural hurdles—a hidden tax on Americans. Federal power agencies should be privatized or returned to states; this procedural framework only entrenches the problem.

Part 12 establishes procedural rules for reparation complaints filed with the CFTC under section 14 of the Commodity Exchange Act. It creates a specialized administrative dispute resolution system where individuals can seek monetary damages (capped at 2x actual damages for willful violations) from CFTC registrants. The rules govern filing requirements, service of documents, ex parte communication prohibitions, three procedural tracks (voluntary, summary under $30k, formal over $30k), and practice before Administrative Judges/ALJs.

This duplicative bureaucracy adds $billions in compliance costs to the futures industry while providing no unique value over private arbitration or existing court systems. The capped damages (2x actual) and mandatory bond for foreign complainants create perverse incentives that under-compensate victims and protect industry incumbents. Federalizing what should be private contract disputes violates Tenth Amendment federalism principles and imposes one-size-fits-all procedures that increase costs disproportionately on small firms—exactly the anti-competitive outcome Mises warned about. The unseen costs: chilling legitimate commerce, raising barriers to entry, and maintaining a permanent bureaucratic apparatus whose entire premise assumes market participants cannot resolve disputes competently without federal intervention.